Essential accessories to spice up the suit jacket – cufflinks, a lapel pin, perhaps a pocket square that can be folded in umpteen ways. This year, the breast pocket is definitely going to get a lot more mileage with a certain prêt-à-porter polypropylene mask.

THE fashion accessory for 2020, it’s a sort of return to the roots of what this pocket has been useful for. The wealthy typically used a white linen square as a handkerchief. Even in the Middle Ages in Europe, some used a silk handkerchief permeated with a nice fragrance as a kind of protection from the disagreeable odours of city life. Nowadays the disposable mask has the added benefit of saving one’s nose from unpleasant smells in addition to preventing SARS-CoV-2 infection. As with any fashion piece in high demand, there has been some panic buying followed by a shortage.