How to find your Autumn Winter Style
Autumn has arrived in full swing and as a Personal stylist in London, it has caused quite the stir of style panics amongst my clients. Whenever seasons change I get inundated with messages from clients panicking about not liking their style anymore, not knowing what to wear, and hating everything they own. Does this sound familiar?!
It's been a classic case of the jumper on in the morning and then way too hot by the afternoon, then shivering a bit on the way home - its so annoying and even I as a Stylist in London have been caught out multiple times. I have even thought I hated one of my most previously loved skirts because of the change of season. Can confirm we are back in action.
This got me thinking, why do we hate everything in our wardrobe at the start of a new season? And how can we fall back in love with our existing wardrobes? Do we need to love everything still or is it ok to have a cleanse and get some fresh new styles to give us a boost this season?
As a stylist, I am always asked ‘What on earth to wear now?’ and ‘What is missing in my Autumn and Winter wardrobe to fix all my outfit dramas?’ The change feels overwhelming and the ‘I have nothing to wear’ dilemma starts - even though you have a wardrobe full to the brim. We forget how to dress, layer, and outfit build for the huge shift in the weather.
Why do we hate everything in our wardrobe at the beginning of a new season?
Not only has the weather turned but we change within ourselves. Over the summer we have had shifts in our personal and professional lives. New experiences which help us develop and grow and with that its only natural our style develops. It should be exciting and fun to explore but instead, we blame our bodies and wardrobes and it stumps us… welcome the feeling of losing your autumn-winter style.
Its scary to have to think about starting again or shopping because of the immense amount of choices in-store and online. Plus the fear of what if nothing different suits us? When we don't know what we want or what we even like anymore… no wonder we fall into thinking we have lost our style. As women it's so easy to blame ourselves rather than think logically about what we need for our lifestyles, what we want to say about ourselves with the clothes we wear as well as how we want to feel wearing our wardrobe.
How do we get rid of the feeling of losing our style?
My role as a Personal Stylist means that I can help you with combating the shattering feeling of having lost your way style-wise. It may sound a bit cold for me, but we want to hit the feelings with logic. By using logic we can rationally work out what suits you and what you love rather than falling into negative thoughts about the clothing we aren't loving anymore and losing our autumn-winter style.
By that I mean we need to start back with remembering or discovering your style foundations if you haven't already. Your style foundations are understanding which colours suit you and creating a colour palette for the season ahead. Checking in with your body shape so you select everything from the correct fabrics and shapes of clothes for your frame, and revisit your style personality. Check out my style personality blog here if you are unsure of yours.
Once you have realigned your foundations I strongly suggest based on the results that you have a mini wardrobe cleanse. It's not often I say this but less is more in your wardrobe. It will help you feel less overwhelmed when you look in your wardrobe and also you’ll have less to choose from so fewer decisions to make first thing in the morning when getting dressed. I have a blog in my archives here to guide you through a wardrobe cleanse.
Once you have a smaller wardrobe, grab a cuppa and then take all of your trousers and skirts out of your wardrobe. Then take the first pair of trousers or skirt from the pile, lay it flat on the bed and choose two tops from your wardrobe that work with your bottoms, put them next to the bottoms, grab a jacket that works with the tops and then add shoes and accessories to complete the look.
Take a photo to remind yourself of the look and repeat until you have stylized all of your bottoms with 2 tops and accessories. Do the same with your dresses and then put all of your photos into an album on your phone and you can use it every morning to help you decide what to wear each day.
If you struggle to put looks together I have a blog here that teaches you have to put looks together easily.
You are likely to notice during the edit that you are missing certain items to finish off looks. Make a list of them on your phone and they will form your shopping list. Then use that to guide your autumn shopping session and you will come back with only things you need, no panic buys and have a successful shopping trip. I have a blog that helps you to prepare for shopping right here
Voila… style has been fixed with logic… now go and shop till you drop.
What do you need in your Autumn/ Winter wardrobe?
Another part of my role as a London based Personal Stylist is to guide you with knowing the exact items that will work hard for you each season. By that I mean instead of you stressing over what to wear each day, you will have a selection of items you turn to time and time again this season but you style them differently each time which means they help you get dressed each morning.
I believe you need the following few pieces to really help you enhance your Autumn Winter wardrobe;
Coat and trench coat
Jacket for layering
Jumpsuit
Dress
Knitwear
Tops
Blouse
Jeans
Trousers
Skirts
Tights
Belt
Boots
Shoe and trainer
Adapt the list to suit your personal preferences, for example, if you never wear skirts, swap the skirts for another dress and/or jumpsuit.
The Coats You Need in your Autumn Winter Wardrobe
Trench - for days its coat on, off, on off and its easy to carry and layer
Wool - for when its cooooold
The Jackets you need in your Autumn Winter Wardrobe
Leather - goes with EVERYTHING
Suede - also works with everything but gives a softer more feminine look
The Jumpsuits you need in your Autumn Winter Wardrobe
Denim - Perfect for day to night
Cord - perfect for work and the pub at the weekend.
The Dresses you need in your Autumn Winter wardrobe
Denim - great for layering when its cold - top underneath, either jacket over the top, tights and voila.
Cord - the coziest fabric and cool gal vibe
The Knitwear you need in your Autumn Winter Wardrobe
Cardigan - Smart enough for work and cool enough or a bar
Jumper - layer over dresses for warmth and pair with a leather mini for evenings.
The Tops you need in your Autumn Winter wardrobe
Gold T - will add some texture to any look
Red - open necklines will suit pretty much any bust size and its perfect to tuck in with jeans/leather/satin - the list goes on!
The Blouses you need in your Autumn Winter wardrobe
Leopard - Leopard print is neutral and it will work with ANYTHING your pair it with. Also will take you from day to night.
Denim - essentially a pair of jeans but for your top instead of legs - it’ll work with anything for a casual look or dress down Friday.
The Jeans you need in your Autumn Winter Wardrobe
Wide Leg - the most flattering for any body shape! Make sure they are high waisted for legs for days.
Flare - The perfect jean for when you want to look like you haven tried at all - smarter than a regular jean but low key enough for pub nights.
The Trousers you need in your Autumn Winter wardrobe
Wide leg - flattering and will work very hard for you all winter and into spring too
Leather - sexy AF for date and gig nights
The Skirts you need in your Autumn Winter Wardrobe
Leather - everyone should own a leather skirt… period.
Suede - Mega little number - perfect for you natural and boho gals.
The Tights you need in your Autumn Winter wardrobe
Patterned tights add texture and detail to any outfit whilst keeping you warmer - don’t be afraid! Sometimes plain black tights can be too harsh with an outfit because black has a strong contrast when next to colour.
The Belts you need in your Autumn Winter wardrobe
Black - will balance out looks that you are wearing black boots and tights with. The gold buckle warms it up a touch
Gold - like animal print, it’s a neutral and will work with anything you pair it with.
The Boots you need in your Autumn Winter Wardrobe
Knee boot - work with minis and under midid/maxis and cropped trousers when you need to cover your ankle. Plus dressy and sexy.
Chunky - will keep you warm and not hurt your feet for all-day stomping about!
The Shoe and trainer you need in your Autumn Winter Wardrobe
Leopard - add some print to a plain outfit or clash with any style of print for extra style details
Colour - add a pop of colour to a dark outfit and smile at your comfy feet all day. Trainers work with everything except black tie looks.
I hope this has helped you understand that it’s totally normal to feel as though you have lost your style at the beginning of each season and that it reassures you that you can get it back easily by revisiting your style foundations and finding the missing gaps to help you feel excited about your style.
If you are still worrying about your style, please don’t hesitate to book a free call here to discuss how I can work with you to help you find your confidence again.
Thanks so much for reading,
Stylish wishes,
Sian
Personal Stylist, London.