My pedicurist asked me what was in. Just making conversation while she did my toes. What was trending, what was the thing to buy right now.

I froze.

I could have given her a list. There’s always one online. But she was asking what to buy, and I didn’t know what she already had.

So I said, “I don’t really know.”

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I’ve been thinking about that answer.

I still look at collections. I go into shops. I can become very interested in a shoe I had no use for five minutes earlier. My appetite for clothes is intact.

But “what’s in” stopped being where I start a long time ago, and I didn’t notice until someone asked me to start there.

If I see a jacket, I’m already somewhere else with it. Which trousers would I wear it with? Do I still like it if the model’s shoes disappear? Would it sit under a coat, or only in perfect weather?

A houndstooth blazer is never quite in and never quite out. That is what makes it useful. It can go slightly wrong and still make sense.

Sometimes a trend makes me stop and look. Fine. I like looking.

The buying part happens later, when I can picture it with something I already own. I might love the jacket and still leave it there. I might buy it because it changes how I want to wear something I’ve had for years.

But I’d only ever seen her in her work clothes. I didn’t know what was in her closet.

She might already have the trousers I was about to recommend. She might have three pairs and wear none of them. At that point, I’d be more interested in why.

I left with good toes.

Greetings from Lisbon,

I Don’t Know What’s In