We’re moving into a new year of stylish dressing best summed up as polished comfort. Exciting! Instead of looser more boho styles, we’re gravitating towards clothes that look more refined, yet remain versatile, practical, chic - and, above all, simple to style and layer.
The piece that sums up this shift best is this cropped jacket from Marks & Spencer, offered in two of the freshest and most fashionable colours now, biscuit and light olive green.
Call it a bomber, a cropped jacket or, as M&S does, a Harrington jacket — it all amounts to the same thing. Chic, zip-front, waist-length jackets with a neat collar and a stretchy waistband that sit comfortably on or above the hip are a sure-fire route to polished comfort and style for the year ahead and beyond.
The Harrington style of jacket also comes with layers of history. Originally designed as a man’s golf jacket, it was popularized by a character in the vintage TV show Peyton Place in the 1960s, was loved and worn by Elvis, Steve McQueen and the more recently Noel and Liam Gallagher of Oasis. This style of jacket is also is a mainstay in Burberry's collections.
It’s the vintage British legacy combined with its modern styling - and let’s not forget the chic colours – that give this suedette jacket staying power in your wardrobe. Pop this jacket on with smart tailored trousers, a white shirt and loafers; with jeans, a jumper and sneakers, or over a midi dress paired with block-heeled pumps, and it will work with all of them. And that's a promise.
Finally, and this is important, because the jacket nips in at the waist, and is neat at the collar, the shape is, ultimately, slimming no matter your size, and this jacket is available all the way up to a size 22.
Polished comfort doesn't get easier than this.
