What To Wear This Winter

A love story with plaid minis, pencil skirts and very brightly coloured tights

For the first time in a long time, I’m excited about clothes this winter. This is very much not usually the case: I find winter dressing tricky. Honestly, I dread it. Summer dressing is easy: nice cotton dress (ideally with an a-line skirt and cinched at the waist) + ballet pumps or neutral sandals of some kind + a little cardi to drape over my shoulders (if it gets a bit chilly). Done. Happy. Good times ahead. Plus sunshine and a little glow to the skin, so really happy days.

But winter dressing is more involved: it gets really cold so you need lots of layers; you need to think about practical shoes and warmth; and what about when it rains (which it feels like it does all the time)?! Knits: so hard to tell if they’re going to suit you until you actually try them on; and then what about when they start to bobble?! And why do they bobble?! Then you need a coat... There are so many pieces to the puzzle of winter dressing and - in truth - I find it all quite overwhelming so, typically (and I’m not proud of this), I do what I always do when things feel overwhelming: nothing. I hide from the reality of the situation. Specifically in this case, I ignore that it’s winter, and somehow bumble and shiver my way through, cursing the weather and cursing the fact I have nothing actually sensible to wear, and I focus on the fact that one day (hopefully soon; please, dear weather gods, let it be soon!) it’s going to be summer once again.

But not this year: this year I’m going to be strategic about things. I’ve made a mood board. I’ve settled on a uniform of sorts which is by no means revolutionary (skirt + jumper of some kind + tights + shoes + coat) but which I’m happy with and excited about; I’ve invested time up front to hunt down and buy knits that I like and that I can mix and match in with the other pieces in my wardrobe; and in case you too were wondering what to wear this winter, I’m sharing it all here. So here we go…

1960s Silhouettes: mini, pencil and wiggle skirts galore

I was rewatching Love Story again (for the billionth time) the other day and found myself obsessing (once again) over the clothes. I mean: THE CLOTHES!!!! Ali McGraw in the short-short minis with those red tights; all that plaid and the wonderfully warm-looking camel coats (his and hers). So, now top of my wish list for this season is a tartan mini skirt. Obviously. My thinking is that I can wear it with warm tights, boots (smart boots and wellies alike) or pumps, and either something warm and wooly or something a little more dressy on top. So all round quite versatile.

Also high on the wish list, inspired by a general sixties mood, is a wiggle skirt. I found the most wonderful selection at Vivien of Holloway: they come in lots of different colours and fabrics, including a pink boucle, a cherry tartan and a very nice navy tweed with flecks of yellow, but I bought the dark grey wool (below). It’s a very flattering cut that nips you in at the waist and then wiggles nicely on the hips alla Marilyn Monroe. I love it and can’t wait to wear it!