How to Style Black and Grey So It’s Not Boring #iwillwearwhatilike

Okay, so after three orange outfits in a row(!) I challenged myself to do some typical wintery greys and blacks again but this time with a twist.

For me personally there’s nothing worse than feeling drab and dreary in all black or all (dark) grey, especially in these last few weeks of a bleak, wet and grey winter. But like all of us, at times the things I have to wear mostly out of necessity (comfort, warmth and all those other “boring” things that hinder what we wear) can be the dullest in my wardrobe.

So in true “me” style, I just made sure that my black and grey pieces weren’t boring by injecting a big dose of bright colour, adding plenty of texture and getting my accessories right.

The key piece? My new Jennifer Hamley mini KT crossbody bag. After having had the larger KT work bag for a while now (and absolutely loving its chic workwear appeal), Jennifer kindly sent me the baby version to try out. Out of a choice of black, teal and aubergine I (unusually for me!) went for black as I had the aubergine already in the KT work bag and teal is a shade of blue that wouldn’t work with many colours in my wardrobe.

Plus, I’m lacking a smart black bag that’s a step up from a little crossbody bag that fits only your wallet, phone and keys… Not any more! It’s got many of the amazing features that the KT Workbag has, just on a smaller scale. All the special pockets and compartments and a slot for your Oyster card that makes touching in and out on the tube or buses easy peasy (see this post for a closer look).

SHOP THE LOOK:

The key accessory decided, I pretty much worked the rest of my outfit around the black bag. It wasn’t a work day for me but a Saturday of errands and shopping. Sometimes I like to look smart at the weekends because I’m [working from] home in the week and smart clothes are not required.

I tend to do the opposite of what people who work in the week do: Comfy, warm things in the week and smart at the weekend. It works for me, like you should do what works for you! If you want to dress up for the school run or for going to the supermarket then just do it – life’s too short not to get your gladrags on.

What saved the black and grey from being boring

It was the bright red roll neck that stopped me being super bored with this outfit: It picked out the bright pinky-red in the check of the coat. I know they’re not the same colour, but it’s all similar warm colours that work together. A touch of orange-red lipstick tied it all in and stopped the black fedora getting just a bit too “heavy”.

And of course do add your outfits to this week’s link up and if you’ve added a link to here or my button to your post you may be featured next week!

ARE YOU ONE FOR ALWAYS INJECTING SOME BRIGHT COLOUR INTO YOUR OUTFIT? COMMENT BELOW…

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Thank you for joining the #iwillwearwhatilike link up! This started as a campaign on Instagram in August 2015 where women over 30 wore everything on a journalist’s list of “inappropriate” items for 30+ women (including leopard print, short dresses and oversized sunglasses. Yes, really). It was so popular that I decided to carry it on weekly where women of all ages link up their fabulous style, never mind what anyone tells them not to wear!

The link up goes live every Monday at 3pm UK time and will stay open for a week. Whilst the original article was of course aimed at the 30+, you can be ANY age to link up. The only criteria is that you’re wearing whatever you damn well like!

An InLinkz Link-up

Linking up etiquette…

CLICK HERE to read the rules of linking up (and to grab the #iwillwearwhatilike button). Basically it’s just good manners to link back to here – to leave a comment is even nicer!