The Jumper Dress I Can’t Live Without

The beauty of a?jumper dress is that it doubles as an oversized sweater (and we all need one of those), looks equally fabulous?worn on its own or layered over trousers, and?can be styled to create a variety of silhouettes depending on your mood. I’ve had my eye on this hooded jumper dress from H&M for the past couple of weeks.

I’m visualising it belted over wide-leg trousers. I have a wide zebra-skin belt bought years ago in a charity shop in London, which will create SS17’s key silhouette as seen at Prada, Alexander McQueen and Alberta Ferretti, among others.

I?love the idea of pairing it with these sequinned wide-leg trousers from & Other Stories – it creates a complete juxtaposition?between sparkle and gnarly knit. Opposites often attract in fashion.

The hood is what elevates this jumper dress into “a piece” in my mind. It gives what otherwise might be a generic grey sweater dress a fashion edge and?allows for more interesting contrasts within your outfit. Fashion’s fascination with hoods follows through from last season,?when these kinds of athleisure elements were elevated to evening and cocktail wear – a hood is no longer a nod to casual chic but a micro trend that can be incorporated into the smartest of outfits without looking out of place.

But fashion aside (just for a moment), the other great thing about this dress is that it will feel like a hug every time you wear it (and we all definitely need one of those).