'Leopard-print has crossed the final frontier - it's now OK to wear in the office, too'
Twenty years ago, you could probably have smoked a cigarette at your desk, but you wouldn't have got away with wearing leopard-print. That would have been outrageous. How things change. Smoking, these days, is socially transgressive, while animal prints are as genteel and normal as a lunchtime cocktail was in 1963.
Leopard-print is everywhere. We identify with it, and are drawn to it. It is the clan tartan of modern womanhood. From being something that sluttish women wore after dark, it became something that everyone wore after dark. Then it became daywear. And now it has crossed the final frontier and become officewear.
There are still rules about leopard. After a decade of painstaking research, I think I'm close to compiling the definitive guide. Rule number one: you can't wear it for a job interview, not because it is slutty, but because it shows, as they say in Westminster, questionable judgment. But once you've got your feet under the desk, you can bring your leopard with you.
Rule number two: don't get your animals mixed up. The reason no one blinks an eye at leopard-print is that it has become so common that we have stopped seeing it as an animal print. It has become no wilder than a polka dot. The same does not apply to zebra stripes, or even giraffe spots: these will still be read as a bit crazy, and so are less useful for the office – but all the more impactful out of it.
Rule number three: filters may be used liberally. Turn a leopard-print sepia, or snow leopard monochrome, and it is more elegant and refined than the full-fat gold and black version.
The last of the leopard-print rules applies out of the office. To the old adage that you should never show both cleavage and leg, leopard-print can be added as a third either/or element. If you want to play it safe, then out of the three, pick just one. Of course, I'm not saying you do want to play it safe. Perhaps you don't. With leopard, legs and cleavage, you can apply the famous line about Martinis: one is just right, two is too many – and three is not enough.
• Jess wears T-shirt, £198, by Equipment, and trousers, £225, by Milly, both from harrods. com. Heels, £60, topshop.com.
Styling: Melanie Wilkinson. Hair and makeup: Tonee Roberio using Mac Cosmetics.