Her Majesty and Miss Marple...

I sometimes think it takes an Italian designer to really appreciate quintessential traditional British fabrics and shapes. They have the distance required to make them feel playful and fun. Maybe it's just me but it's only labels like Prada, Marni and Missoni that can create garments that are a perfect combination of dowdy and desirable. They can do away with the sense of pomp and circumstance and just appreciate the positives of our historical wardrobe.

For Fall Winter 17, Missoni has created a collection that both Her Majesty the Queen and Miss Marple would be delighted to wear. Patterns have a hand-knit flair as a playful use of the seed stitch meets unusual wintry hues. There is even a golden glint tweedy effect marks the whole collection. Scottish Highland plaids capture in full the Brit inspiration collection, where the severity of shape is offset by a chic hint of eccentricity...

While forms are generally severe there’s also a swingy, fluttery feel to the collection. Pants have a precise A line, jackets & co. – including capes vaguely à la Queen Elizabeth on vacation at Balmoral Castle – feature a trapezoid shape or, in alternative, a straight sartorial cut. Gorgeous jacquards heighten the allure of every item.

This is all giving me a real hankering for a proper wooden cape...

Queen Marie