Pick And Mix

From pantsuits to track pants, or stilettos and kitten heels, the new rule of dressing is that there are no rules.

- Lisa Armstrong

Sometimes the trends that sink deepest into the bloodstream start with a slow drip. That’s how it feels with the pantsuit: A sharp streak of authority that’s been hovering on the periphery for seasons. Sure, a jacket and coordinating trousers looked good on the runway, but track pants and sneakers were a way of life. This spring, the pantsuit strides confidently through scores of collections. Checked and jaunty at Burberry. Slouchy and deconstructed at Céline. Full Canadian tuxedo at Dior, where Artistic Director Maria Grazia Chiuri imagined a cultured bohemian with a bottomless bank account.

The menswear staple is upending the status quo of the average closet. Is this the ghost of Hillary Clinton? Perhaps. It can’t be a coincidence that at a time when women are calling on all their available reserves, maximum cosiness is ceding the way to a silhouette with more… purpose. As Hollywood is discovering, there is nothing that can’t be rewritten or recast, be it a movie (All the Money in the World) or the old rules about dressing.

One strategy for making the proverbial grey flannel suit as compelling as those sweatshirts you have on repeat order, is colour. Lavender at Max Mara, cobalt and pink at Oscar de la Renta… Take your pick and treat it like a sensuous, playful, grown-up sister to the jumpsuit. There’s no law that says the pantsuit has to be boring, corporate, or serious. It doesn’t even have to be matchy-matchy. It’s a suit in intention more than an actual suit.