Black buckle-strap blazer with slit-hem straight trousers

A black wool blazer, single-breasted with a notch lapel, closed not by a button but by a narrow tab that pulls through a silver buckle at the waist, with a small D-ring stitched to the chest pocket as its only other decoration. The sleeves are pushed to the forearm. Straight black trousers, mid-rise, with a short slit at the outside of each hem, and black strappy stiletto sandals that show the foot through the split.

This is the version of a black suit that survives a rooftop at midday: no shirt, jacket worn closed on its own, nothing at the neck. It works from a nine o'clock meeting through to dinner, spring and autumn especially, and any evening the wind is not blowing. The hem slit is the detail people notice second; the buckle is the one they notice first. Small hoops, the black smartwatch and the beaded bracelet, hair straight and down the back.

One buckle, no buttons. She trusts the strap more than she trusts a thread.