Every year, the concept of cold-weather dressing – a polo neck under a jacket, a midi skirt swishing against boots – seems quite jolly for about a month, six weeks max. And then the novelty wears off and it becomes a bore. You’ll be about to leave the house, go to put on your coat and realise it is pouring and the boots are suede. Or it’s blowing a gale, you’ve just blowdried your hair and that jacket has no hood.
You have to think ahead. Just as you remember to turn on the heating the minute you get home, before you take off your coat, the same goes for clothes. You have to think, while still in your underwear, how the outfit will work at the bus stop. Because that is, after all, the outfit you’ll be wearing when you arrive at work, and when you’re waiting outside the cinema for your friend later on.
I am not suggesting you devote every waking hour to mastering the art of layering. Apart from anything, it’s a fiercely competitive field: the streetstyle blogs are bursting with people who have nailed it. I’m just saying it’s worth thinking about the fact that your indoor outfit needs to work under your outdoor layer.
The easy way out is to wear all-over black, or all-over navy, but today I’m arguing the case for a different formula: grey under camel. It’s vaguely American, as a colour combination. There’s a great portrait of Ralph Lauren wearing a camel coat over a charcoal grey polo neck, and Michael Kors has sometimes featured grey trouser suits under camel coats with caramel-toned fox fur collars. Kanye West often wears a grey hooded sweatshirt under a camel Crombie. It’s kind of a suave look, vaguely rich baddie, and it’s timeless. A heather grey scarf with a camel cashmere sweater is classic, but (especially if the grey is a sweatshirt marl) it’s also very modern.
How it works is this: get a camel coat and a grey marl sweatshirt (with hood, for rainy days), and a thick cosy polo neck and a grey T-shirt. (Deep grey works better than lighter: think 2B pencil, rather than 2H.) Wear with jeans, or black leather, or boring old black trousers. Accent with leopard-print heels. Run out of the door. Repeat until the sun shines again.
• Jess wears coat, £89.99, zara.com. Sweatshirt, £110, by Freda, from matchesfashion.com. Trousers, £42, warehouse.co.uk. Heels, £75, topshop.com.
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