Show your body love through romantic style choices

For me, fashion has always been a way to remind myself of unforgettable stories. More than for nostalgia or self-expression, it’s a way to show my body love.

The last time I wore a velvet dress I was reading Émile Zola’s Thérèse Raquin, on a beautifully designed cover that matched the opulence of this fabric. With its creamy soft texture, velvet is the fabric to take you on the last few days of winter, into spring and summer. Rich looking and utterly elegant, your skin will get that luxury feel every time it brushes past this soft fabric.

1. Valentino pleated velvet midi skirt, £1,248 on sale at MatchesFashion.com
2. Hillier Bartley Velvet Cami Top, £495 at MatchesFashion.com
3. Double Layer Velvet Mini Dress with Cold Shoulder Detail, £35 at ASOS

Knitted pieces are the style uniform of avid book readers everywhere but it can be more than the piece to wear when you are lounging on the sofa with a hardback on your lap. Whether it is a knitted dress worn with a cropped jacket for work or a knitted pant, paired with a leather jacket for an easy Saturday morning, knitted pieces are key to giving your body the cosy element it needs. Knitwear is often taken for granted as casual wear but much like Hemingway’s ostensibly simple writing, there is an intricateness there that deserves another look.

1. ACNE STUDIOS Women’s Visa Mohair Sweater Dress, on sale for £128
2. THE ELDER STATESMAN Cropped Cashmere Wweater, £555 at Net-A-Porter
3. Lost Ink Pleat Bottom Maxi Cardigan, £48.00 at ASOS

Silk reminds me of the 90s, when women wore slip dresses that hit below their knees, with a bold colour on their lips and chockers resting on their clavicle bones. More than a reminder of 90s angst and rebellion, however, silk is a soft fabric that runs like liquid on our bodies, which is how I hope my pencil runs when I open my notebook every morning to write.

1. HALSTON HERITAGE Satin Midi Slip Dress, £253.23 at Bloomingdales
2. Samsoe & Samsoe Slip Dress, £85 at ASOS
3. Slip Dress Neon Rose V-Neck Slip Dress With Wide Tie Shoulders In Satin, £35.00 at ASOS

From cocoon coats to loose-fitting knitwear, oversized buttoned-down shirts and pleated skirts, oversized and flowing style pieces have never looked so beautiful and felt so good on our bodies, especially when we have a long day ahead of us. I tend to wear oversized pieces mostly when I am tackling poetry books. Whether it is Whitman or Keats, Eliot or Petrarch, their lines often have me clinging to my sleeves, as I try to understand what these poets are telling me from the alluring time of the past.

1. THEORY Dorothea pleated shell midi skirt, £345 at Net-A-Porter
2. Anine Bing Sheer Drop Shoulder Shirt, $229 at Orchard Mile
3. Speckled Textured Coat, £229 at Jigsaw