Time to ditch the dress… pencil skirts are back! How to Dress Like an Adult with SHANE WATSON

There's no easy way to say this, so here goes: the dress is dead, long live the skirt. I know. We've been here before.

Last year, fashion enthusiasts announced that the easy pull-on dresses we'd all been wearing since lockdown were over, and a popular uprising ensued. Fashion editors were taken before TV presenters and asked to answer for this attack on British women's wardrobes and their right to an easy, quick solution. And in the end, the all-day midi dress won a stay of execution and everyone was happy.

But you can't hold back the relentless flow of fashion indefinitely. You can stick with your skinny jeans because you like them, and one day they just won't feel good.

You can hold on to your hardworking black tuxedo and then wear it to a party where everyone is dressed in scarlet velvet or peacock blue and you suddenly feel like you're an undertaker.

You can continue to wear the really useful dress with three-quarter sleeves, but from now on the line has been crossed from 'nothing to see here, just a plain dress' to 'Oh, that looks a bit. . . old'.

Emily Ratajkowski wears a denim pencil skirt paired with a leather trench coat and knee-high boots

Every now and then in fashion you have a 'ding-ding, all change' moment, and this is one of those. You can ignore it, but you might find that switching to skirts gives your wardrobe a boost.

And with skirts, even if they aren't as simple as dresses, you can play with proportions – the difference between looking smart and modern, and not.

So how can you keep it easy? Firstly, the skirt should be midi as that is the easiest length to wear and gives you the most options.

The look that's really gaining popularity is a pencil skirt (think a narrow mid-calf skirt, not a knee-length hobbler) worn with a light sweater or smart cardigan, over a crew-neck top.

The underlying problem most of us have with skirts, aside from the hassle of wearing them, is the fear of a tight waistband.

Make sure you don't wear your skirt tight and then let the sweater or cardigan fall a little over the waistband or cover it up a few inches.

Otherwise, you can throw a blazer over it (unbuttoned, it will still give you significant coverage); loosely tuck in a silky blouse; or wear your pencil with a cotton top with puffed sleeves and a defined waist or a cropped sweater with an open collar. Voila — the easy spring skirt suit.

And the point is that with a skirt instead of a dress you can make the proportions work that suit you: a big striped shirt that you tuck in during the day; a top with less volume and a nipped in waist for the evening.

Jennifer Garner is seen outside the 'Today Show' on April 11, 2023 in New York City

A tube model fits well in the office, but a subtly flared A-line skirt or a straight-cut cargo model are good alternatives. Cargo skirts don't have to have pockets, it's more about the functional look – think a denim skirt style with four pockets and a front fly.

But don't necessarily be put off by thigh pockets; they don't have to be bulky and can add some military pizzazz.

Hush has a smart khaki cargo skirt with neat mid-length flap pockets (now £35, hush-uk.com) that gives a sharp uniform feel, and Jigsaw has a good wool utility skirt with a D-ring belt, high patch pockets and a split at the front (£175, jigsaw-online.com). With a tucked-in masculine shirt or a black sweater and black heels, this is the perfect smart office wear.

A-line skirts are available in many fabrics, including corduroy (£190, cefinn.com) and denim (now £115.50, wyselondon.com) and denim is a particularly tempting option this year. It works in all weather conditions, whether you're on holiday with sandals and a T-shirt, or during the day with a blazer, boots and a fur coat on top.

This season the denim skirt is available in literally every style, but the ones you'll wear most often are the skirts with a subtle flare or a variation on the straight/pencil shape. Marks & Spencer makes a good straight midi with a modest slit at the front, in black or blue midwash (£29.50, marksandspencer.com).

It doesn't matter which wash you choose; it's about what you wear it with.

For a chic look in the coming weeks, you can opt for knee-high boots with heels and a turtleneck or a tweedy jacket over a plain shirt. A belt with a shiny gold buckle will always add smart points.