MASTER THE ART OF UNDERSTATED PARTY CHIC

SAYS MELISSA TWIGG

My husband once gave me a mug printed with the words “Melissa Twigg – Fun Police”, accompanied by a picture of a tiny policewoman wagging her finger. I drink my tea out of it most mornings, content in the knowledge that while I may have some good qualities, being the sort of riotously fun person who is the last to leave a party is not one of them.

This extends to my wardrobe. While I am partial to a short skirt, a silky dress and pretty, flat shoes, I have never been very good at Bond-girl glitz. Weddings I can do; hen parties not so much. At one – held in an Essex nightclub with the theme “all-out glamour” – I wore a sleeveless polo-neck dress and ballet shoes, and looked like a nun who had been let loose from the local convent.

Thankfully, my days of being bussed from London to Essex to celebrate someone’s impending nuptials are over – but I have learnt a few party rules along the way, namely that all you need to not look actively underdressed is one jazzy piece.

Let’s start with shoes. I don’t like wearing heels (mostly because I’m tall and having sore feet increases the likelihood of me turning into the fun police), but I love pretty flats. One of my favourite winter party looks is very sheer tights, black flats and a shortish skirt with a shirt or sleeveless top – nobody would call it dressy, but it is ever-so-slightly sexy and, I think, very flattering.

I’m also a big fan of flat or low-heeled over-the-knee boots from brands such as Dear Frances. It’s impossible to call a woman in thigh-high boots a shrinking violet, which means you can wear them with a simple waist-tie dress or knee-length skirt and jumper and still look undeniably dressy.

And then there is colour. I wonder if some of my hesitancy around all-out glamour comes from living in Paris for the first five years of my 20s. When I arrived there, I wore the bright, print-laden clothes I’d bought in London, and the locals looked on in horror. Once, when I went to a party in a pair of leopard-print tights, a woman fanned herself in distress; another time, a man I had thought quite liked me refused to go on a third date until I bought a pair of shoes that weren’t covered in what he called “funny little plastic jewels”.

Within months, I had swapped them all for navy blue shifts, dark green shirts and straight-leg jeans, and quickly learnt that you can get away with a lot more if you’re in muted colours: low-cut tops and high hemlines look stylish, rather than a little too much, and there’s nothing boring about pairing a navy or cream jumper from brands such as Chinti & Parker with well-cut trousers and a slick of red lipstick.

More than a decade on, I’m still slightly allergic to sparkle. Each Christmas, I rely on my black jeans – which I wear with pointy flats or ballet shoes – and the sort of cheerful top that wouldn’t shock a Parisian but which isn’t quite right for the office, either. This year, I have been wedded to a thin black polo-neck body from Commando, which is stretchy enough to look evening-like while being in no way glitzy, and a tunic dress from Jane Atelier, which I wear with chunky hoop earrings. Dark green is a winning shade – I’ve got a lot of mileage out of both the wool trousers from Cos that

I’m wearing in this picture and a pair of crushed-velvet trousers in the same colour from Jigsaw. Both can be dressed down with a chunky knit but also have a decidedly Christmassy whiff – while being sleek and stylish enough to wear year-round.

Fun police – but fashionable.