Then blow me down, I came across a real-life version of it in the newly refurbished, unbelievably shiny, unfeasibly huge Dior store in Paris. Not this exact jacket, you understand, but one that’s about £3,000 more expensive, albeit with the same wide, horizontal navy and cream stripes, peplum and contoured torso. I felt it would have been rude not to try it. That’s when I established that a stripy jacket doesn’t have to be limiting.
Personally, I’d only wear stripes with plain trousers and T-shirts but more adventurous dressers could arrange a successful marriage between it and florals, shove on some fishnet pop socks and top the lot off with some aviators and a beret. Très Gucci.
I wasn’t really feeling it for the Dior price tag. But lessons learnt: with a nipped-in waist, a stripy jacket can provide a well-defined outline just as effectively as a jacket in a dark block colour. And it looks fresh and spring-like with a navy or cream maxi-skirt, trousers or jeans. I’d also wear it with a metallic top or some dangly earrings in the evenings. Hark at me, counting off the ways to justify £3,000…
Except I didn’t. I came back to London, returned to my virtual basket on thefoldlondon.com and lived happily ever after. I also discovered that while there’s only one stripy knitted jacket akin to the Dior (ie the one I’m wearing here), there are a number of plain affordable knitted ones around, from Wyse’s crochet look to Cos’s sporty zip-up. Think French, act sensible.
