Jess Cartner-Morley has been the Guardian’s fashion editor since 2000. She is online now answering your questions from tips for the well-dressed man to trouser fastenings
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AugieMarch asks: Trousers. My premise is that trousers without side pockets are more flattering. Pockets — even ones sewn very flat — spoil the silhouette, both on slim and rounder figures. Why are they so hard to find?
playheals asks: What’s your view on fly fronts on women’s trousers? It can pull open over the tummy and add bulk. We inherited the fly from men’s trousers but side zips should be standard for women’s wear (apart from actual 5 pocket jeans – nothing against those).
I commend both of you for having figured out what you like and what suits you. That’s the hardest part. My personal bugbear front-fastening trousers where the ‘hidden’ hook-and-eye fastening is too close to the edge of the fabric so the metal keeps showing. Drives me insane.
Ha! I am 53 so I’ve been debating this for a while! I do believe that staying current is part of what being chic is about. At the moment, for lots of people in their 40s and 50s, this is about wearing a looser silhouette than we are used to. Your clothes say a lot about you, and I guess one of the things that I want mine to say is that I’m looking at and engaged with the world around me even at my advanced years. I’d probably rather be mutton dressed as lamb than mutton living in the past?
