I love a cropped pant. Fashion designers call these a 7/8 pant (no science here – they’re just that little bit longer than a 3/4 pant). They look really great and are so versatile, working equally well with heels as they do with flats and sneakers (no frantic, running out the door, last minute hem adjustments required).

The trick to pulling this off though (and not looking dumpy) is all about proportions.

Your pants must be a straight and slim (but not too tight) cut, so that the diameter of the hem on your pant is around half the length of your shoes (hence narrower hems work better with heels). The crop also needs to allow around a 5cm gap from the bottom of your pant hem to the top of your shoes, for that perfect pant to exposed-ankle ratio.

Like what you see? Grab your rulers and follow the link below for my edit of the best crop pants you can buy right now….

The trench coat is an enduring classic – another one of those things that we fashion-folk world call a ‘wardrobe essential’.

It is non-seasonal, always flattering and terribly stylish. I love the way you can add it to any outfit and you will immediately look more ‘French’ (in a fantastically ‘I didn’t try too hard, I just threw this on’ kind of way).

The trench is open to many a creative interpretation – no matter what your personal style is, there is a trench coat out there for you:

Pink? tick!

Lace? tick!

But my personal favourite is of the longer, looser variety like in the picture. Elegant, effortless and dramatically ‘swishy’. And you get extra points for getting you coat length to perfectly match your skirt length – one of my favourite styling tricks!

Follow the link below for my edit of the best trench coats…