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Claudia Winkleman used to be famous for her glossy, eyelash-bothering asymmetric fringe. Now, since she’s been presenting The Traitors and its famous offspring, The Celebrity Traitors – season two of which is well underway on the BBC – she’s become a fashion icon whose style has influenced fashion ranges and the way people dress.
But something has changed since Claudia was last stalking the heathery grounds of Ardross Castle. The ‘heritage’ looks that have always been the backbone of Winkleman’s on-screen style are back front and centre of fashion this autumn. Wax jackets, tweed tailoring, tartan trousers and funnel neck capes, clothes you would expect to find on a Sloane Ranger circa 1980, a punk rocker circa 1977, a nineteenth-century dandy or a highwayman…all of it right down to the wool wristwarmers, is riding high in the fashion charts and in a high street store near you.
This news may not make you leap for joy. Claudia herself recently described her Traitors’ style as ‘human crow meets golf caddy meets the artful dodger’, and then there’s the fact that half of it is unwearable unless you’re tiny with a long neck. That said, there are elements of it that we can all do business with, and we should: this heritage with-a-fashion-edge boom is not going away.
Here are some of the looks that will work for us and some to leave strictly to CW.
The Tailored Tweed Coat
This sounds unpromising - bulky, heavy, scratchy - but the modern tailored ‘tweed’ coat is generally a wool mix – lighter, softer, designed to mould to the body and generally to make the wearer feel a bit Kristin Scott Thomas ‘First Desk’ in Slow Horses.
Claudia likes her tweed double-breasted and flagstone sweeping and not necessarily practical, so she might pick Holland Cooper’s great coat (£799, hollandcooper.com).
I’ve got my eye on M&S’s sharp shouldered, waisted single button double-breasted grey herringbone coat (£150, marksandspencer.com).
This is a close fitted coat - you won’t be cramming thick sweaters underneath it - but it will make a great smartener upper, and it has the instant posture-improving quality you look for in a coat like this.
A Cape
Did Claudia bring back the cape in season one? Either way, capes now feel distinctly Traitors-core, though civilians need to keep it simple and no longer than mid-thigh – which is just how Claudia has been wearing hers this series.
Zara’s soft dark navy style (£109, zara.com) is a good bet. The details that make this desirable are the throat latch and the gold buttons – all of which make it more Left Bank chic than Dick Turpin.
May in future ring the changes in a tall neck cape sweater in light heather grey (£45.99, shop.mango.com) worn with Spanx and overknee boots. Very fireside catch-up chat.
M&S do a grey funnel neck kimono sleeved cape (£36, marksandspencer.com) that’s cropped on the hip and looks smart with jeans.
The Argyle Knit
Argyle is ‘the’ heritage knit of the moment – much easier to wear than Fairisle - and the Argyle tank is now as embedded in our wardrobes as barrel jeans.
The tank over white shirt look is so CW that in Zara they have a ready-attached all-in-one (not nice). That said, this season CW will probably go with a long sleeved Argyle sweater in cashmere (£300, massimodutti.com), maybe wrapped around the waist of a plain black turtleneck.
An argyle knit over a ruffle-necked white blouse is a classic CW look that’s also easy to wear. Otherwise, Boden’s Ariadne jumper in orange and camel (£129, boden.com) is something different. You can tire of Argyle.
A Kilt Adjacent Skirt
Traitors Claudia endorsed kilts from the start and typically likes to wear hers long with a white shirt and plain black sweater. That’s fine, but kilt adjacent (itals) is where we want to be at our age, and I would avoid tartan, stick to a plain colour, probably black, a hemline finishing a few inches below the knee (not midi), and wear it with a turtleneck sweater and boots to avoid any hint of Saint Trinian’s.
The kilt she wears in the promotional shots for the new series is Le Kilt’s boucle tweed midi kilt (£650, lekilt.co.uk).
Women over 50 should: M&S have had great success with their plain kilt-adjacent skirts, and this season’s (£45, marksandspencer.com) is no exception.
A Highwayman White Shirt
There’s always a smattering of stand and deliver styles in CW’s Traitor’s wardrobe, most of which will trip you up IRL (including the floor-sweeping trench coats). For our purposes, there’s something acceptably Princess Diana Lite about a ruffle-collared white blouse (ruffle cuffs optional) worn under a waistcoat or peeking out of a crewneck sweater – the secret is to keep it low-key and not too blousy.
This season Claudia opened the series by emerging from a coffin in an ultra frothy frill-fronted white shirt that was part Pierrot, part Adam Ant – the extreme version of a look that, dialled down 9, can work for us.
H&M has a ruffle-collared white shirt (£17, 2.hm.com) and Cos do a ruffle-collared pale stripe shirt (£85 cos.com), both of which would look great under a cropped collarless jacket.
Knee Boots, or Taller
Has Claudia ever worn shoes? Well, yes, famously some two-tone loafers – one embellished with the word Faithful, the other Traitor – but as a rule it’s all lug sole boots, Dr Martens (too heavy for Us) and knee boots with heels (hers are from The Row and cost pushing £3000). Civilians like us may want to follow her knee boot lead this season but err on the manageable heel side.
M&S’s block heel over the knee boot (£140, marksandspencer.com) is the one that Claudia’s stylist Sinead McKeefry may be ordering in as we speak, to wear with her signature skinny Spanx leggings.
Zara has some good-looking boots at the moment, including a block-heeled all-rounder (£69.99, zara.com). Meanwhile, if you’re looking for a practical chunky boot, M&S’s waterproof cropped wellies (£36, marksandspencer.com) are a favourite they now repeat every year, practical, sturdy and smart enough to wear in town.
The Barbour jacket
Every label on the high street and every designer label has a version of the trusty corduroy collared wax jacket this season. It’s the new puffer jacket.
Barbour has collaborated with Balzac Paris on a frill-collared leopard print version (£600, balzac-paris.com) which might work for a Traitor’s challenge.
Fatface’s plaid print cord collared wax jacket is a suitably glammed up version of the original (£135, fatface.com) and Massimo Dutti do a sleek expensive looking version with an oversize cord collar (£150, massimodutti.com).
A Little Bit Of Tartan (or Plaid)
CW wears tons of tartan - vintage Vivienne Westwood bondage trousers, coats, you name it - but generally speaking tartan on anyone over 40, outside a Traitors’ set, is as ageing as tweed plus fours and my tip would be, stick to plaid, and keep the colours muted.
Claudia favours a hint of swashbuckling hussar so she might well go for Boden’s Hereford military wool jacket (£299, boden.com) in a navy and green plaid, paired with a long black skirt (a new feature of Claudia’s Traitors’ wardrobe).
Also, were I Claudia’s stylist, I’d be tempted to call in Me+Em’s lace cuff layering top (£125) plus plaid blouse (£125) topped off with a short-sleeve fur gilet cum cropped jacket (£850, all meandem.com). Well, it is showbiz. That’s all the highland references in one outfit.
H&M’s plaid brushed jacket with scarf (£54.99, 2.hm.com) hits the spot or Zara’s tweedy check stand-up collar fitted jacket (£69.99, zara.com). We’re wearing ours with wide leg trousers.
A Flourish of Faux Fur
Too much waxed khaki and tweed together is guaranteed to age you if you don’t keep ramping up the glamour, and the swiftest way to beef up country classics (or any outerwear) is with a hefty dash of lush faux fur.
Tu at Sainsbury’s has a faux fur lined bomber jacket (£48, tuclothing.sainsburys.co.uk) that we can certainly see Claudia in, funnel collar up.
M&S’s relaxed fur trench in ginger brown (£150) is softer than Claudia’s usual style, but draped over a tailored jacket, it has Traitors’ attitude. And M&S’s padded faux fur lined utility jacket in sand (£110, both marksandspencer.com) is a great all-round, all-weather coat, with extra glamour.
An Old Fashioned Tux
Claudia likes a Spanx scuba legging, worn underneath an oversize long line jacket. For our purposes, the DJ jacket worn over straight trousers – maybe leather - is a realistic alternative.
M&S’s capsule 100-year collection includes a much-coveted, double breasted, satin lapelled tuxedo jacket (£85) which would go nicely with her Spanx and boots plus wrist warmers.
We can also wear this jacket paired with the matching black trousers (£50, both marksandspancer.com). Add a fur scarf, some bling earrings, and you’re cocktail hour in the castle.