Festive Fashion (it's not all about sparkle...)

 

December. I only need to take one step inside a high-street store before I can feel my skin breaking out into a rash at the mere sight of all of the itchy plastic sequins, sparkle, feather trims, and metallic taffeta (of course, that�s after being blinded by the retina-searing shimmer.) Festive fashion. It isn�t all about sparkle, don�t you know? Whilst my inner magpie can�t deny I form a small allegiance to glittered ensembles around this time of the year (did you see the photo of my work Christmas party dress?) it�s the subtler styling around this season that make me feel festive. Take this Topshop forest (Christmas tree) green faux fur gilet, and a cranberry red lip combo. Its laced with a few festive hue hints. A snug roll neck, a little bit of tartan, a fairisle jumper - it's the small 

Topshop Jumper (out of stock, similar here) | Topshop Sleeveless Jacket | Topshop Bag | Topshop Shoes (similar here & here)

Tonal Layering for Autumn/Winter

They key to autumn/winter style success is layering. Whether you're cocooning yourself up in a duvet-like coat, supersized jumper, and giant scarf, or you're slipping a faux fur gilet over a chunky knit, mastering the art of layering will get you through the chillier days. But sometimes it's hard to make it work - what colours do I layer up? Will I look like I've done supermarket sweep in a charity shop using my body as a shopping trolley? Or will I just look like Joey in the episode of Friends where he wore all of Chandlers clothes? I get it, it's harder than it looks! But follow these easy tips and it becomes a whole lot more simple.

Here's the key: start off with keeping things tonal. Choose a base colour (I went for burgundy, because, so autumnal right?) then don't stray too far from it. This look was lifted with the subtle mauve panels and alabaster stripes in this ASOS faux fur gilet, then grounded in black. Keep silhouettes simple, and don't layer two super thick things over each other unless you really do want the Joey effect. And voila! Cool weather layering made simple.

Note the cropped flare jeans again. They have been getting a lot of air-time on my blog lately. I'm sorry skinny jeans, but there's a new style in town with a more interesting silhouette that I just can't get enough of.