BWatch, I'm no expert on tea dresses or cardigans or brogues as I tend to avoid them all for myself, but I think you can try the belt a bit higher than your natural waist if you're long bodied. Funnily enough that tea dress, brogue, cardi combo is, to my eyes, a very British look.
I do wish people would stop thinking they have nothing to contribute, questions and queries is what keeps the conversation alive on here and probably the only thing that stops this becoming my random musings and risk it becoming a bit me-me-me (as in me, bo, don't let a question that only seems applicable to you only deter you, most likely it will be of help to someone in a similar situation). The way you all go on about best of MN 2017, thread of the year, etc. as if it's a thing amuses me though, or have I missed something, is there some MN thread of the year contest somewhere?
Speaking of Cos &Other Stories, H&M announced today they will be launching a new brand, Nyden (Swedish combo of the words 'New' and 'It') affordable luxury for millennials, it'll be a bit more future-focused whilst ignoring trends. Limited numbers and it'll only be available online and in pop-up events. It's all sounding a bit arty but at the same time, it sounds like a grown-up version of &Other Stories of special high-quality pieces at democratic prices, set to launch early 2018. 50p that the website will be even more bonkers than COS though 
Ok, germaphobes look away now.
I say, embrace your inner filthy animal. You know that slightly funky smell old money usually has, embrace that because they know how to make a cashmere or virgin wool jumper pass through several generations by pretty much not washing it. If knitwear is all natural fibre or mostly, simply hang up after wearing and either let it steam a bit whilst you're in the shower (provided you don't have the most efficient fan ever in your bathroom) or hang it in an open window/garden/balcony for 30 mins or so and it'll be fine. I usually wash my knitwear before storing and usually around sometime this year because I have the time for it (with the careful handwash or nets in the machine, low spin cycle, mild detergent, never use fabric softener, rolling up in a towel to take out excess water, then drying flat), I don't own a ton of knits, and I wear them loads.
Jeans- wash them when they actually smell, never put them in the dryer you'll shorten the life of the elastic. Leather Leggings, stick them in the freezer, kills any germs and helps retain their shape. A suede one is worth sending to the cleaners as it perks up quite a bit. These are all materials that can hold onto smell but don't actually absorb it so an airing usually sorts it out, nor are they sending you into sweat overdrive like synthetics would. Especially if you wear something underneath, provided it's not in direct contact with our more pungent parts there really isn't the need to compromise fabric integrity, the less you wash it, the longer it lasts.
banana wrt opaques, I think it often depends on the quality of the opaques (some can be so dull) and a bit of ankle definition comes into it too, I think this is one of those things that cankles actually carry off better with trainers as the definition contrast doesn't detract as much where an opaque enhances the silhouette otherwise.
General nylon tip, dry them in the freezer, just stick them in a ziploc and stick in the freezer. Weird I know, stops them running, or attracting lint. Always do the freeze before wearing them for the first time, simply run under the tap, squeeze out excess moisture, ziploc bag and freeze overnight, leave the next day to defrost.