Jess Cartner-Morley on fashion: slouchy jeans and a short jacket is the new (and more chill) power suit

<p>Update the classic outfit when you want to look slick and office-appropriate … in a low-key, faux-effortless kind of way</p><p>Jeans and a nice top is a tried-and-tested formula when it comes to dressing for an evening out. It is the little black dress of real life. A local dinner, an outing to&nbsp;the theatre or cinema, a birthday gathering in the pub: these do not require a cocktail dress. Still, you want&nbsp;to look nice. So you wear jeans and a nice top.</p><p>If jeans and a nice top is the real life LBD, then jeans and a jacket is the normcore power suit. It is the no-nonsense, I’ve-got-this formula you need for daytime. It is an outfit that comes together in seconds and keeps&nbsp;on looking good and feeling comfortable for hours. It is grown up&nbsp;but not stiff, alpha but not snooty. It is – and this is important in our capricious climate, and when your commute can take you straight from overheated train carriage to chiller-cabinet level air conditioning – pitched neither too warm nor too cold, and offers flexibility. (You are wearing something under the jacket, you see. We will get to that.)</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2026/jun/24/jess-cartner-morley-fashion-slouchy-jeans-short-jacket-the-new-power-suit">Continue reading...</a>