Whistles

Millie hook and eye leather jacket, £200 (was £275)

I was going to write about Bath's spa, but got distracted by Whistles. Whistles is hard to ignore these days. Ever since Jane Shepherdson took over, the label has garnered huge amounts of press coverage; the Observer in particular nearly always has something from Whistles on its fashion pages. I remember Whistles when it stocked designers such as Dries van Noten alongside its pretty tea dresses. It has an edgier, more urban feel now, though I've found that many of the designs look great on the page but not so great in the dressing room. Though maybe that's my own fault for trying on jersey harem trousers in the first place....

One problem for Whistles is that their turnaround is so fast now, and their sales so regular, that you feel rather cheated if you buy anything full-price. And now designers such as Alexander Wang are making luxe utility wear more accessible, Whistles often feels pricey. However, they've currently got some good deals online and in store, such as this Millie leather jacket (above) and a military-style leather jacket both £200, down from £275 – pretty good for leather of this quality. For everyday, this Drew dress (below) is a flattering fit and can be dressed up or down.

Drew Animal Utility Dress, £135

Today Whistles launches one of the big guns in its armoury – the latest (and final) Roksanda Ilincic collection. The Serbian designer will continue to wow the high street with this stunning clutch of jewel-coloured satin sheaths that are set to dance out of the shop and into every Christmas party. Stand-outs include Adenium, in a beautifully subtle shade of mink, and the Nettle dress (below) in vibrant emerald satin, both £325. Ilincic's mainline dresses start from £800 and go up, up, up.

Nettle dress, £325, Roksanda Ilincic for Whistles

Wang-tastic

So the maxidress spirit goes on into autumn. This, I reckon, is a good thing. Any day now, in reaction to the long sweeping skirts of the summer, skirts will go micro-mini again – that trend which suits precisely 2% of the population.

Here’s what designer Erdem says about skirts for a/w 2010: ‘I loved the casualness of a boyish jumper and a long satin skirt. It felt modern and right; effortless and utterly chic.' In a season when other options are faux fur, capes and – yawn – the gloomy old parka, this mode of laidback glamour sounds wonderfully appealing. Dries van Noten always gets this look bang on; I have a long satin skirt bought from the Designer Warehouse Sales* in King’s Cross more than ten years ago and it has stood the test of time brilliantly, as all his clothes do (remember when they sold at Whistles?).

Dries van Noten, a/w 2010. Photo: Marcio Madeira / FirstView.com

I’ve always wondered if those websites that enable you to buy direct from the States actually work. I read about Shopbop.com a while ago but have only just got round to trying it out, ordering (purely for research purposes, of course) a T by Alexander Wang asymmetric black jersey dress at $140, the equivalent of £97 (rather than the £140 it costs here). I ordered it online on a Tuesday afternoon – and amazingly, it arrived on the Thursday morning (and international postage is free). The only downside is that you have to pay a customs charge on delivery, which varies according to the cost of the item; for the $140 dress I had to pay £28. But it’s still a little cheaper overall, the service is super-efficient and they have a wide selection of stock on offer. And the dress is fantastic: light enough to wear in the summer, bias-cut to flatter curves and as soft as a second skin. In the winter it’ll be great with a cashmere jumper (see First-class cashmere, below right) and big boots. I’m hooked.

Alexander Wang's effortlessly wearable luxe jersey pieces feel confidently modern without shouting about it. These are clothes that will feel and look good for years (handwashing will help; well, there has to be a downside). In a way, long bias-cut skirts and dresses in a low-key, light fabric are what Ghost did so well for years: in magazine articles about the best clothes to take on holiday, everyone from travel editors to celebs always raved about the ease and beauty of a Ghost dress. No wonder Wang was the only name to escape unblemished from Sex and the City 2 (bar Mr Big, who only gets better with age): his fresh young take on clothes stood out from that grim procession of contrived, unflattering outfits.

* DWS have always been some of London’s very best designer sales. The next sales start on September 17 in a new location near Holloway Rd/Finsbury Park tube, with womenswear and then menswear (including names like Paul Smith, Phillip Treacy and Hamnett) at huge discounts. It was always a trek to get there, but always worth it.

Maxi skirts

Maxi skirt, £97, Alexander Wang

Long skirts and dresses are starting to sweep across the pavements for spring/summer. At last – a trend that doesn’t appeal to just one per cent of the population. It’s not often that the whims of designers appeal this naturally to anyone aged over 18, but the maxi does not call for good legs/toned arms/tiny waists – or, indeed, anything at all really. And anything to get away from these ‘jeggings’ – the leggings pretending they're jeans. Seriously, what is everyone thinking? Whatever Grazia says, they are appalling. Hideous. There is not a single person that actually looks good in them. They make your legs look like sausages, whatever your shape. Surely in years to come they will be THE item that people are truly mortified to have worn in the belief that they were fashionable.

Maxi dress, £615, Balenciaga

Anyway, back to skirts. While a tiny percentage of the population have the legs to pull off a mini or teeny denim shorts the minute the sun comes out, many more of us, aware of what our legs actually look like in the light of day, look for something less bare, but cooler and low-key.

So it's good news that the maxi's having a moment. Designers from Cavalli to Lanvin, Erdem to Diane von Furstenberg has gone long and luxurious with their skirts this season; check out Balenciaga's silk racer-back maxi dress in black and white print (see above). In the spirit of laidback luxe, all the best labels have done a great maxi skirt or dress this season, including Rick Owens and Acne, Vanessa Bruno and L’Agence (check out their jersey maxi, £169 and dresses online and at Selfridges) and Vanessa Bruno – they've all done a great maxi skirt. Also on this bandwagon are The Row (designed by the Olsen twins), with a gorgeous fitted jersey dress. And one of the best buys has to be the T by Alexander Wang split jersey skirt (see top), a sexy twist on the look. All the best maxi skirts seem to be black, though H&M’s leopard-print maxi (14.99) and Topshop’s 18 quid jersey number in khaki are fun.

I still have a floor-length silk Dries van Noten skirt in black I found at Whistles many years ago (remember when their main stores stocked the odd gem by designers too?). Silky and light as a feather, it can work with everything from a neat leather biker jacket and boots to dressier tops and heels for evening. Versatile, wearable – this trend’s got legs.

There’s another side to it, though. Stella McCartney’s billowing satin floral-print version has inspired a rash of followers and every high-street store seems to have wafty floral halterneck maxidresses in their windows just now. Which is fine if you have a holiday home in Hawaii or spend most of the year drifting around Ibiza, but acres of synthetic fabric is not going to do anyone any favours on the dirty rainy pavements of London/Dublin/Manchester…. It’s one thing to channel Jade Jagger or Talitha Getty, but quite another to end up looking like Nana Mouskouri. And many of these dresses are tiered, which makes things worse. While in Stella McCartney's hands this might look fabulous, in others it can move towards the meringue. And, rather than mask imperfections, a billowing dress will generally make the wearer look at least two dress sizes bigger. So go steady around those floral numbers.