22 jumpsuits: how to pull off the grown-up babygro

Most people don’t get the jumpsuit thing,” fashion plate Alexa Chung once mused. “They don’t understand why you’d want to look like a man mechanic. I think it has its own charm, and I also think it’s a good test of how into fashion people are. It’s deliberately ugly, I think.”

Indeed, the jumpsuit has long been a litmus test for sorting those with sartorial nous from the amateurs who hope saying the word “directional” will delude others into thinking they have “it”. But in fact the jumpsuit is not an exclusive uniform for fashion bores — it’s a versatile life raft that raises your look immeasurably with very minimal effort. As the Standard’s fashion editor wrote last month, it’s “easy to wear and ridiculously comfortable, and — provided you choose a style and size that fits perfectly — this is the summer wedding outfit of which dreams are made. In essence it’s a wardrobe staple that could prove as essential to your life as a Breton top or a navy cashmere sweater.”

One friend is thrilled because wearing a jumpsuit means stress-free cycling; a colleague can’t stop Googling “jumpsuit” and marvelling at the elegant options that deliver ladylike chic without the frump. At Chiltern Firehouse beautiful girls serve beautiful customers in beautiful Emilia Wickstead jumpsuits.

“Originally designed as work gear, the shape allows you to move with ease,” explains Ducie Keam-George, creative director at Ducie, which offers a selection of plain and print jumpsuits this season. “As ours is made of silk, it’s definitely more fashion than practical but with the same comfort factor. We recommend wearing it with Isabel Marant pool sliders or Céline slip-ons — you can do the school run in style. This jumpsuit actually makes you look skinny — loose silk always makes you look as if you’ve lost five pounds. Silk is chic, so if you want to wear it to a special event, it can look dressy with a pair of stilettos but not stiff.”

So there you have it: edicts from on high (fashion). Here are 22 ways to make the look your own.