5 Things Friday-How to Perfect the Chic Look this Autumn
Want to up your style game for the new season? Here are 5 easy-to-do, practical style hacks to create chic, put-together autumnal looks.
Hi and welcome to what feels like the start of Chapter Two for 5 Things Friday. A few more of you have joined the gang, which is fantastic, so please do join in the chat or leave a comment. I’d love to hear from you!
This week the weather has been all over the place, from a rainy Bank Holiday to what is now looking like a warm weekend. I’ve not committed to packing away the summer wardrobe just yet, but sartorially my head is firmly looking forward to autumn and some fresh looks. Over the next few weeks the brands will be having their press days, the shops will be brimming with AW24, and I’ll be thinking about wish lists and wardrobe planning. As we transition into a new season and refresh our wardrobes, it’s the perfect time to rethink our style choices - especially if we want to make some changes. I know from the subscriber chat that a top concern for many of you is how to put outfits together, especially when you have been through a life change and are feeling that you have ‘lost a sense of how to dress’. I get it! I’m currently working through my own change of life, having started full-time working from home. So, before we get our teeth into the new season, I thought it might be timely to share some tips I use when creating outfits. Then, when you’re thinking about your own autumn wardrobe, you’ll have some strategies to help you feel confident in your choices, before you make any purchases!
1. Invest in Timeless Basics
If I could give one piece of advice to anyone stuck in a style rut it’s start with your wardrobe staples. I had a complete overhaul of my personal style a few years ago when I stopped buying random items and started thinking about complete outfits. The most significant change was to develop a ‘core’ to my look which I rely on to build my outfits each season. I worked out what my staple items were for each season, and built all my outfits from there. I’m currently rethinking my choices for the new season as I’ve changed my working life, but my basics will still be the backbone of my wardrobe. You’ll need to think about your own lifestyle and what works for you to understand your own staples, but it's good to look towards timeless classics rather than trend items. All my basics are from a neutral palette; creams, browns, navys as well as monotones. This provides me with a minimal capsule wardrobe which is always going to look polished, so if you struggle with putting looks together, this is a good place to start. Then, if you're looking to make your wardrobe feel more current, you can add a ‘trend’ item. Remember ‘less is definitely more’ if you want a chic look, so stick to just you one trend at a time! For me, essentials are a good quality T-shirt, a cashmere crew neck jumper, classic black wide-leg trousers, and usually I would have put a blazer or dress on my list, but this season I feel I’ll get more use out of casual pieces like a denim jacket and a cord midi skirt.
2. Limit your Look to 3 Colours.
Stylists call this ‘The 3 Colour Rule’ which put simply means keeping it to 3 colours or less when it comes to your outfits. Autumn is my favourite colour palette, and I embrace this rule in my autumn wardrobe. I’ve always loved browns (I had a brown velvet wedding jacket!), red and burgundy and this season I’m adding olive green.
I’m pretty cautious colour-wise, and a three-colour outfit can sometimes feel a bit excessive for me, I love either a monochrome or tonal look, which in my book is ultra stylish. However, I know a bit of colour particularly at this time of year is not a bad thing and I love adding a ‘colour pop’ to my neutral looks.
For those of you who love colour and wear multiple combinations in an outfit then this style tip of limiting your colourful exuberance to just 3 colours will help you achieve a more chic look. I also encourage you to have a palette for your seasonal wardrobe; one that works cohesively for all your outfits. This helps with creating lots of different looks, particularly when building on your basics. So, when you're swooning over that bright orange top, hopefully you’ll consider how you are going to wear it with your existing wardrobe before making that purchase.
If you fancy having a go at the ‘3 Colour Rule’, it’s surprisingly simple, just as it says, keep to 3 colours in your outfits. There’s a little debate over whether neutrals count as one of your colour choices, but let’s not overthink it! You can have one dominant colour as the majority of your look, add a secondary colour with one piece of clothing and then an accessory as your third. Simples!