Regine is still the queen of glamour

With about 40 shops to supply and 24 years doing just that, Regine is well known for its collections of impeccable smartness.

With about 40 shops to supply and 24 years doing just that, Regine is well known for its collections of impeccable smartness.

As the founder and designer, Fran Nolan, concedes, any top-notch event will be well peopled with Regine-clothed women: they are the perfectly groomed ones in pastel-coloured suits and hats and very easy to spot.

The label has been a great success, which is partly due to the designer making the clothes that she herself likes, glamour clothes of the kind that are conspicuously so. There is nothing too low-key here.

All of this is hitting the shops now: it is a summery wash of pale pinks and blues and aquamarine, and a great deal of cream.

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But some of the best are in silver grey or dark navy pinstripe: a more restrained kind of glamour suitable for city life. It is a linen collection, with various textures, including the new fashionable mesh or open weave. This looks well in belted or short-sleeved jackets with just a hint of safari. These all come with matching skirts or slim trousers.

Though sold as separates added together, a suit works out at around £180. The most expensive, the pinstripes, cost £300 for a suit. But that means a "frock" coat rather than a jacket.

The frock coat has been the most popular style for a couple of seasons, and it's working well, not only in pinstripes but also in the pastels. It looks just as good, but quite different, teamed with trousers or a simple slip dress. Long or short (long £259, short £199), the frock coat is body-defining but easy to wear.

Regine is now making the hats for the clothes, and for anyone unwilling to shop till they are even slightly tired, there are harmonising silk scarves as well.

There are some dresses in the collection, including a linen sun dress, and a silky one with a shoe pattern and wrap-around design (£121).

Regine now exports about 40 per cent of its ranges, mostly to Britain, with Northern Ireland becoming a major market.