When I was shooting this series (there are two more posts to come), I explained it to the photographer as ‘inspired by Melania Trump’. I was joking, but only a little. The slightly embarrassing truth is that I have a soft spot for some rather conservative clothing categories. I’m not conservative in any part of my life, style usually included, but I do like to have some pieces that project a relatively timeless and polished image.

If I psycho-analyse myself a bit, I suspect it comes partly from not being from and affluent background, growing up in the deep countryside and, later, moving from the Eastern periphery to the centre of Europe. When I lived in Denmark for a year, aged 16, my then-boyfriend told me he believed I was from a rich family, because I dressed so elegantly – while in reality, I lived off my grant and couldn’t buy anything fancier than Vero Moda. I am pretty sure there was some overcompensation involved. Being able to dress as if I belonged in places where I was an outsider has been a handy tool throughout my life (and being able to do that on an extremely tight budget used to be a source of considerable pride).

On the other hand, I believe part of me is simply drawn to classic, elegant silhouettes and gorgeous fabrics. And when I talk about ‘classics’ here, I don’t mean a blazer or a black polo neck, I mean things that are borderline oldfashioned. Things that mature etiquette experts might talk about in their ‘dos and donts’. Things I can see myself wearing in ten or even twenty years.

But on to the item in question. I have worn pencil skirts for about 25 years and I fully plan to continue. I feel good in them and like them tight* and cut just below the knee (mid-calf is beautiful as well, but more difficult to style in my view). I like tweed pencil skirts in particular because of the texture, the history of the fabric and also the fact that they are very crease-resistant and hence easy to wear and travel with.

It’s of course not just cream tweed I like; cream is in fact a bit of an untraditional choice (most people think of grey and brown when they think of tweed), but it definitely goes with the theme of a classic, sumptuous, privileged look. The skirt on these pictures is of course not fully cream, which makes it extremely easy to pair with a number of colours, from beige to brown to pink. I will eventually get a true cream version as well, though.

While the skirt is the star of the show here, I would also like to note that I’m wearing one of my favourite workwear formula: a knit + a midi skirt. A simple cashmere sweater with a pencil skirt is something I find extremely easy and comfortable. I understand this isn’t the case for everyone, but I like how it’s formfitting without being revealing, appropriate for a wide variety of occasions and a bit more modern and effortless than the same skirt would be with a blouse or silk shirt. Just like tweed skirts, knits don’t need ironing and are generally low maintenance (well, in this case apart from being nearly white, but you can switch up the colour). I can still put a blazer on top of this combination, if I feel like additional structure and gravitas is needed.

If I was forced to pick one type of outfit to wear to the office for a year (my hands refused to type ‘for the rest of my life’), this would be it. In fact, now I’m imagining a monochrome navy combo with a more relaxed sweater on top. And Oksana had a gorgeously colourful tweed in greens and browns that would look amazing with a fair isle sweater. And then perhaps a grey herringbone skirt with a white cable knit…

But these are themes for another post.

*I took it a bit too far this case – we only had time for one fitting and the skirt ended up being a tiny bit too tight around the hips. Although, frankly, I am happy to wear it as it is.

Skirt made to measure by Oksana Tandit, sweater by Massimo Dutti, shoes by Prada. Photos Laura Nestor, MUAH Erle Taklai. Sincere thanks to Ocean 11 for allowing us to shoot on their premises.