Marking the start of the New Year and the new fashion season, September is the perfect moment for fashion shopping.
And happily for stylish Jewish women everywhere, some of the strongest trends for the new A/W season are midi and maxi dresses and tailoring — all of which are perfect for shul.
The stellar successes of summer-2019, midi dresses and maxi dresses (not forgetting their hybrid cousin, the midaxi), are all returning for A/W with, naturally, new twists.
For daytime they are reworked in winter-appropriate prints and colours and usually have sleeves. Those sleeves may be long or short, straight or full; decorative or plain — but they will be there.
The shirt-dress is a key shape for A/W, and other important details include frills, ruffles, tiers, shirring, wrap-fronts and asymmetry. Many new dresses have a well-defined waistline for a more streamlined silhouette than we’ve seen over the summer. If yours doesn’t, consider adding a belt.
Cool LA brand Co puts a modern spin on a classic black dress with its short-sleeve, A-line maxi in cotton-blend twill (£925 at www.MyTheresa.com). It can easily lead a double life: accessorised with trainers or ankle boots, it can be a perfect daytime dress but switch to glammy shoes, bijoux bag and elaborate earrings and it transforms into a super-chic going-out dress.
Equally elegant (and almost as versatile), is an oversized maxi shirt dress in black cotton by Maison Margiela, a label that has led the way in oversized minimalism since the brand’s inception in Antwerp in the 80s (£585 www. Selfridges.com).
Other covetable, new-season designer midis and maxis include Christopher Kane’s shapely, asymmetric midi in monochrome spot that is not too wintry if Rosh Hashanah turns out to be very warm (£1,495). Similarly, Gucci’s cotton and muslin maxi in an all-over floral print (£2,200) is equally trans-seasonal. Both are at www. matchesfashion.com.
The midis and maxis in luscious prints by Zimmermann, the eponymous label created by Australian sisters Nicky and Simone Zimmermann come in at a slightly more affordable £550-£650 and are available at Net-a-Porter, Matches and FarFetch.
There are beautifully crafted daytime midis and maxis in luscious prints, mainly priced between £150 and £300, at mid-range labels Rixo (www.rixo.co.uk), Kitri (www.kitristudio.com), Essentiel Antwerp (www.essentiel-antwerp.com) and Free People (www.freepeople.com).
The High Street also has lots of long-sleeve midis and maxis for the new season in a variety of floral prints, checks and animal markings.
Long-sleeve midis in a variety of gorgeous prints, are available in the Principles, Studio By Preen and Star by Julien Macdonald collections at Debenhams, mostly under £75.
The A/W collection at Next offers great midis and maxis including midi shirt-dresses and an especially flattering long-sleeve midi in a blue/cream/red check with defined waistline and generously flaring skirt (£42).
Joe Browns, a brand offering wonderfully wearable womenswear online and at its store at Meadowhall, Sheffield, has beautifully cut midis in lots of flattering cuts in florals and checks, all at under £75.
M&S, as you would expect, has lots of long-sleeve midis and maxis. Sadly, some are indescribably awful. But quite a few are really good, including an oversized shirt-dress available in a variety of chic neutrals, and some fabulous maxi sweater dresses in chic neutrals
There are some marvellous midis in great prints in John Lewis’s excellent own-label collections, Kin and Modern Rarity. Still on the High Street, but slightly pricier, Hobbs has some magnificent midis in floral prints and checks. Hobbs is also strong on that other big A/W trend – tailoring, offering plain and check blazers in single-breasted and double-breasted cuts, at around £200.
The boyfriend blazer or strictly-tailored jacket is, of course, a vital component in the recent tailoring revival. Blazers began re-appearing on catwalks several seasons ago instantly welcomed by women who’d loved them before as well as by a new generation.
But this season they take centre stage, basking in the limelight and featuring in most collections in A/W, from High-End to High Street with lots of options in texture (checks, tweeds, plain wools, velvet and cord) and colour (from low-key neutrals to sizzling brights, especially red). This A/W season, there is also variety in silhouette, with double-breasted and single-breasted; longline and short, straight and curvy on offer.
If you have serious money to splurge on a blazer, there are great ones by Giorgio Armani, Alexandre Vauthier, Balmain, Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci, The Row, St Laurent and Stella McCartney. There are also beautiful blazers from slightly less well-known designer labels such as Altuzarra, Gabriela Hearst, Bella Freud and Blazé Milano.
There are beautiful blazers, at slightly less eye-watering prices from Wardrobe NYC, (around £700) and Joseph (around £600). You can also find fabulous blazers at UK brands Reiss, Hobbs and Jigsaw, mainly priced at £250-£300, and at French brands Maje, Sandro and Tara Jarmon, at around £300.
John Lewis’s excellent own-label collections, Modern Rarity and John Lewis & Partners, offer great blazers from £99-£175, while at Boden, they are around £100.
There are also brilliant blazers at River Island, Next, Topshop, M&S and Mango, mainly under £70.
Zara has a crop of highly desirable blazers in a variety of cuts and colours, including a straight-cut, longline blazer in autumn-y pastels at £49.99; a sharply-tailored classic blazer in camel at £79.99 and a tuxedo-collar blazer available in black or red at £59.99.
M&S has beautifully tailored blazers, too. Picks of the bunch include a pair of check blazers, one longline D-B, the other shorter, curvier and single-breasted.
Their cord blazers are sharp, shapely and especially covetable (and in navy or black virtually indistinguishable from pricier versions).
When currently we talk about “blazers,” we are not just talking about the strictly-tailored boyfriend blazer. Oh no. Of late, and confusingly, “blazer” has become a generic womenswear term to denote any kind of indoor, jacket.
Thus, those fringe-trimmed tweed or bouclé jackets, inspired by —indeed, originated by — Chanel are now also known as “blazers.” After a major resurgence in the late 90s, these tweedy, fringe-trimmed babies had a bit of a revival in spring/summer 19.
For the new A/W season, fringed tweed jackets — perfect for synagogue wear — are mainly found from high end designers, including, obviously, Chanel but also Alexander McQueen and Balmain, where hugely influential creative director Olivier Rousteing embraced fringe-trimmed tweed with an enthusiasm that will ensure its popularity for many future seasons.
Find fringe-trimmed tweed jackets at under £250 at Claudie Pierlot and Isabel Marant Etoile, and at under £100 at M&S.
We can expect the under-30s to be pairing a blazer of any kind with a mini-skirt. Over 30s, on the other hand, will look super-chic pairing a boyfriend blazer with an over-the-knee skirt (either A-line or pleated), and pairing a shorter tweedy jacket with an on-the-knee or over-the-knee pencil skirt.
A boyfriend blazer also works perfectly as a top layer over any below-the-knee dress. It could also pair with tailored trousers for a smart look for those attending a non-Orthodox synagogue.
