

Some suits come in a wave of colour - lipstick-red jersey, for instance. An amethyst tweed suit chimes in perfectly with the grey hair of older women. Or you might mix colours - putting a cinnamon jacket with a black skirt, or a corn-yellow jacket with a navy-blue skirt. Grey is a colour that's heralded for spring - and, as a deviation from grey, try a pink-and-grey plaid jacket with a grey skirt. Plaid-and-plain is a strong contender, perhaps a blue-and-white plaid jacket with a blue skirt. Navy-blue and black are eternal.

Architecturally, spring suits are up to no freakish antics, but every one of them will give you something new to think about. Shoulders are strong, but not bombastic. Revers fairly high. Closings often hidden away under fly-flaps. A newcomer in neck-lines is the oval one shown [below]. Square neck-lines prosper. Jackets are mostly short - boxy boleros, or nipped-in basques. Here and there, a long jacket turns up - happiest choice for an older woman. Skirts stay quite short, and range from plumb-line straight ones to full, pleated or gathered ones. The skating-skirt carries on.

The trend report is even supplemented by a handy guide to the fashionable fabrics of the season. There are accessories too, but I'll save those for a future post.



























