Is there any better barometer of the state of society right now than what we’re wearing? 2020 is particularly defined by sartorial signposting – whether it’s with a face mask and sweatpants or the black garb of a protest. In fact, few years in recent memory are more defined by clothes – and, if we’re honest, the clothes (like the year itself) have been depressing. What we wouldn’t give for the chance to dress up again!

And we know we’re not alone. If the celebrities are anything to go by (and for better or worse, they usually are), seven months into a global pandemic, things are starting to take a turn for the… conspicuous. Mr Jaden Smith caught our attention recently with a vibrant turquoise suit, tie-dye socks and chunky New Balance sneakers worn to the Malibu restaurant Nobu (where he dined with his sister Ms Willow Smith).

Also, of course, he accessorised with a pearl necklace. Pearls are a talking point in menswear at the moment (thanks to Mr Harry Styles’ apparent fondness for them), and though perhaps more associated with the dustier side of British royalty, Mr Smith proves that, actually, they can look pretty good with an offbeat suit.

The only pictures of Mr Smith from the night show him hiding from the paps, but surely the first rule of avoiding the press as a celebrity is that you don’t go to Nobu in a teal suit and pearls?

Moving on: it seems dressing for attention is the new sitting on our couch from dawn-to-dusk – everybody’s doing it. Sure, some celebrities might be seen cycling to the shops in sweatpants, but there’s also plenty of peacocking.

The Italians, unsurprisingly, are the glittering lodestars here; see the film director Mr Damiano D’Innocenzo in an unmistakably Gucci suit at the Nastri D’Argento film awards earlier this month, or Mr Filippo Maria Fanti, the Italian singer more commonly known as Irama, who showed up to the Etro show in Milan (one of the only brands to host a runway presentation during Milan’s “Digital” fashion week) wearing a plush velvet setup with nothing underneath – well, on top, at least (we assume).

The louche appeal of the “shirtless suit” has gained momentum over the past couple of years, and you might just get away with it if your pecs are sculpted and gleaming and you’ve got 1.4 million Instagram followers. For the rest of us, we might be best keeping our cleavage to ourselves, but there’s a lesson to be learnt here in carrying off a shouty suit with confidence. 

We also couldn’t fail to notice Hoshi from K-pop band Seventeen at a showcase of the band’s new mini album, Heng:garæ (which, happily, means tossing someone up in the air in celebration). He was wearing a Versace suit printed with animated cars. Hoshi does a good job of convincing us that cartoon cars (in the style of an eight-year-old’s bedspread) are fashionable. It’s fun, which is the point here.

One might naturally think that, since none of us have an overflowing social calendar to contend with right now, is there any point of dressing in bright, attention-grabbing clothes? But it’s exactly because opportunities to peacock are so few and far between that they should also be seized with gusto. Indeed, if there was any time to go all out with your outfit, expressing yourself through the lurid suit on your shoulders, make no mistake: it’s now.