Winter Style 2007

I’m a bit sad to be in the southern hemisphere right now, because while I love summer, nothing in-store is really thrilling me too much. The rest of you, though, are in luck, because there are some wonderful things available to buy. I can’t stop thinking about it. When it comes to style, winter has summer beat. It’s an awful truth.

Here are some things I’d be wearing if I was in, say, New York. (Swoon.)

A brightly coloured obi belt with simple black ensembles. A turquoise & gold obi would look amazing over a simple black sweater, & a red butterfly obi would be fantastic atop a casual black dress.

Oversized men’s style cashmere sweaters worn with everything. They always come in wonderful colours, like deep black, royal purple, crimson & navy blue. Very warm & very chic, roll the sleeves up for maximum style points. Try to get one which fits your shoulders but is long enough to wear as a dress. You can wear them with kilts, jeans, long skirts or shorts with stockings underneath.

Shirt dresses worn over stockings with heels. Wear with layers so that you stay warm enough — a thin wool sweater underneath, woolen stockings & a scarf should keep you pretty toasty. I love shirt dresses because they’re so effortless.

A maxi skirt with everything. Given that a maxi skirt is big & long, you need to be careful about the proportion so you don’t look like a swamp monster or moving tent. Wear with a fitted t-shirt or anything that is well-tailored to your top half. You might then want to balance that out with big bangles or hair so don’t just look like a teeny person in a huge skirt!

Doctor’s bags will ALWAYS be cool to me, but they have recently come back into style. Zac Posen recently released the Aurora frame bag which makes me salivate, just a little. But at almost £1000, I suggest browsing Ebay for a genuine vintage doctor’s bag instead!

Bright leather gloves. These are definitely worth snapping up while they’re on offer, because it won’t last. Normally gloves come in black or brown & that’s it. This season, you’ll see electric blue, vibrant yellow & cherry red among others. There will also be a variety of lengths, with many of them reaching past the elbow. Ooh la la! Keep your eye out for fingerless & driving gloves with beautiful details, too.

A good belted trenchcoat. Truly, this is the best sort of coat to own in winter. If you can wear it with wool stockings & high heels, so much the better, since it will emphasise your figure & make you look sexy & sleek.

Sequins. While normally a bit disco reminiscent, you’ll see a fair bit of it around. It’s definitely a trend to be embraced! To avoid looking like everyone else, I suggest vintage shopping & browsing Ebay to find unusual pieces — a pink sequinned tuxedo jacket, for example, or a turquoise mermaid-esque mini. Wear with all black or luxe-sport pieces to dress it down for everyday.

Luxe-sport in general. I really like this trend. If you don’t know what it is, it’s basically ‘cool’ sportswear (say the Stella McCartney for Adidas range) mixed with high-end pieces. The end result is ultra-modern & more than slightly space-age. Worth experimenting with!

I’d be really keen to see men & women dressed like old fashioned writers, in white undershirts with braces holding up their grey pants, & glorious hats! Though I don’t know if anyone will oblige me… !

What will you be wearing this winter?