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‘Work hard – nobody cares how good you used to be’: Paul Smith at 80 on love, fun and his fabulous life in fashion

With the release of his new biography, the British designer talks about leaving school at 15, the real reason he won’t retire and why no one wears velvet trousers any more Go for a browse in the Paul Smith shop in Mayfair, London, on any given Saturday and you’ll likely find an older shop assistant, straight-backed in fine tailoring, approaching to help you with a new shirt, or a suit for a special occasion, perhaps a jaunty pair of socks. There aren’t many global fashion brands, Paul Smith points out, perhaps unnecessarily, “where the owner is a Saturday boy”. But working in his shop, one of

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Jess Cartner-Morley’s August style essentials: lace trims, snazzy knits and one truly beautiful bag

Whether you’re in full summer mode or quietly planning for autumn, our fashion expert’s monthly picks will carry you stylishly between the two • How to create the perfect women’s holiday capsule wardrobe August: do you buy for the holiday you’ll be melting through this month, or the one you’ll be pretending to enjoy in a jumper come October? Answers on a postcard, please! The key to staying (relatively) sane in silly season is to embrace the contradictions. Read on for the holiday-coded necklace I’ve fallen in love with and the elegant leather handbag I’m dreaming of when I hang up my straw ba

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Jess Cartner-Morley on fashion: the secret to summer layering? Sheer bravery

Adding layers doesn’t have to leave you a hot mess – think sheer scarves and crochet with flashes of colour to elevate your look Perhaps I shouldn’t admit this, but I’m in two minds about summer dressing. Part of me believes summer is about joy, sunshine and good times, and clothes should embrace all of that. This woman loves Pucci and owns not one but two silver kaftans. The other part of me believes summer should be uncomplicated, laid-back and earthy. This woman never checks in luggage and has worn the same black beach cover-up for so many years it’s too threadbare to cover anything much. T

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From the perfect jeans to wedgie-free knickers: fashion experts’ guide to the best women’s basics

Want to know the essentials fashion insiders swear by? Whether it’s great T-shirts or forever trainers, Guardian writers and stylists reveal the pieces they rate • Jess Cartner-Morley’s September style essentials Whether it’s a great pair of pants or the perfect T-shirt, nailing the basics can make or break your wardrobe. “They have to work harder than anything else,” says British Vogue beauty and wellness director Funmi Fetto. I asked Fetto and other stylists and style writers, along with members of the Guardian fashion desk – who all spend more time than most thinking about this stuff – for

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Jess Cartner-Morley’s September style essentials: slipper-soft shoes, miracle hair mist and a worth-the-wait cardigan

Got that new term feeling? Embrace the September reset with tailored blazers, hints of cashmere and a surprisingly excellent tee • Don’t get the Filter delivered to your inbox? Sign up here Nobody has handed me a timetable in decades, but I still love that new-term energy, and this edit leans right into it. A blazer that is properly tailored, rather than assembled from buttons and hope. Closed-toe shoes to ensure a proper soft landing after months of sandals. A T-shirt from a brand I was fully prepared to be sniffy about, until it made me eat my words. And a packing solution, because the only

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‘I love the boldness of modernism’: New York fashion week goes highbrow

Georgia O’Keeffe inspires the latest Calvin Klein while Michael Kors feels indebted to Alexander Calder Calvin Klein has taken a highbrow turn in the two years since Veronica Leoni took charge. The Italian designer, a philosophy graduate who was schooled in the chic design studios of Jil Sander and Celine, has shifted away from jeans, boxer shorts and logos, stripping the brand to its minimalist bones: slip dresses and simple coats, slim skirts and crisp T-shirts. Leoni called this the “discipline of removal”. Her muse this season was Georgia O’Keeffe, an artist who the brand’s namesake founde

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Mossy catwalks, mycelial designs and Monty Don: the growth of gardener style

Aspirational clobber, hot horticulturists and a TikTok content rise suggest gardening has never been cooler You could argue that photosynthesis, soil bacteria, chlorophyll and germination, by their nature, never go out of style. But somehow, as the news broke this week that Monty Don would step down from Gardeners’ World after 23 years behind the shovel, gardening is having a moment in the sun. On Saturday, New Balance will launch a pair of trainers alongside the jewellery designer Bleue Wickham-Burnham in a campaign fronted by Don himself, photographed shrinking into a bush with a pair of the

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The definitive guide to men’s shirts: 19 of the best for every occasion

Is an Oxford shirt the ultimate wardrobe staple? Are skin-tight fits ever a good idea? And what’s the perfect fabric for autumn and winter? Our menswear expert has all the answers • The best white T-shirts for men The photo above stopped me mid-scroll: Harry Styles, before his 30-show residency at Madison Square Garden, dressed in a big white shirt and smart tailored trousers. After a summer spent parked in front of three fans with ice packs on rotation, when wearing actual clothes felt like punishment, here was proof that normal service had resumed. So, now the rain’s back and autumn’s creepi

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Marks and Spencer’s first LFW catwalk gamble pays off with compelling looks at affordable prices

Retailer’s message is ‘fashion with a small f’ as it picks up on trends and brings styles for everyone to debut runway show Joan Collins declared the coats “very chic”, and has her eye on a graceful ivory evening dress with caped shoulders. Kemi Badenoch plans to snap up the classic black tuxedo jacket. If the British public are as enthusiastic as the celebrity front row, Marks & Spencer’s first ever London fashion week catwalk looks like a hit. The show, held at the Design Museum for 310 guests including Ian Wright and Jamie Carragher, was a gamble on both sides. Would snobby fashionistas

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It’s a slam dunk for Tommy Hilfiger as stars turn out for Plaza homecoming

Preppy is back in the zeitgeist, says designer, blending sportswear codes and collegiate chic at New York show Tommy Hilfiger’s front row was a slam dunk. The Knicks are the kings of New York right now, so scoring Josh Hart, Karl-Anthony Towns and Miles McBride, three of the team’s stars, for the guest list of his New York catwalk show was a victory. Travis Kelce, who is co-designing another upcoming collection with Hilfiger and had been rumoured to attend this event with his new bride, was a no show, but you can’t win them all. Tommy Hilfiger is all about sport. The design vocabulary of overs

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Is it weird facelifts are becoming normalized, or am I being too judgmental?

It is a little weird that beauty culture is convincing people to surgically saw off their facial skin and sew it back on tighter Tell us: what are the best and worst gifts you’ve ever received? Dear Ugly, I’m 36 and I don’t need or want a facelift – but lately I feel like I’m being made to want a facelift. Is it weird that facelifts are becoming normalized for women my age, or am I being too judgmental? Why is this column called ‘Ask Ugly’? How should I be styling my pubic hair? How do I deal with imperfection? My father had plastic surgery. Now he wants me and my mother to get work done I wan

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Jess Cartner-Morley’s February style essentials: joyful jumpers, 24-hour earrings and the world’s most flattering tee

In need of a February pep talk? Our fashion expert’s must-haves are here to lift your mood • How to dress in cold weather Let’s get real. Few of us look or feel at our most fabulous in February. It’s been cold and dark for, what, 18 months? Feels like it. Getting dressed feels less stylish self-expression than huddling for warmth. But there are reasons to be cheerful – or, more to the point, things that can bring you cheer. There is Valentine’s Day. (I will never understand why people like to sneer about Valentine’s Day. A daft festival of joy in the bleakest moment of the calendar. Take the w

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Dads and dudes: the two style clans that dominate menswear

The ‘dad’ look favours straight lines and muted colours, while ‘dudes’ prefer baggier clothes with adornments There is a competition going on at the US Open this week and it’s not the one involving rackets and balls. Instead, leading men who are not entered into this year’s draw are serving looks rather than aces. Tennis legend Roger Federer took to the court on Tuesday in navy blue polo shirt and shorts, navy blue sweatbands and navy blue socks. The cuts were trim and the top was tucked in. The young Spanish player Carlos Alcaraz wore a Nike vest, untucked and the colour of Ribena, maroon sho

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Infallible style: Pope Leo appears in Vanity Fair’s ranks of most fashionable

Pontiff, who has caught the eye in trainers and a baseball cap, praised for taking dress to ‘heavenly heights’ For the first time in a decade, Vanity Fair has released a best-dressed list. Featuring 70 names, the list ranks the most fashionable people in the world in 2026. The lineup includes the usual suspects spanning Hollywood actors and global pop stars but nestled among the Hollywood stars is an unexpected entrant. Pope Leo XIV. The 70-year-old head of the Catholic church has been praised by the magazine for taking papal style “to heavenly heights”. His most memorable look? A simple white

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Wide-legged trousers for men are having a moment. Just ask Gary Neville

Neville may have been mocked for wearing them on Monday Night Football, but he is actually bang on trend From Kylian Mbappé’s World Cup style to Erling Haaland’s hair tie, football has had many viral fashion moments in 2026. Perhaps the one that speaks to the fashion crowd, and a larger debate happening in menswear right now, is Gary Neville being mercilessly teased on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football for sporting wide-legged trousers. Continue reading...

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Icons, new stars and First Nations excellence: 10 key shows from New Zealand fashion week

The event feted its 25 year anniversary with labels like Zambesi, promising emerging designers and an explosion of Māori and Indigenous culture New Zealand fashion week took place in Auckland this week at the heritage-listed Shed 10 on Waitemata harbour and other venues across the city. Founded by Dame Pieter Stewart in 2001, now run by entrepreneur Feroz Ali, the 25th anniversary featured a mix of established names, exciting newcomers and a dramatically enhanced Indigenous program. The event boasted three separate group showcases of creatives from not just the Pacific region, but India, Taiwa

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‘I wanted to find the slowest fashion imaginable’: the woman growing her own dress

Looking for an alternative to fast fashion, Eve Ogden Schaub decided to create a garment from homegrown flax From crop tops to shorts and brightly patterned dresses, many of today’s clothes are the result of fast fashion. But one woman is taking a radical approach to challenging this trend by growing her own dress. Eve Ogden Schaub is in the midst of a project to create a linen garment made from flax she is growing at home, documenting the process in videos shared on her Instagram account. Continue reading...

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Are you washing your sportswear wrong? An expert guide to making it last longer

From sweaty kit to grubby trainers, here’s how to wash, repair and care for activewear more sustainably • The best moisture-wicking underwear, socks and base layers As a running and cycling journalist, I spend a lot of time in sportswear. Lycra is my leg coverage of choice, polyester or merino wool my base layer, and I reach for technical materials like Gore-Tex if the weather isn’t playing ball. A near-daily workout schedule means my washing machine’s sportswear setting takes a hammering to avoid having a laundry basket overflowing with sweaty, salty, sour-scented clothes. But even then, tops

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What happened to just wearing a band T-shirt? The new rules of concert dressing

Whether it’s Harry Styles’s retro tailoring, CMAT’s joyful mash-ups or Metallica’s silver tones, here’s how to nail concert dressing – without looking like a tribute act • What to wear to a festival this summer Over the past few years, dressing to see your favourite artists live has moved on from just throwing on a band tee and calling it a day. With ticket prices higher than ever, concerts are special events; as a result, there’s been a noticeable shift towards dressing up. Fans are embracing intricate looks inspired by the live shows, songs, albums and even obscure references only the most h