What I wore this week: frump chic | Jess Cartner-Morley

October 3, 2014, 8:30 am

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'The older you get, the harder it is to pull off old-lady clothes. You have to evoke light sartorial irony'

There are many things I love about this season Christopher Kane safety-buckle handbags, Chanel trainers, crazy-coloured Shrimps faux-fur coats but my favourite part is that the clothes are designed for cold weather. That sounds like stating the obvious, what with these being the autumn/winter collections, but believe me, it's not. Often, designers ignore the elements. If bustiers are their vision for January, so be it. I have watched an entire month of autumn/winter shows without seeing a single pair of opaque tights. Which is fairly ridiculous when you consider the entrenchment of the opaque in the modern woman's wardrobe.

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John Gallianos return is more than a matter of style. Fashion world, wake up

October 7, 2014, 11:29 pm

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Fashion should reflect real life. It needs to confront tricky issues, such as the return of the disgraced designer as creative director of Margiela, rather than looking away

Fashion matters because how we dress says so much about us. When the world is gripped by a collective longing for shoulder pads, or for wearing all-black, or by a nostalgic yearning for a bygone age, all of these represent cultural shifts. Contemporary art might express the zeitgeist in a more considered and refined way, but fashion is more democratic: a conversation in which anyone can have a voice.

After 14 years as fashion editor of this paper it has come to my attention that not everyone agrees with me on this topic. But plenty do: not only Coco Chanel (fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live) but Jean Cocteau (style is a simple way of saying complicated things) and even Polonius (the apparel oft proclaims the man).

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How to wear knee-high boots video

October 8, 2014, 4:42 am

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The knee-high boot is making a comeback. After making way for the ankle boot over the last few years, they are back with a bang as part of this autumn's 1960s trend. Jess Cartner-Morley shows how to take inspiration from the catwalks and pair knee-high boots with graphic prints, exciting coats or playful accessories for a chic, retro look Continue reading...

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Comfortable high heels in six easy steps

October 8, 2014, 8:54 am

≫ Next: Savage Beauty: McQueen retrospective comes home to Londons V&A

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Flat shoes not your thing? Want a bit of height for a special occasion? Then you need some genuinely comfortable high heels, a style holy grail that the Guardians fashion editor has finally tracked down

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Savage Beauty: McQueen retrospective comes home to Londons V&A

October 9, 2014, 10:50 am

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Exhibition which became second most popular ever at New Yorks Met Museum set to return to city where designer lived

Alexander McQueen often spoke of his desire to reach a wider audience than the insular guest lists of fashion week.

This was an ambition he was exploring when, in October 2009, his Platos Atlantis collection was the first ever catwalk show to be livestreamed over the internet.

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Apple Watch makes its fashion debut on the cover of Vogue China

October 10, 2014, 2:37 am

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As supermodel Liu Wen appears on the cover of Vogue China wearing the Apple Watch, the Guardians fashion editor, Jess Cartner-Morley, tracks five key moments in Apples meticulously planned fashion strategy

On the cover of the new issue, out on Monday, Liu Wen catwalk star, Victorias Secret Angel, Estee Lauder spokesmodel is wearing a Celine striped knit tunic and skirt and 18-carat yellow gold Apple watch with a red leather strap. Chinese Vogue is a new addition to the venerable tradition of fashion magazines, but one that has had a huge impact in a very short time. The Chinese edition of Vogue is not yet 10 years old, and yet its readership of 1.3 million is bigger than that of the UK (where Vogue is 98 years old) and Italy (39). By making a splash in China, is Apple sending a message that it could have the same impact on the luxury market there?

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What I wore this week: knee-high boots | Jess Cartner-Morley

October 10, 2014, 8:30 am

≫ Next: Fashion rules from Frieze art fair

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'Just rethink the knee-high boot into a fun context so it projects puppyish enthusiasm instead of the panther sleekness of old'

Plus how to get the look yourself

I'm cured. I'm cured! I thought my addiction to ankle boots was going to go on and on until my collection toppled out of its too-small cupboard and buried me, like some kind of tragic, chunky-heeled Imelda Marcos. But I'm cured.

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Fashion rules from Frieze art fair

October 15, 2014, 4:33 am

≫ Next: What I wore this week: power dressing, updated

≪ Previous: What I wore this week: knee-high boots | Jess Cartner-Morley

Polo necks are in, heels are out. And your hair icon is either Neil Tennant (men) or Charlotte Rampling (women). Welcome to Frieze London 2014. Here are the art fairs unwritten fashion rules written down

1. Its all about a flat shoe.

Valentino trainers, Chanel trainers, customised Stan Smiths or, failing the above, a nice sleek pair of bouncy Nikes are worn with a pair of slim trousers ending at the ankle bone, so that an inch of skin is visible. This is the new power dressing. If trainers dont work for you, try a slightly pointed brogue or loafer. We spied Lady Helen Taylor looking super chic in a grey linen jumpsuit and lipstick-red loafers.

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What I wore this week: power dressing, updated

October 17, 2014, 8:30 am

≫ Next: Alexander Wang dives into high street with sport and scuba chic at H&M

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This look is eye-catching, without being ridiculous

I have totally nicked this look. Is that bad? Oh, come on: everyone does it. But still, if you are one of the (many) catwalk show attendees who were rocking a classic cotton shirt tucked into a full, below-the-knee skirt at last months collections and are now looking at me and thinking, Hey, bitch stole my look! I apologise. Im so busted.

But imitation is the sincerest, etc. This look is eye-catching, without being ridiculous. (Well, thats how it looks when you do it right. Thats how Natalie Massenet looks in it. I did say imitation.) The line between eye-catching and ridiculous is one that many fashion attendees try to walk. And while in real life its not a line youd want to push for every day, it is a useful look to be able to work on those days when you have to be noticed. All you need is the simplest shirt, in classic blue or white, a few buttons undone, and a full, midi-length skirt that springs from the waist. (If you dont have such a skirt, get one. Its a Thing.) The contrast between the shirt (masculine, boardroom) and the skirt (ultra-feminine, ballroom) makes it bold, but the classicism of each piece and the demure silhouette makes it grownup, rather than silly.

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Alexander Wang dives into high street with sport and scuba chic at H&M

October 17, 2014, 10:51 am

≫ Next: Working it: why the women who wear the clothes give fashion its power

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Wang X H&M, US designers futuristic hybrid of fashion and sport for Swedish fashion chain, aims to reach widest audience

Alexander Wang is the envy of the fashion industry for the credibility his name commands from high fashion to street style. It was a point neatly made in February last year, when Wang was namechecked in a Jay Z rap in the Justin Timberlake song Suit & Tie in the same month that he presented his first collection for the historic Paris fashion house of Balenciaga.

Wang is now the latest designer to create an H&M high street collection and at 30 years old becomes the youngest name on a list which boasts Karl Lagerfeld, Donatella Versace, Stella McCartney, Lanvin and Isabel Marant.

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Working it: why the women who wear the clothes give fashion its power

October 22, 2014, 11:30 pm

≫ Next: From Twiggy to Germaine Greer: eight classic images of powerful women

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Fashion exhibitions tend to focus on designers. But a subversive new show is turning the spotlight back to where it belongs from Joan of Arc to Joan Collins

From monobosoms to shoulder pads in pictures

Miriam González Durántez: The power of fashion

Donna Loveday, co-curator of Women Fashion Power, wants to get one thing clear from the start, when we meet at her office in the Design Museum: this is not, repeat not, an exhibition about power dressing. I have deliberately avoided using that term. I dont feel it represents either the way women think, or the way they dress she says.

Power dressing it may not be, but this is undoubtedly a timely show. The discourse around how women in positions of power and influence dress has never been more fractious. In July, coverage of the appointment of new female cabinet ministers that labelled it the Downing Street Catwalk whipped up a media firestorm. But as befits a show dominated by such figures as Margaret Thatcher, Angela Merkel and Joan of Arc this is no passive taking-of-minutes on the contemporary argument. Instead, it is an exhibition with a strong agenda.

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From Twiggy to Germaine Greer: eight classic images of powerful women

October 24, 2014, 6:47 am

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The Design Museums new exhibition, Women Fashion Power, about the way influential women wear clothes opens on Wednesday. Here, from Twiggy in a trouser suit to the high-shine shoulderpads of Dynasty, eight women write about the most eye-catching looks in the show

Jess Cartner-Morley on Women Fashion Power

Twiggy: defiant in a two-piece suit

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What I wore this week: three-storey dressing

October 24, 2014, 8:30 am

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Three-Storey Dressing means an outfit consisting of three vertical sections like a traffic light, or a Fab ice lolly

When we were taking the pictures for this page, the photographer was looking through the camera and frowning Lean in a bit, leg a bit straighter, um, thats not working, try the other one, and I was shifting about awkwardly in my Thunderbirds-puppet modelling style, and eventually he sighed and asked, imploringly: Jess can you try and be a bit taller?

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What I wore this week: a split skirt

October 31, 2014, 9:30 am

≫ Next: High-street highs: 10 years of H&M designer collaborations

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Having tried on a rail of skirts, my conclusion is this: you need some asymmetry

A bad split skirt is really, really bad. The most cursory viewing of The Apprentice will show how wrong things go when you cross Angelinas sticky-out leg with office appropriateness. Its a look thats half date night, half PowerPoint presentation. So very, very wrong.

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High-street highs: 10 years of H&M designer collaborations

November 4, 2014, 6:59 am

≫ Next: Vogue's Kate Moss special: first look

≪ Previous: What I wore this week: a split skirt

In November 2004, Karl Lagerfeld teamed up with H&M to sell cut-price versions of his clothes and the designer/high street collaboration was born. In the decade since, the Guardians fashion team has been at the sharp-elbowed cutting edge of high-octane high-street shopping. Here are their tips for shopping designer collaborations like a pro

Designer collaborations on the high street have been part of my professional life for a decade now. Their timings and life cycle from rumour and announcement through to the 9am scrum and the inevitable eBay flipping are as much a part of fashions calendar as the twice-yearly catwalk schedule. Inevitably the phenomenon has spilled over into the personal too. As someone who has observed and reported on them at close quarters, my wardrobe is littered with the spoils of reporting from the doorstep of H&M from the Stella McCartney collaboration in 2005 through to Isabel Marant last November. (I confess that the original Karl Lagerfeld one with H&M back in 2004 perturbed me too much to make a purchase.)

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Vogue's Kate Moss special: first look

November 4, 2014, 7:29 am

≫ Next: Why you should watch House of DVF

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Christmas has come early: December Vogue hits the newsstands this week and its a Kate Moss special. Its a treat here are the six highlights

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Why you should watch House of DVF

November 4, 2014, 9:21 am

≫ Next: Homecoming ice queen Wintour to be honoured at the British Fashion Awards

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Move over Alan Sugar fashion legend Diane von Furstenberg is the new boss in town

Ten young women compete to become a DVF global brand ambassador. Essentially, its a turbocharged version of the reality of the current fashion industry, in which interns compete madly to do menial tasks in such an outstandingly smiley and delightful way that they get hired for actual jobs. The exact nature of the brand ambassador job is vague, but the DVF agenda is clear: the company needs to connect with a new generation. Everyone loves Diane, but she is 67; she is in search of a younger version of herself.

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Homecoming ice queen Wintour to be honoured at the British Fashion Awards

November 6, 2014, 1:00 am

≫ Next: Kate's new stylist: the most powerful 27-year-old in fashion?

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Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of US Vogue, to be presented with an award for Outstanding Achievement at the British Fashion Awards this December

Anna Wintour will fly in from New York to be honoured in her home town of London, when she is presented with the Outstanding Achievement Award at the British Fashion Awards on 1 December.

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Kate's new stylist: the most powerful 27-year-old in fashion?

November 6, 2014, 4:01 am

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The Duchess of Cambridge has a stylist. Who knew? No one, apparently.Here are five things we know about Tash

A 27-year-old youve never heard of just became a fashion power player. Here is everything we know so far* about the Duchess of Cambridges new stylist, Natasha Archer.

*Spoiler: its not much.

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What I wore this week: babyish fake furs

November 7, 2014, 8:30 am

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A crazy fur stole will lift your spirits, and look a whole lot better on Instagram than a parka

There are many things I always assumed I would be able to do quite naturally, at some point when I became a grownup, which I am only now realising may never come to pass after all. This is absolutely not a Peter Pan thing, by the way. We put adulthood off longer and longer, and I was certainly still an utter brat at 23, but by my calculations a grownup by 28, which has given me a 13-year run to learn the ropes. And generally speaking, I think Ive got the hang of it.

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