Think about the silhouette – black makes a caped sleeve or wide-legged trouser feel more wearable

Wearing all black looks chic. It looks cool. I realise that this has not been breaking fashion news since approximately 1957. And I know I sound really basic for saying it aloud. Still, I think it bears repeating. Because sometimes we can’t see the wood for the trees, and it is useful to be reminded that all black can be a sanity-saving wardrobe formula that can be adapted for any occasion and never lets you down.

But do you know the best way to wear black? Sounds like a stupid question. The whole vibe of wearing black is about giving off an air of nonchalance. Like, you know, that you were just born super cool, and your outfits just put themselves effortlessly together without you having to try. But that’s not actually how it works. Black is a brilliant canvas, but to make it sing you need to – whisper it – put a tiny bit of effort in. No one ever need know.

With hints of orange, patchouli and even ginger beer, these uplifting fragrances are a joy for those turned off by overpowering bouquets

I have three friends who loathe fragrance – one because she suffers from migraines, one who thinks all perfumes smell the same, and another who just likes to annoy me. I’ve cured all but the last with what I misleadingly describe as “anti-perfume perfumes” – scents with a more natural aroma, that bed down politely on the skin without the dizzying whiff of department store.

I got the migraine sufferer on to E11even (£80) and she’s on her fifth bottle. E11even was founded by TV presenter Cat Deeley and her makeup artist friend Amanda Grossman. The latter blended their only product, an uplifting, rollerball scent, from ethically and fairly sourced natural oils such as patchouli and geranium, by hand at her kitchen table. In the best way, her lack of experience and training as a perfumer shows. Soft and earthy, the scent has an intimacy, almost a naivety, and on the right person (regardless of gender), it can be hard to determine where natural skin scent ends and perfume begins. Even I – a fragrance addict – have been known to swipe across the rollerball on a relaxing weekend at home.

From sunglasses to sandals, our styling editor puts together outfits for stepping outside and shining

As Challengers gives us a viral spin on the T-shirt poached from a former flame, we share our stories about clothes that survived long after the relationship ended

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“It’s such a cheeky T-shirt,” the actor Josh O’Connor recently told Rolling Stone . “Just so cheeky, and I really liked wearing it because it was just a bit like [raises shoulders and winks], ‘Told ya.’”

He was talking, of course, about the T-shirt emblazoned with the phrase “I Told Ya” that has become the most-talked-about garment from Luca Guadagnino’s new tennis film about love, lust and (torn) ligaments, Challengers.

Luxury brand continues its strategy of engaging with diversity and real life – but the prices are less inclusive

Grey hoodies layered under the pastel tweed suits, a catwalk on top of an apartment building with concrete benches instead of gilt chairs, looking out over the rooftops of Marseille, France’s less manicured second city. Chanel has – in fashion speak – a New Look. In the parlance of 2024, it is in its gritty era.

“If Marseille is unexpected, that’s good. We don’t want to be stuck. We need to take risks if we want to show that Chanel is for everyone,” said Bruno Pavlovsky, Chanel’s president of fashion, before the brand’s first ever show in the city. “If we were just for the happy few in the Rue Cambon [in Paris], then that would be the beginning of the end.”

With limited sizes in bridal salons, it can be impossible to order a dress that works for you when you can’t even fit in a sample

I’ll just give it to you straight: shopping for a wedding dress mostly sucked.

Anyone who has ever planned a wedding knows that securing the look is crucial. If you’re a bride, that usually kicks off with Pinterest stalking and research. Then you make an appointment at a bridal salon (or several), try on dresses, fork over thousands of dollars (per Brides.com last year, in the US the average wedding dress cost between $1,800 and $2,400), wait months for the gown to be made, then pay an additional fee – probably three figures – in alterations.

Luxury British brand does not expect challenging trading conditions in UK and China to change soon

Mulberry, the luxury British brand best known for its leather handbags that can cost more than £1,600 each , has reported a 4% decline in annual sales, becoming the latest high-end company to warn of a slowdown in spending among the richest shoppers.

In a trading update , Thierry Andretta, the company’s chief executive, said: “While we achieved positive revenue growth in the first half, Mulberry has not been immune to the broader downturn in luxury spending experienced in recent months, particularly in the UK and Asia.

A bloodstain here, a wonky seam there: it had its flaws, but so do I. And I’m absolutely fine with that

They say it’s unlucky to make your own wedding dress. They say the same about receiving knives as gifts, brides wearing pearls or getting married on a Saturday. So much of wedding culture is built on fear. But wearing my homemade wedding dress was a moment of courage.

I was underqualified to make it. I hadn’t sewn together a proper piece of clothing since my GCSE textiles classes. But I knew the basic concepts, I could read a pattern and I can be very stubborn. In the end, I decided to go ahead because I liked sewing and thought, if I took my time, I was probably capable of doing it.

With his interchangeable T-shirts and short neat hair, Facebook’s founder famously ‘never tried to be cool’. Is his makeover just a distraction from what’s going on at Meta?

A vibe shift is afoot in Silicon Valley. For aeons, the movers and shakers of the tech industry signalled that they were serious people working on serious things via their simple outfits. Crypto mogul Sam Bankman-Fried (now in jail) always looked as if he had rolled out of bed and forgotten to change out of his pyjamas. The late Steve Jobs famously adopted a uniform of black polo necks. Mark Zuckerberg, meanwhile, once boasted that he owned and wore multiple versions of the same T-shirt because it was efficient.

“I’m not a cool person and I’ve never really tried to be cool,” Zuckerberg said in a 2014 Q&A . “I really want to clear my life so that I have to make as few decisions as possible … I feel like I’m not doing my job if I spend any of my energy on things that are silly or frivolous.” That attitude seemed to extend to his hair, which has always been kept Lego-style short.