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Winter: my favourite time of year without a doubt. The run up to Christmas, all that precious family time and the additional fun of wrapping up in our winter clothes. It’s time to finally give up the battle of clinging onto summer and admit defeat. No amount of flip flop wearing or questionable light jackets will bring back the summer sun and its heat. Rather, we should embrace winter for its benefits – for the purposes of this article, being able to layer up our clothes and monopolise on some really great looks.
Getting the basics right with your winter wardrobe will allow you to develop your look and tailor your wardrobe to your own requirements. Below is a concise list of items that you should have to make the winter months just that bit more comfortable and stylish:
Coat
For winter a coat will be your biggest investment, but will reward you handsomely in the style stakes, if you chose wisely. The three main things to look for when choosing a coat is: fit/fabrications and durability. Let’s not forget that lashing rain and those chilly temperatures, so you’ll need something to help battle said conditions.
A duffle coat is great if you are to layer underneath a thick gauge knit jumper, but with an often boxy shape it’s not suitable for smaller frames. I would tend to go for a parka coat – however, I mean a traditional parka and not a poorly made imitation. You want to look out for a parka thats outer shell is showerproof, which has plenty of pocket detailing and more importantly has a hood with a generous fur/faux-fur lining.
Snood/Scarf
Accessories are the key to providing the finishing touches to any outfit, but they’re also a necessity in this case. You can either opt for a lighter cashmere-finished scarf, swaddled around your neck, or go chunkier with a snood. As a rule, snoods are not friends of mine – they ruin my hair when taking them off and I usually end up sending out an SOS (I really shouldn’t be allowed to dress myself). As a total curve ball, even fur/faux-fur collars are great additions to a classic mid-length/tailored coat. These can be purchased from a variety of vintage stores and sit over the jacket to give the illusion that the jacket has an attached fur collar. I recently bought a rich chocolate coloured fur collar and occasionally wear this with my taupe coloured wool mac.
Headwear
Beanie, trilby, deerstalker – all variations of traditional winter hats that are greatly diverse, suiting a range of wearers from old to young. As a compulsive hat buyer, I rarely say no to adding more to my collection, but it seems the big trend still is trilby-style hats with large brims. These looks great to uplift a casual outfit and add a fresh take on winter dressing.
Of course, if you want to play it safe and opt for additional comfort, then opt for a beanie. Make sure it’s oversized so it looks effortless, but not too baggy that it looks like a sack clinging on for dear life. You must also make sure you don’t look like you’re wearing a swimming cap.
Footwear
Boots, boots and more boots – this is the only footwear that graces my feet in winter. Vans and converse, unfortunately, as comfortable as they are, don’t provide much in the way of insulation. Granted you could invest in some thicker socks, but I personally prefer variations of boots to meet my requirements. Desert boots are still very of the moment and pair well with drainpipes and oversized jumpers for a stylish, thrown-together look.
Knitwear
This has to be the one type of garment I cannot resist in the colder months. In fact I’ve been known to bust out a knitted piece in summer, albeit slightly delusional about the warmer temperatures. Wearing a chunky oversized jumper is like a big hug of fabric and instantly makes me feel cosy and ready to brave the chilly climate.
I tend to wear lighter cotton tees or shirts underneath – so that I don’t overheat and because it’s much easier to lose layers and still have a look to work with after you have ditched the knit.
