As hard-to-grapple-with trends go, lace is certainly up there with the best of them. Not quite as tricky as a pair of droopy, knee-crotch trousers, granted, but diffi cult nonetheless. We love it because it’s beautiful, seductive, elegant and reeks of the otherworldly. Or hate it because at its worst, it can look cheap, feel scratchy and represent the no-go style statements of the Coronation Street school of dressing. Also it’s a fabric that rarely looks modern. Miuccia Prada’s decision to feature lace almost exclusively in her winter collection was largely motivated by the challenge of making it appear fresh and contemporary.

For centuries, lace has been linked with the various landmarks of womanhood: the christening robe, Holy Communion, weddings and death. And that’s sometimes the problem. It also brings to mind some of the most mentally unstable literary fi gures from Miss Havisham in Great Expectations to Blanche Dubois in A Streetcar Named Desire. This may be due to its paradoxical qualities: conjuring up images of the whore or the virgin. Lace is also unique in that it covers up as well as reveals the fl esh. Few fabrics have such erotic tension.

So how do you resurrect it? Black can be very dramatic, but overdo it and you run the risk of resembling a Sicilian widow, albeit of the sultry kind found, breasts a-heaving, in a Dolce & Gabbana ad campaign. That it should be worn sparingly is undoubtedly the best advice. If you are going for a one-piece, such as the lace dress shown here, then make the rest of your outfit quite spiky (high, glam heels and a killer bag) for fear of appearing too retro.

Lace looks great peeping out on a camisole from beneath a structured blazer, or as a trim on a top. It’s also worth juxtaposing fabrics: lace shirts and skirts look best combined with a heavy, luxurious tweed or butter soft cashmere. Treat pale colours with caution: nothing will date you or render you more bridal than shades of sickly peach so stick to black, navy, grey and possibly chocolate brown. I’m not a fan of obvious, block-like underwear worn under lace so aim for an ethereal lightness and layer over to create a gauzy effect.

Hair and make-up: Hester at Era Management using Bobbi Brown and L’Oreal Tecni.Art, model: April Rose at Storm. Styling by Eve Thomas

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