Fashion designer Phoebe Philo is making jumpsuits cool again

Now it seems as though she has achieved the
impossible: making the jumpsuit seem attractive.

When Philo wore a jumpsuit of her own design - a simple strapless one in black wool crepe - to pick up her Designer of the Year accolade at the British Fashion Awards, she stole the show, trumping every overwrought evening dress in the room. "Why didn't I think of that?" all the female guests swooned, making a mental note to buy a jumpsuit at the earliest opportunity.

Fast forward to May 2011, and while it wouldn't quite be accurate to say the shops are full of jumpsuits, they are certainly out there as a major trend. The Vogue girls are apparently going crazy for Whistles' loveheart printed number in tan (challenging, but then, they are Vogue girls), while River Island can't keep its polka-dot one on the shelves. It's a no-brainer: the Seventies are back in fashion, and as a side helping to all the Love Story flares and pussy-bow blouses comes the obligatory Studio 54 revivalism, replete with jumpsuits.

OK, so I have never worn a jumpsuit. This is partly because they are a going-to-the-loo nightmare, which matters more than it should when you've had two children, but mainly because I have always been too scared, filed as they are alongside batty riders, neon and oversized banana prints in the "things I'd never wear" drawer of my mind. But guess what: this season, I am tempted to try one. I'll leave the backless silky orange halter-necks to the teens and Elle Macpherson (who still manages to look about 12 - how does she do that?), and start off with a nice, simple black one à la Phoebe, with wide, fluid legs that give a similar effect to a maxi dress.

Judiciously accessorised (not with wedge heels and chunky bracelets), this, I feel, could be a sophisticated, understated evening look that has as little to do with the Seventies as an iPad. For isn't the Seventies thing a bit of a red herring?

Who has Bianca Jagger's panache? Or indeed her white horse? Clean lines, strong colours, wide-but-not-comically-so legs and minimal embellishment are the way forward: modern jumpsuits for today, not the nightclubs of yesterday. See you in the toilet queue. But bear with me: it might take me a while to do myself up.

Twitter: @LauraCraik