How to pull off one of the SS season’s biggest trends.

In the 19th century, nostalgia was considered not just a wistful feeling, but a debilitating psychopathological disorder. Once diagnosed, a nostalgic might have been treated with anything from slow exposure therapy to “pain and terror”, according to a 2013 article by Ms Julie Beck in The Atlantic. Thank goodness then, that we live in an era, which supplies more accessible, instantaneous and pleasurable solutions to the condition. Like Mad Men. And Stranger Things. And, if you’ve got it really bad, Downton Abbey. Of course, if you, like many of us, find yourself yearning for a time when things were simpler and clothes were better, there’s also plenty of things to wear. Because the fashion world is currently enamoured with the styles of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s all at once. This is particularly clear, this season, in the jacket department, which is stuffed full of retro pieces that neatly update designs from those decades. Scroll down for some of our current favourites, and how to wear them.

Part of the enduring charm of Milanese powerhouse Prada is the idiosyncratic 1970s-tinged gawkiness that tends to surfaces in its collections from season to season, of which this sumptuous suede jacket is a prime example. For full period flare, it should be worn with a white turtleneck, or, in summer, a wide-collared shirt, with the top two buttons undone. But for a more 2017 take on the look, try it with an off-white crewneck from New York’s Theory, and some blue denim jeans.

Popularised in the 1950s by the likes of Messrs Elvis Presley, Steve McQueen and James Dean, the Harrington jacket was also popular among 1960s mods and skinheads, and has since been the subject of many revivals. In short, it’s a twice or thrice-times classic piece, which can be worn in a variety of ways. But for 2017 we like the sharp styling of the mods – a crisp Harrington worn over a pressed button-down check shirt, with a pair of tailored wool trousers. Done.

The above zip-up blouson jacket (it’s almost a sweatshirt, but not quite) from Dries Van Noten has a sharp, simple feel which brings to mind the impeccable style of the American students captured in Mr Teruyoshi Hayashida’s influential 1965 photobook Take Ivy. All it’s missing, really is a giant chenille letters saying “Y-A-L-E” on the back. But that’s a good thing. In the present day, the Ivy look is better recreated in a more low-key fashion, lest passers-by think you’ve escaped from the “jock” segment of your nearest production of Grease. Keep it simple with a pair of English-twill chinos from Parisian brand Officine Generale, and add a white T-shirt. The choice between white Converse high-tops and Sperry Top-Siders is really a response to another question: “How Ivy are you willing to go?”

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