'The difference between a fleece and a rich angora sweater is like the difference between an electric radiator and an open fire'
You buy a cocktail dress for how it looks, but you buy a jumper for how it feels. This is the same kind of instinctive logic that prompts you to use proper punctuation and actual sentences when you're writing a serious work email, but to drop down into LOL territory when writing to a friend. Tailoring, corsetry and Spanx are the capital letters of fashion, in other words. There is an outward-facing, front-of-house you and an off-duty, first-take version.
That there are few joys associated with these early days of January is an excellent reason to grasp what you can with both hands. As the trees wilt and the tedious detox chat starts, the world feels a less lustrous place than it did at the beginning of the 12 days of Christmas. The primacy of comfort and warmth over snazziness and fashion chops as guiding wardrobe principles is a welcome upside.
There is something caveman-like about a hairy jumper. It harks back to clothes as basic survival, rather than as a mark of civilisation. A fine, smooth knit turns wool into a symbol of refinement, showing off the skill and technique involved. A fuzzball knit, on the other hand, looks a little like you've wrapped yourself up in a skein of wool. A hairy jumper not only keeps you warm and cosy, but projects warmth and cosiness. The difference between a serviceable fleece and a rich angora sweater is a little like the difference between an electric radiator and an open fire. Both can keep you warm, but one projects the kind of feelgood warmth that is like adding an extra layer.
Or so it seems, for that first afternoon in a fluffy jumper, when you revel in the luxurious statement cosiness. But within a few hours, the backlash begins. Those irritating flecks find their way into your eyes or mouth. The lapel of your coat acquires a woolly coating that can be shifted only with committed Sellotaping. It's deeply annoying. What, after all, is the point of a feelgood trend when it starts to wind you up? Well, you could argue it is fashion's way of telling you the post-Christmas hibernation period is over and it's time to get out of the fluffy knitwear. Perfectly logical, you see.
• Jess wears jumper, £415, by 3.1 Phillip Lim, from my-wardrobe.com. Trousers, £319, by Tibi, from net-a-porter.com. Courts, £175, russellandbromley.co.uk.
Styling: Melanie Wilkinson. Hair and makeup: Tracey Quinn.