Winter outfit building

Bonfire night has passed and so in the retail calendar it is now officially time for Christmas to begin. At least that was the rule when I worked in various head offices, these days it starts popping up after August Bank Holiday but we won’t go there. Anyway today I’m easing you into it gently with some simple elevated outfits that aren’t just for Christmas, they’re things that you can wear throughout the winter season and even beyond. I’m working with White Stuff to look at Winter outfit building. It’s country style worn my way again and it also gives me another opportunity to show you the beauty of my part of the country.

We took these photos on the South Cumbria border, it’s a spot that thousands of people drive past each year on their rush to the Lake District and they miss so much. You often find us up here at weekends with Ted because there’s so much easy walking that can be rewarded with utterly fabulous home-made cake. And this, in my view is the season for sticky cake and steaming coffee, huddled in countryside cafes watching the light fall. Any day now the Christmas lights will start appearing although they’ll be later out here than in the towns. I don’t usually hear Christmas music until the beginning of December unless we head to a city, even so you can sense that it’s on its way just from the change in the air which is crisp and already smells of woodsmoke as people light up their hearths.

So let’s start talking about the kind of clothes that we need at this time of year as every day becomes a little less everyday. I’m going to do a full recap on the capsule components of Christmas dressing next Tuesday but this post gives us an easy intro as we feel the approaching vortex of everything shiny. What I will say now is that after four years of very low key Christmas style, it’s ramping up with a vengeance this year. Every retailer has a more extended collection than we’ve seen since 2019 and we’ll go into the reasons for that in the next post. Today though is about relaxed winter chic with just a touch of sparkle here and there.

A winter outfit with a subtle gleam

Let’s begin with an easy outfit, the sort of thing that the teachers amongst you often tell me you’re looking for at this time of year – something that shows you’re in the mood but isn’t so elaborate that you have to pack it away in January. I have my own wide jeans and clutch bag here but everything else is White Stuff so let me talk you through it. The key sartorial principle in the winter months is to think texture in every single outfit that you put together. That’s because the light is low and so mixing textures will play on that. You’re looking to combine rich, soft textures that absorb the light with shiny reflective ones that bounce it about.

Soft textures are tactile and so they create a ‘that must feel nice’ reaction in the viewer. Shiny surfaces are harder so you don’t want too many of them and they’re particularly good near the face as they help bring the best out of a winter complexion. The coat here is doing all of the tactile work for me, it adds a touch of luxury to this outfit that you just wouldn’t get with an ordinary navy coat. It’s described as velvet but I think it’s better to see it as moleskin and that’s a good thing because a very soft velvet coat would be for special evenings only whereas this one is hardwearing enough for daytime too. I’m wearing a size 12 and it’s the perfect cut and length, I could still fit a jumper underneath but anything more than that would be too bulky. It’s for a more streamlined outfit worn on warmer winter days – or for a nice pub lunch out which is what was happening here.

The leather belt is a great find because it’s reversible – you can wear it this way for a shimmer of festive silver or the other way round on a simple navy day.

Moleskin coat; sheer sleeved blouse; reversible belt; pewter boots; earrings

The blouse has a very subtle hint of metallic in the print that isn’t quite leopard but almost could be. The bodice is lined but the sleeves are left sheer and that adds a touch of glamour without being too full-on party. The contrast between opaque and sheer adds an extra layer of interest to a simple outfit too.

You’ve seen me wearing these pewter boots before and they’re particularly good because they work easily with both gold and silver – and they have this season’s cowboy nod to Boho. As always with White Stuff footwear they’re phenomenally comfortable. I’ve also realised how good their jewellery is this year – these earrings are a very cost-effective way of updating your collection. I like the organic shape so much that I’ve now bought them in gold too.

Moleskin coat; sheer sleeved blouse; reversible belt; pewter boots; earrings

Winter outfit building – a winter walk

Moving on to a winter walk mood, I absolutely love this cardigan and so, surprisingly, does ‘no pattern on anything ever’ Mal. When I came downstairs he told me it made me look young and fresh (perhaps I don’t usually?!). Anyway compliment taken as intended – the colours are the thing I think, they’re just so lovely. Arctic blue is a sleeper trend this season meaning it wasn’t predicted by the forecasters but it’s being picked up at a street-style level.

It was a warmish day here so I’m wearing it without a layer underneath and I can confirm that it isn’t itchy. It does come up big though. I love the fact that White Stuff do a lot of their knitwear in dress sizes rather than the usual S/M/L so that you can adjust things fractionally. I’m wearing a size 12 but a 10 would have been better and the reviews seem to agree on sizing down.

Cardigan; gloves; jeans; boots

The jeans are the ‘weekend’ style and they’re great for this kind of outfit, not too loose, not too skinny. The boots you’ve seen before, there’s very low stock now though because flat navy suede ankle boots are so hard to find. They work so well from a texture perspective, visually balancing the softness of any knitwear you have on your top half.

Cardigan; snood; gloves; jeans; boots

And as you can see there are tonal accessories too. The bobble hat is lovely but hats rarely work with my hair so instead I went for the contrasting snood and matching fingerless gloves which have a button-back mitten section for extra warmth on cold days. I’m wearing White Stuff earrings again but they’re quite small so…

Cardigan; snood; gloves

… here’s a better picture – again I love the abstract shape.

Abstract earrings

Winter outfit building – relaxed party

And my last outfit was a dressing up session. We headed out to Sizergh Castle for the afternoon because there’s a great National Trust tearoom there with particularly good cakes – and yes, I sat there amongst the muddy booted walkers in my heels and sparkles quite happily. Actually we have a story attached to Sizergh castle that always makes us smile. You see a group of Mal’s cousins made a pilgrimage there from Newcastle last year because one of the youngsters had been doing some work on Ancestry.com and tracked this very place down as the Garnetts’ ancestral home.

We saw their proud photos on Facebook in posts that made me think of Tess of the d’Urbervilles and I didn’t have the heart to tell them that I thought they’d taken a wrong turn. I know how it’s happened because I nearly did a similar thing a few years ago but when I looked more closely at the birth and death records I could see it wasn’t the right branch of the family. In fact I suspect that the Garnetts actually come from the Scots side of the Border Reivers, described as the ‘lawless clans of the border valleys where a lifestyle of raiding and marauding was the only way to survive.’ To me it somehow seems like a more likely gene pool for my beloved husband than the English gentry (sigh!).

Anyway he still enjoys spending a couple of hours at his ‘seat’ – it would be such a great doer upper if only we could claim it. However on to the clothes – this skirt is a lovely festive option, not too dressed up for everyday wear at this time of year and with its elasticated waist it’s very comfy to wear. I’m playing with texture again – the cashmere jumper and suede boots absorb the light and add to the soft tactility of the outfit. The metallic flecks in the skirt and necklace bounce it off.

Tulle skirt with metallic spot; necklace; earrings (jumper, bag and boots my own)

And you can see that the frothy structure of the tulle is really lovely as you walk. The light was getting lower here so the subtle sparkle was coming into its own.

Tulle skirt with metallic spot; necklace; earrings

Here’s a closer look at the necklace – a statement piece like this is always a good way of lifting a turtle neck jumper at this time of year so that it doesn’t look too plain and you can just about see that I’m wearing the matching earrings too.

Necklace

And suddenly the heavens opened and we had to take shelter for a while in this rather beautiful decaying folly.

Tulle skirt with metallic spot; necklace; earrings

So there you go, our first toe-dip into the waters of Christmas. White Stuff is a great place to look for winter outfit building if you’re not into the full-on sequin fest that seems to be hitting most high street stores. I mustn’t finish without reminding you how good their nightwear is – the best you can buy on the high street in my opinion as it’s a soft cotton and viscose mix so it’s breathable and yet it feels quite silky to wear. You can find it all here.

Counting down to your bright new year

Thank you to everybody who has enquired so sympathetically about my back. It’s getting a lot better and I’m working on rehabbing it with my trainers at the gym. I just want to talk to you quickly about that because it’s only thanks to a strong nudge from them that I’m getting back into my groove again so quickly. A week ago I was thinking that I might just rest it until the new year. You see with our holiday, catching up on work and then this, October was the worst month of gym attendance for me since lockdown. I knew going back was going to be hard so I started giving myself excuses not to. It’s only because my trainers noticed I hadn’t been around and got in touch that I have a reinvigorating healthy plan that will take me progressively through to the end of the year. I’m so grateful to them that I want to give you the same sort of nudge too.

Let’s start with thinking ahead to January 6th or whenever you take your Christmas decorations down. You know how it feels, everything is gloomy, your loved ones have returned back to their lives and weeks of darkness lie ahead. You’re probably feeling sluggish after too much eating and drinking and you’re digging deep to find the energy for new year’s resolutions but it feels oh so hard. It’s a time of self-flagellation, I bet you can put yourself right there.

However, if, right now, at the beginning of November you make a plan, however small, you could be there on 6th January just thinking, “right, let’s crack back on”. If I hadn’t worked with my trainers to come up with a new regime, I’d be up to a stone heavier by January and I’d have lost so many of the gains I made by training consistently for most of this year. As it is we’re focusing on strengthening my back in the same way that we did my shoulder a few years ago, completely avoiding the planned surgery that was lined up for me. We’re also swapping a strength session for Pilates Reformer to improve flexibility and I’m focussing on my nutrition again – something that’s slipped since August when we were travelling around a lot.

The thing is that when your mind’s full it’s easy to see your body simply as the vehicle that carries your brain around but they deserve equal attention. And this time of year when you start comfort eating is a particularly slippery slope. So it’s worth having a plan – mine is always about periodisation so that I eat and exercise well for 80% of the time and can enjoy enjoy cake and dancing for the other 20%. I’ve looked at my calendar and factored the 20% downtime in, I’ll also have my usual 12 days of Christmas from 21st December to 1st January when I don’t worry about it at all. Just having that plan has made me feel much more in control and I know I’ll hit January in a better frame of mind – and body – than if I’d let it all go now.

There are seven weeks left this year so I’m just going to suggest that you think of one good habit to get into for your mind or body in that time. It doesn’t have to be marathon training, it could just be consistently drinking two litres of water or hitting a good protein target. But if you get into the habit of caring for your body a bit more you’ll hit January feeling better and hopefully then have more time and inclination to build on what you’ve started. It’s a mindset. I don’t really have the headspace to start something completely new like Reformer Pilates right now but I’m telling my mind to be quiet because my body needs it.

I’ll leave you with that thought for the weekend. And for the next few weeks there will be two or even three posts, starting next Tuesday when I’ll be talking about how to build a Christmas capsule for the events that you actually have in your diary (rather than the Cinderella ball you wish you were going to – all that fuss and she had to leave at midnight, that’s not what I call a good party!). Have a great weekend and I’ll see you on Tuesday.

Disclosure: ‘Winter outfit building with an extra touch’ was commissioned by White Stuff but as always I was free to do it the way I wanted

Subscribe by email

Disclosure: as with the majority of blogs, products featured on Midlifechic sometimes (but not always) include affiliate links. This means that if you choose to make a purchase, you are helping to support the site because a small referral commission may be paid. This contributes towards hosting fees, software costs, site maintenance and other plug-ins. Midlifechic could not exist without these small payments, so every contribution makes a big difference.

Winter outfit building – working with texture