Jumper dresses

Chanel spring/summer 2011. Photo by Giovanni Giannoni on wwd.com

Wool/cashmere jumper dress, £475, Stella McCartney

In the Sunday Times Style this weekend, Agent Provocateur founder Joe Corre was sounding off about jeans: ‘I can’t stand jeans…. I wear them for what they should be used for: painting and decorating, or digging in the garden. But … everybody wears jeans; they look like a robotic army.’ This season there so many options for relaxed daywear that denims can be left on the shelf. More of us are considering ditching jeans, thanks the popularity of cool and casual jersey skirts and dresses on offer, with leggings and skinny trousers on hand to go with them.

For winter – and beyond into next spring, according to Chanel's (madly beautiful) s/s 2011 catwalk – the jersey dress gives way to the knitted dress. Yes, the classic 1980s jumper dress is well and truly back, bringing with it (for many of us) memories of burgundy Topshop numbers paired with matching suede pixie boots. Looking back at photos, you'd never guess that the rather frumpy, itchy, woolly dresses would become a fashion statement here in 2010. But these modern versions are somewhat more sophisticated, in fine cashmere blends to make them more elegant and easy to wear. Everywhere from Net-a-porter to Warehouse has stripey, chunky, ribbed or woolly jumper dresses on their rails right now. Get the length right and they look great with boots or pumps. Here's a round-up of some of the best:

At the top end, there's APC's cute navy and white striped version, Sonia Rykiel's school uniform-style jumper with skirt (£270) and Stella McCartney's stripey jumper dress in wool/cashmere (£475). Vanessa Bruno’s sweater dress is reduced at theoutnet.com (£138 down from £230); or you could wear a black jersey top underneath Bella Freud's Last Poets top, reduced from £215 to £88, for a jumper-dress effect. French brand American Vintage (stocked in Fenwick, Selfridges and online) does a great round-neck sweater dress, £85.

On the high street, Warehouse is doing knitted dresses in maxi, mini and midi lengths, from £45, in greys and black, while Topshop has a more jazzy cotton Love Heart sweater dress at £35. I also really like Hush’s Amy dress (£40), and Toast/Hush-inspired catalogue Wrap has an embroidered merino-wool version for £99 in elegant colours such as washed blue and – oh yes – deep burgundy.

Sweater dress, £138 (down from £230), Vanessa Bruno at theoutnet.com

Grey midi jumper dress, £45, Warehouse

Round-neck sweater dress, £85, American Vintage at Matches.com

Knits for now

Knitted fisherman rib cardigan, £45, Topshop

Knits are big news for autumn/winter, as seen on the catwalks of Michael Kors, Stella McCartney and Marc Jacobs. From chunky sweaters to cashmere cardis, there's a great range of cosy, classy woolies around. It's Val Doonican all the way, with Stella's cardi dress and McQueen's sweater dresses, plus romantic takes like Dior's soft chunky-knit cardigan threaded through with silky blue ribbon. Pair them with silk skirts to great effect, as seen at Louis Vuitton, Dries Van Noten, Marc Jacobs and Richard Nicoll – another take on cosy glam.

This season lots of designers have also come up with 'cardigowns' – a term coined, I think, by Hush, the masters of fine pyjamas and comfortable lounge wear. A cross between a cardigan and a dressing gown, and even a coat if it's fine, these are the home-worker’s ideal piece of clothing – chuck it over pyjamas and it looks like you got dressed. It's warm yet looks good, especially when spun from the softest of cashmere.

Designers like Nicole Farhi and Pringle always do this look especially well. Farhi’s wool/cashmere tops are an elegant and versatile wardrobe staple, useful with both jeans and dresses. This season, the best versions are ruinously expensive: Rick Owens’ black chunky alpaca cardi (£580) is wonderfully decadent, as is Diane von Furstenberg’s long Chung cardigan in 100% cashmere (£367), an investment piece that will last well for years. Also check out Burberry’s chunky cashmere-blend cardigan and Vivienne Westwood's black version (£412), and the rather more reasonable grey open cardigan by Day Birger and Mikkelson (£139). I like Paul & Joe Sister's cable-knit (£145), too. The ultimate throw-ons are the feather-soft cashmere versions by Irish knitwear designer Lainey Keogh – but, yikes, when we say 'investment piece', we're talking life savings/pension/hefty percentage of salary-type investment.

Turning to the high street, look at Topshop’s fisherman rib cardigan (see top, £45) in very of-the-season camel, or black. The jumper version in blue (£42) would look fantastic with a satin skirt, as would the Vuitton-esque cropped cable jumper. I still think camel's a tough colour to wear, though – it's really just a shade of brown, after all, and for me black wins every time. A classic camel coat's all very well, but unless it's by Celine (see Garance Doré's great blog for proof) it's hard to hanker after something that looks like it's been languishing in your granny's wardrobe for the last few decades, whatever the September issues tell us.

Day Birger and Mikkelson, £139, my-wardrobe.com