Priority - Investment Time

I believe that the jacket is the most important piece to get right in a wardrobe that will make you look and feel confident and successful.

To my mind, the jacket has to be the basis of every busy woman's wardrobe. Research has shown that women are taken far more seriously when they're working if they wear jackets. Cardigans are all very well, but you may be asked to make the tea!

So, more than for any other item, you should buy the best that you can afford. It really is an investment in your future which, if properly chosen within a co-ordinated capsule, you will wear a great deal.

Here are some tips to ensure that you make a wise investment:

• Fabric is key - a textured fabric is easiest to co-ordinate as a suit that can also be separated for use independently. It can be worn more easily, for example, with a non-textured bottom half in different colours because it won't look like part of a suit

• A jacket with a collar, especially when it's slightly higher at the back of the neck, is very flattering to most women and much easier to wear than a collarless jacket. If you do go for a collarless jacket you need to be sure that your hair is the right length and your hair is in good condition.

• Proportions: for your capsule wardrobe, an easy length jacket - approximately 52-58cms (and this doesn't vary according to your height) - is a stylish length that can be put more easily with a skirt or a simple dress and longer 64-68 cms with trousers.

• Go for a jacket with an interesting cut rather than fancy trimmings: it's much more chic and will date less quickly. Next season there are lots of interesting shoulder and seaming details to choose from

• Make sure the jacket has good buttons. This is very important because the buttons can, and often do, ruin a garment and make it look cheap. On expensive clothes you should ask if buttons are made of horn - not plastic and certainly not with logos. Plastic ones can melt in dry-cleaning, however even some of the biggest brands are using plastic now to cut costs. As a buyer, I've been known to refuse to buy a garment unless they exchange a cheap button for a better quality one.

• Make sure the jacket fits your bottom half. If you are a size 10 on top and a size 12 bottom make sure you buy the right size for your hips and adjust the jacket. Any jacket, unless very short will hit the biggest part of you at some point.

• It's important that the sleeve fits and that you can move in it - always stretch your arms out in front of you to see if there is enough fabric to enable ease of movement.

• The shoulder line is very important too: if it's too narrow you can get a bulge of the upper arm showing through, which is very unflattering.

• If you buy a longer jacket, you'll need a narrow bottom half, so pick a straight skirt or narrow trousers.

• A double breasted jacket is better for smaller sizes and a single breasted tends to be a shape more easily worn.

• A jacket with two or three buttons is the most flattering for most people; a one-button jacket is best avoided if you have a large bust

Using the capsule approach, you should also be thinking about the clothes you will wear with the jacket.