Styling Tips 101 : Winter Edition

The one where we give you all our favorite tips of the trade!

Hello everyone and welcome to our first edition of styling tips! Between photo shoots and ordering for the shop, Elyse and I spend a lot of time working out the best styling ideas for how we present our clothes to customers. Both of us find ourselves often thinking about what will pair best with what in terms of proportion, scale, tone, and fiber content. It’s fun of course! But there is definitely a lot of trial and error involved to get the look we are going for. Obviously, we are interested in fashion, so in our spare time outside of work, we also have fun mixing and matching with our own wardrobes too. Below we are each going to present three different outfits with pieces from the shop. Our assignment to ourselves was to pick outfits that we could truly actually see ourselves wearing out in the world. We wanted them to be easy to wear but also with a hint of fun. Enjoy!

-Julia

p.s. Because we like to write a lot, Gmail might cut part of this email off. If this is the case, click on the title of this page and it will take you directly to the post on our site.

First up I’d like to show you a few favorites and easy pieces I could see myself wearing all the time. Since fall set in, my daily uniform at the shop has been a black turtleneck like this one from Gauze (free size), and a cozy pair of black pants, in this case, these knit ones are from Boboutic, (size medium). The Gauze turtleneck is mostly cotton with a hint of cashmere, so it’s super cozy. And I can’t say enough amazing things about these pants. I love egg-shaped pants that are a little cropped and bows in at the bottom. Since I’m 5’4”, I find this silhouette of trousers working well for me. The knit yarn is so soft and squishy, it feels like the warmest sweater pants! On top, I have a cotton vest from Nitto (size S/M). A sweater vest is something that works great if you don’t want the full bulk of a sweater in your armpit and sleeve, especially if you are layering a coat on top, and then your core is still warm. I’ve paired this with a duster linen jacket by Lara Krude on top (size XS - runs oversized). This jacket has lots of fabric, however, it drapes so beautifully you wouldn’t really know actually how big it is when you’re wearing it. Plus it has lots of ties for different styling options. As always we’ve paired all of our looks today with the classic Drogheria slide - we only have one left in 41, but we still have them left in navy here. We find this shoe style is perfect for around the home and for brief outings. Perhaps not great in a winter snowstorm, but perfect for around the fireplace in a snowstorm! As always too, we’ve paired many of our looks with Eva Masaki’s lovely glasses, this pair is the BQE in nox.

For this look, one of my best styling tips is to make your outfit cohesive and to have different parts that match. I like that the black buttons on the coat have a tiny bit of shine, and that’s also reflected (no pun intended!) with Eva’s glasses. For me, it also ties in the curvature of the slides too.

Though it’s hard to see in the picture, the black pants have a lovely texture and it pairs perfectly with the chunkier knit vest.

I think Elyse said I might look like a spy in this outfit, but I’m okay with that because in my other life I would definitely be a spy.

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To carry on with the spy theme!

I know Carmen Sandiego wears a red trench coat and a hat, so basically, nothing like this but this jacket still makes me think of her. I have always loved a classic trench (though I have yet to acquire one) and I love this Cawley one (size large) in deep green oil skin cotton. It has water repellent powers and the color is perfect. I adore how it is not a simple khaki but the color is still versatile. I would pair it with a dress or pants and the hem makes it fit easily with all your favorite dresses. I also have it put it with a little neckerchief because I love mine, I am actually wearing it now as I type. The green in the scarf and coat brings the look together. This outfit feels so me with a large black dress (size OS) a little scarf and a fun jacket.

Julia and I always joke about how we both love coats way too much and our collections are overwhelming but I would not mind one bit adding this piece to my closet :-) To top it all off put on dramatic sunnies and you are good to take on the day!

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Who doesn’t love a good apron dress - and an adjustable strap one at that. I always want to wear apron dresses, but the waist placement isn’t always in the right spot for me - but this one is because there are 4 different button heights so lots to choose from no matter how short or tall you are. The back is also elastic, and there are pockets. The raw waistline reminds me a bit of Comme des Garçon too. This dress is so versatile and I can see wearing it all through the year (except in high summer as there is wool in it). There is also something very classy to be said about cross back straps.

I love to keep pieces like this super simple and either pair with a button-up shirt, a long sleeve tee, or of course a turtleneck too. In this case, I’m wearing the Casey Casey Patty Shirt (size xs). I’ve paired the look this time with our other favorite sunglass style the Taea in Bear. We often recommend making one piece the focal point of the look, in this case, it would be the dress, and then the other components would be added to draw focus back on the dress.

We’ve also styled many of these looks with the classic Sylvain le Hen Matte Gold Epingle. This is a great tool to make a low or high bun that is both fun and very secure.

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(working on my posing game below -Elyse)

I have been on a lifelong quest to find the perfect pant. This is difficult for all the reasons I am sure everyone is familiar with. In particular, I am quite tall so all pants tend to be cropped on me. Have no fear, I'm leaning into the vibe.

For this outfit, I went (again) with my tried and true favorite, deep green, this time in more of an olive tone in this great Lara Krude top (size medium). I will say I became an olive green lover in 11th grade with my first “cat lady” sweater, it was big, shapeless and had huge buttons, and was perfect. I paired it with everything making olive my favorite “neutral” color. I love it paired with similar tones as I did here. It pairs beautifully with the deep navy of the Casey Casey pants (size medium) and the Eva Masaki BQE optical in earth. It is such an easy way to dress and you always (mostly) look put together.

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We are so excited to start carrying Nothing Written this winter season, they have such a great collection of sweaters and coats.  This one is one of my personal favorites (size medium)  - I have a weak spot in my heart for anything cabled.  I think there's something just so classy (and a bit nostalgic) about a cabled sweater over a turtleneck in winter.  This one is made out of soft wool and has a hidden-button closure up the front.  The shoulder seams are a bit dropped which I haven't seen on a sweater quite like this before.  I think that makes it a bit more modern.  

I've paired it with our favorite Gallego Desportes Trouser (size small), which we have this season in black and ivory.  We like to think of it as an easier take on the classic sailor pant trend that has become popular in the past few years - but with much more room in the waist and hip!  I'm wearing the size S in these but might prefer the medium for more ease.  I honestly can't say enough good things about these pants!  We first started carrying them in Boston and loved them so much we had to bring them back this winter season.  They look great with any outfit and I own two pairs - one in black and one in navy.  I wear them with an oversized sweater all winter long.  Also, this wool flannel is so soft and it doesn't pill either.  Win-win!

Again, I'm wearing the Gauze turtleneck because the assignment was to put together outfits that we would truly wear - and as I mentioned before, I wear a turtleneck pretty much every day.  

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I adore these colors (black & sky blue) and stipes are everything. I love how this look is a study in contrast. The sky blue is one of my favorite colors all year-round (as is black if I am being honest) but sky feels a bit more unexpected in the winter. Pair this sweet dress (size 44) with a cool and unique wool blazer and it is *chefs kiss*. The addition of the striped neckerchief just tops off the whole look with a dose of whimsy. I really felt like I was going to a lunch meeting and whatever was on my agenda was going to be approved (is that a thing? I don’t know). I also decided the day before last I would like to try and be a blazer person so here is one of my first tries and I think it went okay. Sadly this jacket has now sold but we have so many goodies coming for spring I will have to keep an eye out.

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We hope you have enjoyed this second post and we hope we have been able to give you some fun ideas to style different pieces.

If you have any ideas you’d like us to talk about, leave us a comment below, we’d be happy to hear from you!

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