Friday, May 11, 2012

The Style Glossy: Dressing Room

Your Top 3 Winter Buys

By Yasemin Trollope for The Style Glossy

Embrace winter with more aplomb and panache than you’ve done in years with these stylist-approved pieces that will take your wardrobe from boring to bravo.

1. The Oversized Bright Knit
This winter wardrobe essential is all about bold colours, chunky knits and floppy -- but still stylish -- silhouettes. With that said, oversized anything can look frumpy without the right know-how.

“The key to wearing oversized knits is to have proportion control,” says celebrity stylist Kai Aiyub. “You don’t want to be enveloped! Think Stella McCartney in terms of the knit being oversized yet edgy,” he says.

When it comes to wearing this trend, work it back with heels to add height, and if you’re unsure of layering or wearing bold neon shades, stay in the safety zone by teaming your fancy new threads with denim. You simply can’t go wrong.

2. The Fedora
Headwear hides a multitude of sins (think: bad hair days). This season, the fedora is the trend-hunter’s weapon of choice. Remember to keep the brim wide and the structure fairly stiff, as floppy fedoras just don’t work.

“Always tilt the hat toward your face for perfect facial framing,” adds Aiyub. If you’re after something a little different, he recommends going vintage and adding a brooch for a lasting impression.

3. The Cape
While peacoats and trenches will always have a special place in the wardrobe, this season sees the resurgence of our swooshy friend, the cape.

With layering being one of the main messages stylists took away from the A/W shows, this hole-in-one coat option makes layering with different patterns, colours and textures all the more fun.

“The cape is very high-end fashion and open to interpretation. Wear it over a structured dress, tailored denim jeans and a knit, or even over a cocktail dress and belted around the middle,” suggests Aiyub. In other words, buy one and wear it with everything.

Photo: Getty Images

Yasemin Trollope is the Managing Editor of The Style Glossy. She is a freelance writer, beauty editor, and creator of the feel-good blog, The Happiness Cocktail .