I don’t really see the point in going out on a Saturday night between October and Christmas. What could you possibly do, where could you possibly go – crucially, what could you possibly wear – that would be more glamorous than Strictly? Camaraderie, dancefloor elation, gossip, the full Saturday night package, is delivered to you at home so you don’t have to move. Bliss.
In the unlikely event that I do leave the house on a Strictly Saturday, I take the dress code with me. Not the maribou-edged nudity of the dancefloor, obviously. Instead, the dress code that applies to presenters Tess and Claudia. Every week, those two wear the grownup party clothes: block colour jumpsuits or little black dresses, long dresses with splits or boxy minis. In the Strictly narrative, the dancing couples are all hormones and tears, babbling a mile a minute about how tonight is the most amazing thing that has happened to them like alcopop-fuelled teenagers. Tess and Claudia bring a little grownup perspective, with (respectively) a steadying arm around the shoulder and a dose of wry humour. While everyone around them couples up in Strictly’s weekly parade of state-licensed infidelity, Tess and Claudia are each other’s constant wingmen.
This is not the place for an in-depth discussion of the presenters’ respective aesthetics. (That place, in case you are wondering, is my sofa.) The topline takeaway from the Tess-and-Claudia look is how to hold your own when the glamour stakes are raised, without feeling like you have to go full pelt into the maribou trims.
An evening skirt is a good place to start. The evening skirt is to midulthood what the going-out top was to a twentysomething wardrobe: the anchor piece that you can pair with something practical. Just as jeans were the go-to with a going out top, a fine-knit sweater or T-shirt or polo neck is the partner for an evening skirt. This skirt is mine, bought from Raey at matchesfashion.com earlier this year. The fringing is jive, the shape is tango, and it brings with it so much party spirit that you don’t have to wear anything else fancy.
At the risk of sounding 567 years old, bare shoulders don’t appeal at this time, especially since most thermostats in restaurants and party venues seem to be set for the comfort of a man in a shirt and a jacket, not a woman in a strapless dress. So a skirt that is fancy enough to pair with a polo neck is a dream. Get your dancing shoes, and you are good to go. Or, of course, to stay put.
• Jess wears top, £25, rokit.co.uk. Skirt, Jess’ own. Heels, £55.99, zara.com.
Styling: Melanie Wilkinson. Hair and makeup: Samantha Cooper at Carol Hayes Management.
