Five couture styling tricks to make your outfits look more glamorous

The clothes may be astronomically expensive, but the ideas are there for the taking

Four days of haute couture shows certainly provide escapism. This is where a single dress can take months to make and cost the same or more as a house in remote France. If you have to ask the price, you almost certainly can’t afford it.
That said, it’s hard to tell how much business is done at full price. Some clients will try to buy the samples and some shows can seem purely like an extravagant bid to dress actresses on the red carpet (a type of advertising for which brands often pay a hefty fee in addition to providing the clothes gratis). 
So far, so escapist. But there are also styling tips that can help all of us refresh and rethink the way we wear our clothes, from the everyday to special occasions. Here are five of the most compelling from the past week…
Under its creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli, Valentino’s couture show is often a couture highlight. This collection was no different. Why? Because Piccioli is so inventive with colour, creating combinations you probably haven’t seen before that make simple, classic shapes seem fresh. 
Hues that might on their own look overly saccharine become interesting and modern. A pale bubblegum pink skirt with an olive tunic-jacket for instance; a blue peacoat with purple cashmere jumper and custard yellow skirts; dove grey with dandelion; a classic bottle green full skirt with a neon yellow top and oversized eau de nil blazer. In real life, a little of this goes a long way – one slightly off kilter or electric shade worn with an otherwise neutral outfit will probably do it. 
If you hanker for the texture and structure of something furry, unless you don’t mind being a social pariah, or you’re prepared to keep repeating that it’s vintage over and over again, the real thing is untenable. 
Given all the question marks over the polluting petro-chemicals that go into fake fur, designers are moving away from that too. Instead, at Alaia, which is enjoying a new lease of energy under Belgian creative director Peter Muller (he was previously Raf Simons’ right hand when the latter was at Dior), used a single merino yarn to create the kind of enormous shoulder sweeping coats that wouldn’t look out of place in a Helmut Newton photograph.
Alaia aficionados will be pleased to know that Richemont, which owns it, seems to be investing in it: a new boutique is slated to open on a prominent corner of the swanky Faubourg Saint-Honore, and Muller has ambitions. Rather than simply raiding the archives, he’s thinking about what a modern Alaia customer might like. She still wants slink, bodycon, dagger heels and to make an impact that never looks exactly effortless, but the fabrications are fresh and arresting. 
At Valentino too, textured wools replaced fur and for evenings, a shiny, curly boa. Odd but effective. The status symbols are a’changing. 
Valentino’s wool coats also came in all colours and cuts. From neat felt blazers and boxy jackets, to a standout orange mini duffle coat, any outerwear wardrobe could be given a new lease of life for spring with an update like this.
Tinkly, chandelier drop earrings have been sidelined for the moment by ever more interesting groupings up the lobe. On the catwalk, as well as at the high jewellery presentations that run concurrently with the shows in Paris during couture week, the emphasis is on round, sculptural earrings that sit unusually on the ear, perching just below the lobe or curling around it. Chokers are back too.  
Toteme, the cult Scandinavian label, is increasingly one to watch. Style cognoscenti already love it because while it’s reminiscent of The Row (and on average a third of the price), it also has its own point of view. The blanket stitch coats and jackets you may have seen a lot of last year were either from Toteme, or copies… With a new flagship store going great guns in London’s Mayfair and others opening in the US, this was the moment for the label to debut on the Paris catwalk.
Bold of them to do it during couture week when it is a decidedly ready-to-wear house, but Toteme is very much about elevating touches (superstar photographer Steven Meisel does its campaigns) and the two founders are very cognisant of the details that count. Case in point: those kitten heel wedge sling backs they showed with many of the monochrome outfits in this show. A statement shoe that’s walkable – extraordinary.