A coat of chic

My favourite black silk Pratap jacket goes with everything: its exaggerated structure teamed with jeans channels the inner rock star in me. A furry Zara buy—a 50-euro Fendi knock-off—is worn out but I can’t give it up as it takes me back to Berlin,my first holiday with my son four years ago. A hideous faded denim tux from H&M harks back to a girlie vacation in New York (this has to go,New York will always remain).

A belted Donna Karan beauty will see many wintry holidays. A soft lace shirt-jacket looks adorable over a strapless playsuit. A woollen Dries Van Noten purchase is so precious that I’m afraid to wear it. A black velvet high-street find 15 years ago,from the dullest of all shopping destinations,Australia,is as good as new. And a white silk Pratap number with a Nehru collar looks beautiful on soft dresses and chiffon saris,and especially so when zipped up over black pants.

My rediscoveries have me exulting as I decide on a casual coat to wear to watch Angelina Jolie kick serious ass as a Russian spy that night,and a Tarun Tahiliani white linen suit the next day to interview a top-notch lady lawyer who eats men for breakfast. (Yeah,I’m falling for the schmaltz of the power suit.)

I am yet to succumb to the argument that Indian designers cannot make a jacket like the Italians do. Yes,our heritage and history prove we prefer draping to tailoring and pattern-cutting. But we can rival Europe in our hand-making techniques for sure,or how else do you explain the bandhgala? The simple truth is that not many designers make many jackets as there aren’t many takers for them. Make a demand and watch the supply; good tailoring is the hallmark of any good clothes-maker.

Yves Saint Laurent must have known he was changing the zeitgeist when he put his models in a mould-breaking suit called le smoking. His idea was to push femininity to its ultimate edge. The urbane Parisienne was a contemporary woman who wore a man’s clothes remade for a woman’s body. The jacket and trousers were narrower,the lapels finer and women were freed from de rigueur and the cookie-cutter idea of elegance.

My suggestion to those who never wear trousers or structure after 7 pm: Grow up.

(namratanow@gmail.com)