Thursday, October 13, 2011

Winter layering 101 - part one

Winter layering

The great thing about wearing layers is you can always stay comfortable weatherwise. You can eliminate or add pieces to adjust to the temperature. To start off, let's talk about the basic pieces you will need so that you can mix and match and layer away.





The basics/ Plain camis and shirts




  T shirts and camis (or sphagetti straps, preferrably the longer stretchy ones) are necessities if you are wanting to easily layer and change your look. This time of year, I use camis and basic tees like crazy. I wear them constantly under cardigans, jackets, and blazers - which are all also winter staples that I will discuss in a moment. I like to have my cami's and shirts in all of the basic solid colors (white, gray, black) and also I like to have a pop of color as well, usually red.  I also included a white collar button up shirt because those come in quite handy as well and always add a sharp look. Basic pieces offer you endless possibilities as far as what you can mix and match them with / accessorize them with. Forever 21 and Target are great places to get cami's and tee shirts . Forever 21 has a great basic section with a lot of variety.





The reason I mentioned camis and tees as winter basics is because they still work for days where it isn't super cold; they are great for under your jackets and cardigans because they will not give you a bulky look.  For colder days you want to turn to your long sleeve basics to wear under your heavier pieces. The pieces below are thin enough to wear you won't look bulky.



              

It is handy to have thin, long sleeve/ crew neck type shirts in different colors as pictured above. I also find turtlenecks are good to have on hand, although I am picky about the material and how tight the neck is. Having said that, turtlenecks look good alone but also look great under jackets, especially the trench.





Moving on to the outer layers- below is a collage of different types of outerwear pieces. Blazers, leather jackets, fur jackets, ponchos, cardigans (long sleeve and sleeveless), vests, military jackets, pea coats, and trench coats. These are all great pieces that can be worn over and over throughout winter.








Of course which outer layer you wear depends on the weather for that day. A trench coat would be way too heavy/hot for a place tha doesn't get all that cold in winter, yet it is perfect for a windy city. Cardigans can be light or heavy, so I find they come in handy on almost a daily basis.




The accessories


               Of course, scarves are always a huge winter accessory so I included two images of different style scarves.. I am loving gloves for this fall, the pink and black ones in the picture are by Betsey Johnson. Beanies are great not just for cold weather but also for bad hair days. Last in the picture I included two images of knee high socks. What I love about these is you can wear them over your leggings-  ie wearing a red pair of knee high socks over black leggings is a nice extra touch and pop of color to your outfit. They also add a thin layer of warmth.


            Now that we have briefly discussed all the winter essentials, I will be posting images of outfits I have put together using the pieces above. Stay tuned!