Adding A Pop Of Colour Into My Wardrobe

I have always shied away from colours and patterns, having always felt that they tend to cheapen any outfit, looking messy and unappealing. Now I know this is all in my head. It is not the colour that makes them look busy, but the way they tend to be styled. A hubbub of colours and shapes do nothing but scare a minimalist such as myself far, far away.

Having gotten it in my head that I needed a forest green coat, I headed over to Depop in the hopes of locating the perfect one sustainably. As I did not want to invest big money into a coat that is probably going to be a bit of an occasional piece, Depop was the perfect place to search and thankfully, one stood out to me. A green coat from Miss Selfridge that would fill the space in my wardrobe nicely. Today I want to chat about how I decided to style this piece in order to keep a minimalistic appeal to my outfits, while introducing a much need pop of colour into my repertoire.

THE BASE OUTFIT

In order to highlight the appeal of the coat and its beautiful shade, I decided that the base of the outfit needs to be limited to one colour, or colour palette. Black is likely to my my first choice in achieving this. It will reduce any possible clashes or unflattering alterations to the overall silhouette, allowing the coat to be the sole statement piece.

THE TOP: for this ensemble I chose my black Marks&Spencer Funnel Neck Long Sleeve top. With its high neck line, I feel this piece allows the collar of the coat to stand out, as it creates clear contrast, while maintaining a clean, minimalist aesthetic.
THE SHORTS: I paired the top with my Weekday tailored shorts to achieve a cinched in waist and elongated appearance. As the coat is longer than my bottom piece, an illusion will be achieved, making my legs and the coat itself look longer. Stockings can be added to the look on chillier days.
THE BOOTS: the Vagabond Simone boots will further feed in to the elongated appearance as a result of their height and fit, also contributing as an edgy addition to the overall aesthetic.

TIPS ON HOW TO ALWAYS LOOK PUT TOGETHER

SET A WARDROBE COLOUR SCHEME: I find the easiest way to always look put together is setting a wardrobe colour scheme. Set out a palette of your favourites and decide what colours and shades should form the basis of your clothes. They should all be complementary, making it easy to always look in some way like you coordinated your outfit even when you didn’t even try. The basis of my wardrobe is built upon blacks, beiges, greys, whites and blues (denim).

FOCUS ON THE BASICS: Your wardrobe should be mostly made up of good quality basics. This makes it easy to create an outfit and offers the opportunity to elevate through the use of statement pieces. I am a big believer in investing in shoes and outerwear as focus points. A basic outfit complimented by a statement, quality shoe will always look luxurious.

FIGURE OUT YOUR SILHOUETTE: We all have a specific silhouette that flatters us most. Whether it’s more fitted or oversized, top or bottom heavy, we all know what looks best on us. Play with structure in outfits. Again, it’s not always about the pieces we own, but how we style them also. A top heavy look, with oversized jumpers and shirts, complimented by a smaller bottom, a favourite of mine being the tailored shorts, emphasise the length in my legs. I love the look of a both top and bottom heavy look, with loose trousers and a structured shirt cinched in at the waist to emphasise it further. Structure in outfits is everything.