If you have followed Graham St for any length of time, you will know that two of our favourite brands are COS and Arket. Both are owned by the H&M group but how would I differentiate between the two? COS is more directional in terms of its design, pushing boundaries with shapes and materials. As a result, the shopping experience can sometimes be challenging, and it is often wise to try things on before you buy. Having said that, the pieces that are great, are really great. A good item of clothing from COS can easily look like a designer piece - it is why you will always find stylists thumbing the rails in the Regent Street store. The same goes for Arket, it is an ‘insider’ favourite. Unlike COS, Arket sticks to a very simple aesthetic of wardrobe staples. Their colour palette is usually trend led but their over-arching theme is one of timeless wardrobe classics.

Perhaps the most important thing that both these brands have in common is their perfect ageless appeal. I often see mothers and daughters shopping together in both shops - indeed, the age range of customers is vast - and herein lies their success. That, and their quality to price point is extremely good.

Some women have said to me that these brands are made for the typical Scandinavian shaped woman, namely tall and slim. To some extent, this is true but there are definitely lots of pieces within the collections that are perfect for a fuller and shorter figure. Take this top for example, it would be a beautiful shape on most figures. It has an open enough neck to suit a fuller bust and its A-line cut accentuates the smallest part (the shoulders) and skims out over the largest part (the tummy). It has the appearance of silk but is actually made from modal and cupro (a technical fabric) which is thicker than silk and therefore more flattering (make sure that you wear a really well fitted bra with it).

Pink- a colour that is not just for the warmer climes it turns out. This winter it is the colour to be seen in. Pink is not necessarily for everyone but if you want to give it a try, then pairing this candy floss hue with black, gives it an edge that other lighter colours might not. On the whole, I don’t actually like block colours paired with black, I think that it looks too harsh and a bit uninspiring. However, with this particular outfit, I think that it works. It is because the buttons of the coat are black and the pink has a grey undertone. I particularly like the white sole on these high top trainers by John Lewis which breaks up the black at the bottom.

These jeans are the ‘Mom’ jeans at M&S and are great. They’re high waisted with a tapered leg and cut on the ankle. For a very affordable price (£25), they are an excellent choice. The other great thing about M&S trousers is that they come in three lengths.

Below we have paired these jeans with a pair of ballet pumps from Hobbs. I wanted to demonstrate how good the jeans look with pumps as well as trainers and how by simply changing the shoes, the whole outfit takes on a different look. As a sidenote, I have mentioned this before, but Hobbs shoes really are good.

I should have mentioned before that Mum ‘s jumper and coat are by Arket. My dress is from COS. The cut is actually very similar to this one that mum wore in Wooly Warmers - fitted across the shoulders, with an elegant batwing sleeve, loosely fitted around the body and calf length. This style is my favourite type of jumper dress, it’s looseness makes it so much cooler than a more traditional fitted style, and is more flattering in my opinion. Obviously because of it’s over-sized nature, it does have a sack-like quality (I actually mean that as a positive) so if this is a bit much for you, then wear a heeled boot or an elegant flat. This is a dress that women will appreciate more than men I think! But hey, how many of us actually dress for men?! My goodness, imagine what we would all look like if we did! Yelp.

I’ve kept this look very simple but it really is a blank canvas for all sorts of accessories. Big flamboyant earrings would look fantastic, as would a statement necklace (infact, the one that we featured in this week’s Sunday Scroll would look great) as would a scarf. Obviously pink goes extremely well but orange would work brilliantly too. As would gold…. and as it’s almost Christmas….

Photography and artwork by Alexandra Mooney

-CREDITS-

Sue

Jumper, Arket, £89

Coat, Arket, £175

Jeans, Marks & Spencer, £25

Trainers, John Lewis & Partners, £79.20

Bag, Cos, £125 (sorry, they only appear to have the olive green online, I bought the black in-store)

Hannah

Dress, Cos, £89

Trainers, Saucony at Anthropologie, £70

Rucksack, Anthropologie, £39