We know these are all black, but they are future classics
We are totally into Jaeger at the moment because it ticks all our boxes for what we want out of clothes (well nearly all the boxes….). We're into buying better this year; better quality, better cut, nice fabric and fab design, we've had enough of average. This summer I bought a printed silk kimono dress from Jaeger and it has performed stirling work in the Very Useful Dress catagory. It can be worn with Converse pumps for the day and more glamorous shoes for smarter events, moving pretty seemlessly between smart and casual. It also takes no effort to wear, throw it on and off you go, covering all the dodgy bits and being such a great design that it distracts from the many body imperfections.
Jaeger is now run by the elegant forty-something Belinda Earl, who has moved the brand from being a fusty has-been to a place that really understands what we want out of our clothes. She did a lot of listening to Jaeger customers and her design team came up with some truly gorgeous designs, particularly on the more edgy Jaeger London line.
Our only slight problem is that, of course, great fabrics with nice trims and lovely details don't come cheap, so the clothes are expensive. But I think it's worth looking at buying one piece a season to build up a collection of clothes that are built to last a long time, both in terms of style and quality. Also the clothes have a 'smart' feel to them, and you only need a couple of these in your wardrobe anyway, I think they are better worn a little less smart, softened up with t shirts and denim for a more relaxed vibe. These styles are going to be vintage classics in a couple of decades time, does that help justify?
So for winter, we've had a quick look and found two or three very promising styles. Sadly the photos on the website doen't really do them justice, you can see all the details clearly with the zoom tool, but somehow the 'oh that's fab!' factor ( how we felt when we saw them) is missing from these shots, we's advise you to pop into your local to view.
First is the classic black Chanel-ish shift dress in Italian wool, with grosgrain ribbon trim, the perfect work/event little black dress if we ever saw one at £225. There's also a softer, less work-y, black silk crepe version of my summer kimono dress (sort of) which look very useful at £299. Although more expensive this might work from day to night a little more easily.
We are also toying with the new style, tapered trousers in Italian cotton viscose at £199, which have a pretty paper-bag waistline and soft tie belt, worn with a simple roll neck and flats (brogues?) we think these could make us look on trend and yet still be a breeze to wear every day.
Jaeger on line, but check out your local store too. If you spend over £200 currently (not hard) there's 20% off.
