'It is much easier to work out how to wear lilac once you start thinking of it as Mature Pink'
Technically, lilac is a pale version of purple, but in its soul it is more closely related to pink. To be specific, it is a mature version of pink, for older women. In the same way that little girls are sold pink, elderly ladies are sold lilac. Lilac is the colour of soap you buy your granny for Christmas, the colour of scented drawer-lining paper, of gift-shop biscuit caddies.
Last year, pink, much belittled as a pre-teen marketing tool, mounted a successful campaign to re-establish itself as a respectable element of the grown woman's wardrobe. (See the mania for pink coats that saw the high street's best versions selling out in early September.) This year, we are seeing a concerted effort to convince us we can look young and modern and relevant while wearing lilac.
It is much easier to work out how to wear lilac once you start thinking of it as Mature Pink. (Pale purple, by the way, is violet. Quite different from lilac. Bolder, with a hint of disco-ball shimmer.) As with all pastels, you have to find a way to give it some backbone. Lilac made a number of appearances at London fashion week's spring/summer shows. At Christopher Kane and Sister by Sibling, the hipster take on lilac was to use it as the backdrop for a slogan sweater, which is a straightforward way of making a wallflower colour more assertive. At Burberry– where it plays a starring role in this season's ad campaign – it was worn head to toe, blouse teamed with a matching skirt, or lilac lace trench fastened and belted as a coat-dress. (I hardly need point out that, in all cases, lilac was worn with bare legs, not black opaque tights. To those fighting this still, I say: the sooner you give up your opaque dependency, the better. It's like a software update for your wardrobe. Yes, it's a pain, but everything works so much better once you bite the bullet.)
Lilac works best when there is a lot of it, and it is not too fussy. A full lilac outfit, with clean lines and simple accessories, will look a great deal less old lady-ish than a don't-mind-me glimpse of lilac, which can tip a neutral outfit into saccharine territory. Think of it as pink for grown-ups, but don't kid yourself you're wearing purple.
• Jess wears shirt, £28, dorothyperkins.com. Skirt, £28, asos.com. Courts, £175, russellandbromley.co.uk.
Stylist: Melanie Wilkinson. Hair and makeup: Sharon Ives at Carol Hayes Management.