How to get the Look: Suede

Sand-coloured, panelled skirt from Jaeger, £350

High-maintenance fabrics aren't really my thing.

Nor ours. Ordinarily, any garment that has a Martha Stewart YouTube video dedicated to its care is an instant no.

So what's redeemed suede?

Maybe it's the 1970s sensibility of the spring collections seeping into our bloodstreams, maybe it's poring over pics of the street-style crowd sporting sensuous suede with improbably tanned bare legs. No matter, we want in.

Seventies suede. I feel a fringe coming on.

There's a lot of that about, to be sure. But we're rather keener on the decade's unfussier shapes. The simple suede A-line skirt has trans-decade appeal – hence the frenzy over M&S's Autograph version, which has had shoppers on tenterhooks for its appearance in-store. For those who prefer not to wear their shopping metadata on their sleeve, or indeed skirt, we like this sand-coloured, panelled style from Jaeger (£350, jaeger.co.uk, above).

Now that shade is not going to wear well on my commute.

Actually, for real life, we'd probably also opt for the alternative black or grey that it comes in. If you're after a more resolutely vintage hue, Asos's midi skirt comes in a tan shade redolent of days gone by (£75, asos.com).