Kate Moss: Icky or icon?

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Kate Moss -- she of the skyscraper legs and snaggleteeth -- has always been a lightning rod for polemics. Fashion bloggers analyze her every outfit; tabloids exploit her every drunken binge. The thing about this model that I adore is her absolute insouciance when it comes to style.

We all know that models can throw on anything, add a scarf, and look utterly elegant. It’s a combination of their supreme genes and that feline grace that comes with hours of catwalk pacing. It’s also as unfair as a New Year’s Eve on a Monday. But only Kate can hit it out of the park wearing wellies with shorts or knee-high suede moccasins with a skimpy mini.

Lately, Moss has been making the rounds wearing a tuxedo jacket. It looks so fantastic, paired with jeans or leather pants. It got me thinking that I want a piece of that action. A tuxedo jacket can enliven a T-shirt and skinny jeans or add some gravity to a bright, flouncy frock. I love a tuxedo jacket with cargo pants because it is the ultimate contrast: formal with fatigues.

Here’s an awesome and affordable tux jacket (with my embellishment on the lapel, right) from Alexander McQueen’s McQ line that sells for $463 on netaporter.com. The vented back and pinstriped lining give it that formal edge.

For a more kick-around jacket that won’t dent your bank account, check out Urban Outfitter’s version, left: a bomber style with satin trim. Buy it here for $68.

Photo credits: Kate Moss, Bauer Images; tuxes, netaporter.com and urbanoutfitters.com