Forget the little black dress, classic white shirt or ultimate pair of skinny jeans. When it comes to wardrobe essentials, I’ve long argued to anyone who’ll listen that the most indispensable item you’ll ever buy is a grey hoodie.
Understated, practical and unisex, and as sexy as you want it to be, the hoodie is versatile enough to wear with just about anything. Or all on its own. Don’t be telling me you can sleep in a LBD, now (unless you’re Jane Fonda).
Even bought cheap, a decent hoodie is nigh-on indestructible and one of the few items of clothing you can chuck in a white, mixed or coloured wash at any temperature with no real risk of damage. Because it’s already grey, dummy.
So imagine my total delight at this latest piece from the H&M x Moschino collection: a grey hoodie skirt! The search for my Christmas present is off.
“A skirt with a what now,” exclaimed Nicole Morley on Twitter.
“Because... maybe you have a twin head on your lower back that gets chilly this time of year? IDK, I’m as mystified as you,” responded another Twitter user.
But I’m sold.
Some 150 years ago, a fashion world obsessed with corsets and crinolines was aghast at the arrival of the boom-bastic bustle onto the 1869 style scene. And what is this “skirt-hoodie” if not a sports-casual take on the very same?
I’m choosing to ignore the fashion journalist who recently called the grey hoodie “the international uniform of drug dealers”. Just think what you could keep in this hood on a night out. There’s room enough for your phone, your cash and a good book to read on the way home. God, at a pinch, your whole handbag. It might even solve your Ryanair baggage concerns.
Not to mention keeping your bum warm. My only cause for concern: that front zip. Easy to get in and out of, but surely a bit of a risk on the dance floor.
The H&M ‘Skirt With A Hood’ is available in selected stores and online for £34.99 as part of the H&M x Moschino collection.