Colour combinations are tricksy things, but exciting possibilities await. Taupe and fuscia, blood orange and dove grey, forest green and bright mustard. Is the mind giddy?!

One of my favourite combinations is black and blue.

Maligned by many generations, black and blue is a class act. Think black and blue grosgrain ribbons tied in shiny bright red hair! Or tweed-y bouclé wool in a sharp suit with gold buttons – black jacket, blue trew. Or howsabout a midnight blue silk column and black patent shoes avec matt bows? Limitless, excitable permutations.

Texture is key. Think of the deepest, darkest Indian ink velvet with the deepest, darkest navy in fluid, fine wool. Or a beige-based soot, the kind of black that has faded in the sun leaving it with an antiqued tinge, with tattered, feathered sapphire.

Together, black and blue reminds me of Coco Chanel’s sharp observation: ‘elegance is refusal’.

BDW