Taylor Tomasi Hill

The sweater is one of those wardrobe heroes that everyone needs. It's one of the few pieces that can stand you in good stead whatever the weather and over the past few years, it's hard quite the transformation. In the past, it had a bit of a bad wrap. The styles felt heavy, boardering on frumpy, and the colours didn't tend to extend too far beyond neutrals like black, grey and nude. The more recent variations, though, are really good.

3.1. Phillip Lim's comic-inspired sweaters got everyone excited for S/S12 and while his offerings for fall are a lot more subdued, they're definitely still something to keep an eye out for. Even Burberry experimented with sweaters this season with their fun owl embroidered options.

As far as colours are concerned, Sonia Rykiel, Missoni and Marni have great bright printed styles while Acne continues to lead the pack with their bright block coloured pieces. If you don't want to spend too much, J. Crew is the place to go. The colour ways and print options are extensive and the quality hold out from season to season. The moral of the story is that you don't need to conform this winter. Just as colour and prints have been for summer, there's no reason why you can't continue it for winter on your knitwear. Who knows, it might actually make you smile and with the British weather the way it is, that's going to help.

SHOP THE EDIT: 1. Cashmere blend sweater, £148.75, Thakoon at The Outnet; 2. Zebra print sweater, £35, River Island; 3. Sequin fine knit sweater, £45, J. Crew at The Outnet ; 4. Colour block sweater, £450, Chloe at The Outnet; 5. Merino wool sweater, £139.50, Sonia by Sonia Rykiel at The Outnet; 6. Mohair jumper, £175, Sonia by Sonia Rykiel at My-Wardrobe; 7. Chunky knit wool sweater, £105, Paul & Joe at The Outnet; 8. Lace mohair knit sweater, £220, Vanessa Bruno Athé at My-Wardrobe; 9. Cashmere knit jumper, £169, Paul & Joe Sister at My-Wardrobe; 10. Cotton blend sweater, £124.35, ADAM at The Outnet; 11. Open knit jumper, £190, ACNE at My-Wardrobe

The trouser suit has long been a stalwart piece in women's wardrobes. Since Yves Saint Laurent created his 'Le Smoking' women's tuxedo back in 1966, the piece has no doubt morphed into one of the single most transformative pieces of women's wear and for A/W12, it made a serious comeback. Just like Saint Laurent, this season designers seem to be more attune to the fact that women need clothes that make sense as much as they appeal aesthetically and as a result, we're spoilt for choice.

You can generally guage what the big trends will be by watching the Prada show and this season Miuccia Prada made a big statement. At both Prada and Miu Miu the trouser suit dominated sending a clear message that if there's anything you need to buy this coming season, it's that.

Throughout the shows in February there was a lot of talk about the clothes being like an armour, preparing women for the tough world out there right now and it's true. At the rate things are going, we can all do with as much help as we can get and there's no denying it's transformative powers. Even Caroline Issa spoke about it recently in the latest issue of ELLE UK. Talking about her recent Tom Ford suit purchase she said: 'When I wear it I feel like the chicest person alive - it is wearable art.' Whistles CEO Jane Shepherdson shared the sentiment. 'It's about authority,' she said in an interview with Karen Dacre about the suit's power in the workplace. 'If I feel I need 'armour' any day, then I will pull on a trouser suit. It let's people know you're serious and not to e messed with.' My-Wardrobe's founder Sarah Curran said the same thing. 'There's definitely an attitude that goes with wearing one,' she told Dacre. 'There is something about a trouser suit that gives an air of confidence that a dress could never do.'

From top left: Acne, Dries van Noten, Miu Miu, Todd Lynn, Todd Lynn, Alexander Wang, Celine, Elizabeth & James, Miu Miu and Prada

Read more after the jump

I'm not usually one for motifs, or colour in fact, but that's starting to change and 3.1. Phillip is responsible. Ever since Elin Kling sported his 'Ka-Pow' sweater during New York Fashion Week, I've been sold and so how everyone by the sounds of it. Both that style and his 'Break-Up' sweater have been seen on just about everyone and have been selling like hot cakes since hitting stores.

You can tackle the style in one of two ways. If, like me, you're still new to the whole statement prints and motifs game, make the sweater the statement and keep everything else muted. Alternatively you can go full-hog and team it with a statement block coloured skirt or pair of the printed trousers that we all can't get enough of this season.

Are you a fan?

SHOP THE EDIT: Sweater, £390, 3.1. Phillip Lim; Leather trousers, £605, Acne; Boots, £480, Acne

See more of my picks after the jump

Pay day is this week and the timing couldn't be better because on Monday ACNE will launch a special capsule collection - great for your wardrobe of course, not necessarily so good for you bank balance. Nonetheless, the collection is a special one and features a tightly edited selection of reworked ACNE classics from over the years.

Unlike all of the colour we saw from them for S/S, everything in the collection comes in white making the collection full of great staple pieces that will easily slip into your wardrobe. Style wise you can expect some strong poplin shirts, interesting shiny iridescent leather pieces, basic jersey tees and easy leather flat sandals.

The collection will be available online on Acnestudio.com as well as through Net-A-Porter, Selfridges and Liberty.

See more images after the jump

Last night ELLE hosted their 15th annual ELLE Style Awards. The event, which took place in London's Savoy Hotel, saw Alexa Chung brought back to serve as host and guests were treated to a performance over dinner by Critics Choice Award winner, Emeli Sandé who was joined on the stage Professor Green in the after-party.

Red carpet looks were strong, particularly from Tali Lennox in Julien Macdonald, Jessica Chastain in Alexander McQueen, Chung in Stella McCartney and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley in Antonio Berardi.

But outfits aside, the one thing you can always count on at the event is a good speech or two and last night was no different. Last year everyone was talking about Vivienne Westwood's 'interesting' confession that she didn't know who Emma Watson but this year was even more memorable. Johnny Johannsson, Acne's creative director, had us all impressed as he sang a Swedish celebratory song to pick up the award for Best Contemporary Brand but it was Cuba Goodings Jr who stole the show. Before presenting the Style Icon award to Huntington-Whiteley, he had the crowd taking shots of their drinks after saying that, "this is the first party I've been to where I feel I need to loose weight."

See images and the full list of winners after the jump

See more after the jump

It looks like Ricardo Tisci may have started something when he hired his transgender former-assistant to feature in his fall Givenchy campaign. While Tisci made it clear that choosing a trangender model wasn't a deliberate choice, Acne have gone a step further and made transvestites the centre of their new line.

Yesterday the brand revealed that they have joined forces with Candy magazine to launch a line of t-shirts targeted at cross dressers and transvestites. The line, which features shirts in silk crepe and Italian denim and comes stonewashed and bleached, only feature three shirts all named after Acne's creative director Jonny Venegas' favourite show Dynasty and their characters: Alexis, Sammy Jo and Krystle.

"This collection is a playful collaboration and a celebration of diversity," Venegas told Vogue.com." It touches on ideas I have always played with when designing for Acne, the tension between male and female and what happens when you shift things around a bit. This project has been so much fun."