Welcome back! I hope that you have had a lovely summer. Sorry for the radio silence, I have been waiting to press send on this post for a few days now but until today, it hasn’t felt very weather appropriate! It’s hard to get your head around jackets and jumpers in 30 degree heat. I think that by the end of this week we will be back into temperatures more normal for this time of year and with this, sartorial norms will resume.

I have probably said this before but I secretly love it when the weather cools down (soz!). I just love winter clothes and all the layers that are necessary. This is when dressing becomes even more interesting to me; playing with the colours and textures, shapes and patterns that make up a great outfit. I do know that layering is something that some of our community struggle with and you are not alone. Throughout my career - amongst celebrities and us mere mortals alike - it has been a recurring question, How do I layer clothes effectively? I will attempt to address the problem over the coming months and I am hoping that I will be able to do it as a filmed post, rather than a written one, as I feel that it will be easier to explain. Would video content be of interest to you? Answers on a postcard please! (or in the ‘contact’ section of this blog’s homepage).

A sure fire way to make an outfit look chic using clothes that you are very likely to have in your wardrobe is to match your jumper to the colour of your jacket or coat. It is also effective to keep your outfit monochromatic BUT (in my opinion) only in the ‘neutral’ shades which I would consider to be black, navy, beige, grey, cream and then muted shades like dark green. I am not a fan of of an outfit made up of two distinct colours like blue and yellow for example. Although they are on paper complimentary, when run throughout the ensemble and not broken up by another colour or two, the combination lacks subtlety and therefore feels a bit contrived. I would pair the aforementioned neutral colours with cream or white. Here, mum’s outfit is made up of dark blues (with a touch or blue/grey) and white.

I have extolled the virtues of a ‘workwear’ jacket before but while we are here…….both mine and mum’s jacket are by Seasalt and I would consider both to be well designed, good quality and well priced. If you are looking to update your wardrobe with a few pieces this season then I would encourage you to make a workwear jacket part of your 2023/24 winter sartorial bucket list. They are so easy to throw on, upgrading your look into something more put together whilst adding warmth. They also work extremely well as an extra layer under a winter coat.

Mum and I have both sized up in our jacket, me by two sizes and mum by one size.