Isaac Mizrahi, whose clothes were much featured in the TV series of Sex and the City, has now become creative director for Liz Claiborne New York. His spring collection has focused on making working clothes for women prettier.  The collection is called ‘Colormath’ and it’s good news for recessionistas because it means that by  combining bright colours and neutrals, geometrics and florals, feminine touches and masculine details – there’s an unlimited number of outfits to be created from the average wardrobe.

So what’s the key message?  Well, dresses have flowers on them and are teamed with blazers or cardigans. T-shirts have boat necks and three-quarter length sleeves, there are lots of shirts for women, teamed with floral skirts or pedal-pusher type shorts called ‘Hepburn’ and slim jeans are worn with either short or long-sleeved polo-shirts and heels to make acceptable office wear.

One of the points of the Mizrahi collection is that, unlike the Sex in the City girls, a modern working woman has to have a wardrobe that works for both office and party time. In his view, this means matching a neutral (say chinos) with a bright (say a pink T-shirt) and something feminine, like a floaty scarf, to make an outfit that looks great for lunch in a riverside pub but, with the addition of a smart navy jacket or blazer, is also perfectly acceptable to wear to the office.

It requires a different way of thinking about how we dress, but it’s quite easy to master. If you’re thinking of investing in, say, an orange T-shirt, you need to work out at least one office and one fun outfit that you can construct from clothes already in your wardrobe, plus that one Tee, and if you can make those two outfits successfully, then your investment is a good one.