Fashion video: Direct energy into your wardrobe

September is almost upon us. Time to put away those childish things (ie. sales items you would never have bought full price and which don’t even fit properly), and instead turn thoughts towards a new autumn term of fashion.

The High Street looks all shiny bright and well ordered at the moment, stacked neatly with jumpers and tops and bags and shoes, the rails pleasantly packed with jackets and dresses, all from the latest autumn/winter collections. So pristine, like school uniforms before the rough, tough and tumble of lessons and break times make their marks.

Here, for our new season working wardrobe “back to school” fashion shoot, we went to Wakefield’s Trinity Walk Shopping Centre, home to High Street fashion favourites including Next, Topshop, Debenhams, H&M, Dorothy Perkins and Bank. Opened in May last year, the centre is also home to the Elizabethan Gallery, which dates back to the 16th-century and was originally the free Grammar School of Wakefield, providing a lovely and appropriate backdrop for our lessons in working style.

This is the perfect time to inject new life into your smart or working wardrobe, with High Street stores all offering key on-trend pieces at reasonable prices. Most of us can’t or don’t want to buy a whole new working wardrobe, but we do want to pep up our existing jackets, skirts, trousers and shift dresses with canny pieces that tap directly in to new season trends.

This season, look out for colours such as eye-popping fuchsia pink and bright cobalt blue – adding a chiffony pink, long-sleeve blouse to your skirt or trouser suit brings an instant update. Tweed jackets, especially in the lighter colourways, will also mix in to work well with both charcoal, black, navy and nude formal separates. Prints from floral to butterfly on blouses and tops will inject a fresh spirit to the most sombre of suits.

For a dash of glamour, try a peplum skirt, into which tuck a long-sleeve fitted blouse and finish with a slim belt.

Every new school year deserves a new bag, and the satchel has made a major comeback for this season. Look out for bright block colour versions – and go straight to the top of the class.

Twitter: @yorkshirefashQ