How to wear tweed

Shoulder pads aside, my old Ally Capellino jacket suddenly feels very au courant. It was given to me by a very kind friend, who used to work for the designer back in the eighties. And, can we have a round of applause for the Blog Widower, please? This is Mr That's Not My Age's first appearance on the blog, he's usually sitting in the bath taking the photos. But as you can see he's out of the tub/embracing wool tweed this autumn too.

So how to wear tweed without looking like Charles and Camilla? This very traditional fabric can feel quite stiff and formal, so it's best to loosen things up with softer fabrics and casual styling. As Mr TNMA proves, in his mossy green jumper, a flash of colour helps lift a heavy fabric. And I've been wearing mine with a pair of faded jeans and a basic t-shirt. Though recently, I've switched to this stripey Markus Lupfer top, for that extra Francoise Hardy-factor:



Classic brogues and tweed go together like the Monarchy and an unpaid tax bill - just avoid looking like a fogey by keeping everything else modern:



Day Birger et Mikkelsen have gone all Coco Chanel by teaming their lovely women's jacket with simple jersey separates and costume jewellery. If you're feeling the need for tweed, check out Toast. One of my male friends turned up last week looking very dapper in the jacket, below. That's not my friend, that's a model - but the young chap gets away with double tweed because erm, he's young, and his impressive beard lends a hanging-out-with-Tilda-in-the-Highlands, bohemian twist.





Will you be wearing tweed this autumn?



And there'll be no comments about our matchy-matchy outfits, thank you very much.