Crème caramel

A neutral shade that's anything but boring, caramel looks expensive – even at high-street prices. The secret is to mix your textures, writes DEIRDRE MCQUILLAN

TOFFEE, CARAMEL, CHOCOLATE and honey aren’t just ingredients for foodies, but some of the latest shades in spring fashion. It may be part of a trend in which chocolatiers and couturiers inspire each other – there are palettes and palates after all, and in Paris the celebrated pâtissier Pierre Hermé produces a “collection” each season just like a fashion designer.

But these colours are also an alternative to the macaroon-style pastel shades so current this season and, arguably, easier to wear.

Stylist Roxanne Parker believes the best way to wear these quiet hues, as she shows here, is to mix textures – a silk blouse with a leather skirt, patent shoes with a chiffon dress or a skinny vest top with cotton trousers.

“Those subtle shimmers and textures even give sequins a daywear touch. It can be hard to make the seasonal transitions in Ireland and these tonal variations give a fashionable spring touch without [the risk of] dying of hypothermia,” she says.

It’s also a clever way of bringing winter shades into spring; camel has always been the failsafe colour of a winter coat or Burberry trench, and has had that look of refinement and luxury that has made it a perennial favourite.

Plus, the colour is a good mixer. It goes with black, navy, white or grey and is brilliant with gold accessories. Even neon partners well as an accent; Penneys, for instance, has a strappy caramel sandal edged with neon that’s right up to date. But the best thing about crème caramel is that it looks good head to toe and is tasteful too – palatable, one might say, on all fronts.