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AW13 Capsule Wardrobe – Ways To Wear A Winter White Coat

Autumn Winter 2013: it’s here. I’ve finally stopped kidding myself it’s still summer – we’re not going to get another freak heatwave, no matter how much I wish for it. I therefore decided to get excited about rediscovering all my winter clothes and working out what new items might bring my wardrobe up to date for AW13. So when Marks & Spencer reached out to me with an offer of some statement pieces for this season, I jumped at the chance! Thank you to M&S for a wonderful opportunity :))

I think the foundation for a great winter wardrobe is a stunning coat. Marks & Spencer have a great AW13 range of coats (I could have chosen three or four) but I eventually decided on this winter white bouclé coat which is the perfect choice upon which to build a capsule wardrobe for this season – it’s so Sixties-chic and I know white can be an impractical choice but what two colours go with everything? Black and white! I’m not a huge fan of black coats, so white it was. Plus it’s not exactly a colour that will date – it won’t exactly scream “AW13 ALERT” in five years time, will it…? I also chose a classic peak cap hat from the M&S winter hats collection (and we all know how I love me a hat or two).

So here’s two ways I’ll be wearing my beautiful new coat this season – the variations on these two looks are endless. One is for daytime with the hat and boots, the other is for nighttime as a cover up over a dress for a night out. Read on for more info!

For daytime, a beautiful coat with hat and boots is perfect for an autumnal day, and you can add a scarf and gloves when it’s colder in the winter. I kept this look quite neutral with the only colour coming from my tan boots (and hair), but the other star of this outfit is the fantastic black peak cap from their hats collection. Like the coat, it has more than a hint of Sixties styling about it – and don’t you just love the textured peak? I’d probably replace the corsage for different coloured scarves in the dead of winter, but while it’s milder I have a heap of corsages and brooches that will add the perfect finishing touch to that asymmetrical front.

(In case you were wondering, I haven’t chopped off my hair – it’s in a ponytail. I wanted to create the illusion of shoulder length hair especially for the hat.)

And the second, totally different way to wear the coat is as a classic shoulder-drape:

When the coat is undone and draped over your shoulders (oh yes, I’ve learned something from attending London Fashion Week), it gives your evening look a bit of a sense of drama. And it makes for a great entrance when you enter the restaurant/bar/dinner party. So again, it being white means it will work with any going-out outfit – and what could be better than that?!

Huge thanks go to Marks & Spencer for asking me to take part in this styling challenge, I have to admit it was nice to finally embrace the cold…! However it doesn’t quite end there: they did request that to take part in the challenge I had to give something back. If you live in the UK you may or may not have heard about the M&S Shwopping scheme…?

The whole idea of Shwopping is to encourage everyone to declutter their wardrobes and donate the clothes to charity – I’m having a clear out this weekend and I’ve already collated quite a pile. You can either take your clothes to any charity shop or give them to Marks & Spencer, who will pass them onto Oxfam. If you take them in this coming Thursday (3rd October), you will receive a £5 M&S voucher off a £35 spend which is brilliant 🙂

So have you done any shopping for AW13 investment pieces yet? Or what do you have your eye on – is it a coat, hat or boots, or something else? Do let me know in the comments!

Shop my look!

Coat: c/o Marks & Spencer, Hat: c/o Marks & Spencer, Jeans: River Island, Boots: unknown (old), Flower corsage: unknown, Gloves: Next, Dress: Asos, Necklace: Boots, Heels: Zalando