A Modest Way to Wear a Sweater Dress and Knee High Boots #iwillwearwhatilike

Do you ever see those “cold weather” outfits [on Instagram] where the girls are wearing a sweater dress with knee-high/OTK boots – and that’s about it?

Despite the slightly milder (10°C) temperatures we’ve been having this week, that’s not a practical outfit in a British winter. The gap between the dress hem and the top of the boots lets in all sorts of cold, and I can only think that the “winter” that occurs where these girls come from is NOWHERE NEAR actual freezing(!) I like the basic principle of a sweater-dress-with-boots outfit, but what stops me is 1. The cold, and 2. My personal lack of desire to wear so little (if you’ve ever read any of my posts you’ll know I believe everyone can wear whatever they want #TheClue’sInTheHashtag – this just isn’t for me).

So as I’m NOT the sort of person who would wear just those two items but I AM the sort of person who likes the outfit in principle, it leaves me to come up with my own version. The too-cold and too-bare solution is easy: simply cover up and add layers, but retain the basics of the outfit.

SHOP THE LOOK:

[to follow…]

I’ve mentioned before that I’m a modest dresser, not for any other reason than I’m most comfortable and most confident when I’m not flashing skin. So yes, I know it’s winter and yes, I’d be more likely to show more skin in summer, but even then I really don’t do it. And to be honest in the winter I am a TOTAL wuss when it comes to the cold. I forgot my gloves when we were out on the day we shot these photos, and oh boy did I moan (it wasn’t really THAT cold, it was one of those days where boys say It’s really mild! and girls say, OMG it’s bloody freezing!! – you know the days I mean…)

Back to the outfit: the sweater dress isn’t strictly a sweater dress, but it’s a roll neck tunic that was kindly gifted to me by Woolovers. It’s 85% merino, 7% yak (yak! fabulous!) and 8% alpaca, and although some might find it scratchy I found it quite soft, and the roll neck didn’t make me itch at all. It’s incredibly warm too. The kind people at Woolovers gifted me a jersey roll neck as well to wear underneath, so that’s always a solution if you’re sensitive to anything that’s more of a natural fibre (lambswool, etc.). Anyway I loved the length and the fact that the neck doesn’t flop over. I’m ALWAYS on the hunt for perfect, stand-to-attention roll necks so I loved this one.

The other key part of this outfit was the pair of navy boots by a brand I’ve championed for a very long time: Duo Boots. So long, in fact, that I bought my first Duo Boots (plural pairs) not long after Keith and I got married, and we’re about to celebrate our 13th wedding anniversary. In fact I still have – and wear – those boots even now. Even better than THAT is the fact that two of the pairs were almost exactly the same as these knee-high navy blue boots that Duo were generous enought to send me. The style hasn’t changed all that much in (roughly) 10 years and you can see why: it’s just a beautifully classic, elegant style with (what I call) the “perfect” heel and toe shape.

Now what you may not know about Duo (they changed their name to Ted & Muffy a little while back before reverting back to Duo) is that they specialise in perfect fit boots: you not only choose your shoe size but you choose your calf size as well. So if you have exceptionally narrow calves and find all boots flap about like wellies, you’re covered. And if you have bigger calves like me and can never find boots that’ll zip up past your bigger-than-average calves, you’re also in luck. All other calf sizes in between are available as well – in increments of 2cm – and shoe sizes go from a UK 2 to a UK 10, which is nuts (but brilliant)!

So with this combination of large, warm tunic and perfect-fit knee-high boots, all that I needed to create a modest way to wear them together was to add velvety skinnies in a blue similar to the boots (creates a longer look to your legs), a jacquard coat that was the same length as the dress (so as not to “hide” the boots) and some funky accessories in the way of Toolally earrings (gifted, I’m a huge fan of their lightweight designs) and the rainbow bag from Mango I’ve had for a while now.

The only thing missing was the gloves I mentioned – I chose them especially because they coordinated with the boots. Oh, the frustration… and the cold hands!! 😉

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 in my monthly Women Who Wear What They Like post!

DO YOU KNOW THE SWEATER DRESS + KNEE HIGH/OTK  BOOTS (WITH NOTHING ELSE) OUTFITS I MEAN? COMMENT BELOW…!

Like this post? You might also like…

– The same jacquard coat with wide leg check trousers
– The same jacquard coat with rolled hem jeans and a baseball cap

Disclosure: I was gifted items by Duo, Woolovers and Toolally but was not compensated for writing this post nor was I under any obligation to feature them (click here for my full disclosure). This post contains affiliate links which means if you click through and buy I may receive a small commission at no cost to you. All content is original, however, and opinions are my own and 100% honest.

Boots: Duo Boots c/o
Sweater dress: Woolovers c/o
Coat: La Redoute (similar)
Trousers: M&Co (similar)
Bag: Mango (I’m loving this rainbow stripe bag – or here’s my same bag in blue stripes)
Earrings: Toolally c/o

 

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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 Tuesday at around 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!

 

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!

PLEASE NOTE: This is for linking up WHAT YOU’VE BEEN WEARING ONLY. Non-outfit links will be removed and you might be blocked if you turn out to be a repeat “offender”!

 

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Please note that due to the new GDPR laws I’m unable to send an email reminder unless you subscribe to the mailing list of your own accord. CLICK HERE if you wish to be sent an email with a reminder to link up to the #iwillwearwhatilike link up as soon as it’s live!

Do share the love and visit as many links as you can (you never know what other lovely like-minded ladies you might meet) – the original Instagram campaign forged some wonderful new friendships so don’t miss out!

Linking up to: iwillwearwhatilike, Shoe and Tell, Visible Monday, Style Sessions, Brilliant Blog Posts, Share All Link Up