Meet the coord. Matching separates, but in knit or jersey or silk, with no tailoring. It is essentially a suit for softies, and I am quite into this as an emotional tone. In a coord you are wearing two matching pieces, so you get that vibe of having made a decisive, deliberate choice about your look. But not being structured like a traditional suit means that this look is not stiff. Best of all, if you are wearing a coord then you are not afraid to embrace fashion.

A coord will always have an element of boldness in its colour or print or detail – it must, to qualify as a coord. You can’t just wear a plain navy jumper and a skirt in the same colour. That’s cheating.

This is not a look you are going to be able to shop in your own wardrobe. But shop right and it will be a sustainable purchase, in that you end up with two pieces which have a life outside the outfit and will be reincarnated in looks of the future.

The coord is particularly useful if your top-half size and bottom-half size are different, because you can usually buy the size you need in each, for a tailor-made fit that eludes you if a dress tends to be too big in places and too small in others.

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You probably think clever coord shopping is all about finding a coord that you can split into two separate elements and wear with other things. Nope. Clever coord shopping is about finding an outfit that you genuinely are going to wear this way. When you try the coord on, think about whether it works together. What is happening at the waist: are you going to tuck in or leave loose? This needs to work one way or the other, and don’t try to fob me off with how it needs a belt, or maybe you’ll tie something around your waist.

And when are you going to wear this coord? If the pieces don’t work as a set, then buy the half that actually works for you and don’t get the other bit just for the novelty value.

Every wardrobe needs a jazz hands element. A coord that makes you look smart and makes you smile: that’s a match made in heaven.

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