Tailoring is arguably the mainstay of a wardrobe – even a festive one. While we’ll always be here for fancy tops or decadent floor-skimming frocks, once you find the right suit it will serve you in the long run. Unsure where to start? Figure out your budget. A word to the wise: suiting, even high street renditions, can be pricey. You can spend upwards of €100 for a blazer and stretch into the thousands for a two-piece, depending on how luxe you wish the fabric to be or how bespoke you’d like the tailoring. (On the topic of tailoring Irish label Banshee of Savile Row is a GLOSS favourite.) Thankfully, there’s a crop of mid-range brands filling a much-needed gap for on-demand tailoring. Bookmark brands like Totême and Joseph, while on the spendy side Khaite, Raey and Lisou’s seventies-inspired suits are the ultimate pieces to lust over. 

We know the merits of tailoring, but how to wear it? This season the tone is nostalgic, mainly nodding to the 1990s and noughties. Layer a silk camisole underneath, slip on a skinny strapped kitten heel or a point-toe kitten heel (Mango’s glitter sling-backs are a sell-out) and accessorise with a diamanté shoulder bag. Choose luxe fabrics like velvets, sequins or silks and don’t fear a statement earring. Pull your hair back and wear minimal makeup if you fear looking too corporate, or done. If, as Yves Saint Laurent believed, a woman in black is a pencil stroke then a woman in the right tailoring requires a certain kind of no-cares-given confidence. One we’ll always strive for …

Main image: Sézane.

Burnt orange tailored suit jacket, €960; www.lisou.co.uk.

Burnt orange velvet trousers, €415; www.lisou.co.uk. 

Blazer and tapered trousers, both Zaid Affast at Matches Fashion. 

Velvet suit blazer, Camille x Mango, €239.99 and trousers, €149.99, both at Mango.

Vest with tie detail, €59.99, and corduroy trousers, €69.99; www.reserved.com.

Christie jacket, €165, and Fabio trousers, €130; www.sezane.com.