How to layer like a Pro for Fall⁄Autumn

Hi everyone, my name is Mariola and welcome to my channel where I talk about high quality, more responsible wardrobe and being creative with your clothes instead of constant shopping. Today I want to talk about layering and I've been thinking how to plan this video to make it interesting and easy for you to navigate because I have a lot of information and of course a lot of examples but I didn't want it to be chaotic and messy so I decided to divide this video into two parts. In the first part I will be talking about thermal layering, so basically using your clothes to keep you warm. And the second part is layering colors and accessories, so more aesthetic layering. Just to give you an example what you can expect. So my outfit today, the base is white t-shirt and black trousers. If I put a jumper and a blazer on top of it, that would give me some extra layers to keep me warm on a cold day. And what I'm wearing right now is aesthetic layering. So I put a longer vest and a statement necklace to make my outfit more interesting and not warmer. I will talk about them separately but you can see how much they are connected. I hope you enjoy this video and if you do don't forget to give it a like and subscribe to my channel. I decided to show you my key pieces that I have in my wardrobe that are really useful for creating interesting and warm outfits. Some of them will be mentioned a lot in different categories but that's only because they're so versatile and you can layer them together with different clothes. So I want to start with a knitted vest which I have here. This is such an obvious choice for adding warmth to your outfit, especially if it's made from cashmere wool or mix of any of these fabrics. I started wearing that in summer on its own because it's so soft and delicate on your skin and then by the time it got colder I would add a t-shirt or a tank top underneath so you have a nice interesting but also warm base. If it's not too cold like today I would go for a shirt, a nice necklace on top, even this one I think would be nice like this, black trousers or wide leg jeans and you can layer it with a blazer or a trench coat. Before I go any further I have to mention the very basic pieces like your tank top or a simple white t-shirt. These are the versatile hard-working pieces that you will be using time and time again. So for these basics I would just stick with white, maybe black as well if you like this colour but something very easy to blend with greys, beiges, blacks or any colourful colours. It's just a practical advice, you can always add a t-shirt in red, your long sleeve in blue or green or your scarf in different colour but if you stick to neutral base layers you will spend so much less time on putting your outfits together. Also in terms of versatility I would make sure I have one fitted t-shirt and one loose or oversized so it can go under different things and it's just so much easier to put an outfit together when you're in a rush. Depending on what kind of t-shirt you're going for you can layer it under a fitted cardigan, loose cardigan, under a shirt whether it's open or closed. With that shirt or cardigan you can add an outer layer, something like a blazer, leather jacket or a trench coat. So it's a simple, basic, maybe boring item but it's a key piece in many outfits. Next category that is great for layering in autumn and winter but not just for the practicality of it but also because it looks so elegant and effortless is long sleeve fitted tops. I have them in different materials and different colours, you can wear them separately if it's not too cold but they're so easy to layer. You can just add an oversized blazer and wide leg trousers and you have a really nice elegant but very relaxed outfit, very modern. You can add an oversized shirt on top of it, leave it open, add some jewellery and you can top it up with some extra layers like a blazer, a trench coat. Another layer that this goes really well with is a cardigan, whether it's your fitted cardigan like this one or an oversized cardigan like my cashmere grey one. If you're looking for a more comfortable and casual outfit you can layer it with a knitted vest top like this or all grey but yes in my opinion long sleeve tops are amazing, they look elegant, you can dress them up and down. I would highly recommend to get a few in different colours. The next category that is great for layering but can also elevate every outfit is a shirt. Now depending on a level of formality you have silk shirts, cotton poplin, you have viscose, of course some people still wear linen shirts which are great and really nice and warm on your skin but you decide what is comfortable for you or what works for your lifestyle. So for example if you have a nice silk shirt you can wear it to work and if your dress code allows you can put a knitted vest top on top of it. I would add some pearls with it, pearl necklace, pearl earrings and a white leg black trousers for example or grey trousers. Of course these are my colours, you can create so many different outfits with different colours. Such elegant and more fitted shirt you can also layer underneath your jumper, just show your colour, your sleeves a little bit just to add some character but you can also layer it on top of your tank top or your long sleeve top. If the top is fitted and the shirt is not too tight you have again an extra layer but the outfit is more interesting as well and of course I don't have to mention the outer layers, things like puffer jacket, a blazer, a really nice trench coat or a long wool coat. Now when it comes to your cotton shirts they're much more casual than your silk shirt but they still add that tailored element to your outfit so that's why I like to add them whenever I can. I feel like you have more flexibility and more styling ideas that you can use with such shirt. So you can wear it with the same knitted vest so it's warm put together but not too elegant and of course if you pair an oversized long shirt with such vest top you can pair it with a long I can imagine many bottoms that go with this outfit. When it comes to oversized shirts I already mentioned that but you can wear them on top of your t-shirt, your long sleeve top so you're not gonna get overwhelmed and flooded with the amount of material but it's still gonna look interesting. If you don't like this oversized and relaxed style you can close the shirt and tuck it in. Just leave all the buttons open, add a necklace or two and a nice belt. It's a very nice interesting outfit but much warmer than just a shirt. The most classic outfit you can probably find is a cotton shirt underneath your jumper. It doesn't work with all jumpers, in my opinion at least. I would only go for something more relaxed, loose straight sleeve, something more modern and when your jumper is still fitted on top of your shirt it creates bulk. It doesn't look very flattering, it's not comfortable because you can see every bulk underneath your jumper. It reminds me of men's old-fashioned very elegant wardrobe. I don't think it's very fashion forward and interesting. Okay we finally have some knits and I wanted to start with neolitist cardigans. First of all this merino wool cardigan. You know I have two of them. This one is navy, I also have one in beige or cappuccino. These are very fine, quite fitted. So I would start the outfit with a tank top, a fitted t-shirt or a long sleeve top. Anything that goes comfortably underneath your cardigan. Then you can add a light puffer jacket and on top of that you can add a blazer. You can add a trench coat or a wool coat or even a leather jacket. Any outerwear of your choice. I like cardigans because they don't create bulk. You just have to make sure that whatever you put underneath is lighter and thinner than the cardigan. This is my old cashmere cardigan from H&M premium. I feel like the best option for more oversized and more voluminous cardigans is something fitted like a t-shirt, tank top or again a long sleeve. But if you layer smart you can wear a cotton or a silk shirt underneath. But if you pick something very long for example it will be hard to tuck in your trousers and I don't know about you but I don't feel comfortable when I have too many bulky layers. You can see the layers in your trousers. It just doesn't look very nice and it's not comfortable. The last category for my tops is jumpers. My favourite style first of all would be neutral, beige, grey or black. But I do have some colours in my wardrobe and my favourite fit is something like that. So first of all it's cropped. Not extremely cropped because it finishes around your hips. So you can tuck it in but you don't have to. And even if you do you don't have any extra bulk around here. The second part it's cashmere so of course it's my favourite. And the sleeve as you can see it's nice and wide. So first of all it looks very nonchalant and modern and second if you layer something underneath like your oversized shirt it just looks nice and interesting. With that jumper you can easily move in your layers whatever you add underneath. I know cashmere is more expensive but cashmere is much warmer and in my opinion it's much easier to care for, much easier to wash at home. You don't have to give it to dry cleaners. You can easily wash it at home and if you're very careful you can wear it for years in a really good condition. I'm not going to talk about all jackets that I have or I recommend because we have different styles and different tastes and you just wear whatever you love. I just want to mention this puffer jacket that is amazing for layering. This one is from Uniqlo and I've had it for I don't know maybe three years now. It looks very small and fitted but I can layer it on top of every jumper I have. Even my chunky blue cashmere jumper. This can prolong the life of your blazers, your trench coats or any lighter jackets that you want to wear with your outfit. You don't really feel that you have it on but it really adds a lot of warmth. So in this part of the video I want to take my key pieces that I just talked about and together with some accessories create beautiful and interesting outfits. Now these tips can be applied to any wardrobe and any colours you wear but I will focus on neutrals and maybe some colours here and there because this is what I wear. So I want to be authentic and I want to show you real life examples. I'm going to start with the simplest colour combinations. I'm not going to talk about specific colours. I just want to show you the formula. For an effortless put together and very easy outfit just wear one colour base and that means your top and your bottoms. But it doesn't have to be as simple and easy as that. You can wear your long sleeve and knitted vest top in the same colour for example grey and grey trousers and on top of that add a different colour blazer, trench coat, jacket, anything you want. You can of course mix some extra colours. It doesn't have to be just two colours. What I'm saying is the base is one colour so it's elegant, it's elongating, it's also much easier to pair with different colours or patterns. So if you want to break that monochromatic look you can add a white shirt on top of that grey outfit and a beige overcoat. I'm not going to suggest what shoes you wear with that because you can either just go monochromatic again or you can add a pop of red, green or whatever else you can think of, maybe yellow. Another very simple formula is to wear your top and your outerwear in the same colour. So basically you match your cardigan, your jumper, your shirt or a t-shirt with your jacket or coat. So it's a very easy formula just like the first one because you start your outfit with choosing same colour top and your jacket, blazer, leather jacket etc. So these formulas are mainly focused on colour matching. So it works especially well if you have your favourite colours like I have my greys and beiges and I don't have difficulties putting my trousers and jumper together in the same colour or similar colour or my jumper and my coat for example. So this is very easy way to elevate your outfit. Now if your outfits are neutral like most of my outfits it's really nice to add a little pop of colour. So when it comes to colours you can add a simple colourful necklace, you can leave it as it is, as a very small addition or you can pair it with another item in the same colour. So I have this thrifted wool jumper from Uniqlo that I only bought to wear as a pop of colour in my outfit. So I can wear it as a jumper but I love this blue so I can tie it in my waist together with the necklace or without or I can wear it as a scarf just so it's sticking out a little bit from underneath my coat. You can wear a blue colour shirt layered with your long sleeve or a t-shirt and on top of your coat you can add a same colour jumper or you can tie that jumper in your waist. So it looks very cohesive and planned. I also love a neutral colour outfit and it doesn't matter how many colours, can be two, three, even four combined with a vivid colour shoes like red, green. If you have a simple t-shirt and a jumper outfit so there is not much going on in your neckline area, you can accessorise it with a scarf and I'm not talking about your wool or cashmere scarf. This can come later when it's actually cold and when you go outside. I'm talking about layering your accessories to make your outfit more interesting. You can layer some necklaces with your scarf to make it more modern and interesting and here you can mix different metals, different colours. I feel like the more classic you go the more traditional the outfit with the scarf is going to look like. So experiment a little and see what works for you. Speaking of jewellery, this is my favourite way to accessorise any outfit and especially when you have a simple chunky jumper. If you're not comfortable with scarves you can layer different necklaces or if you prefer something simple you can wear a minimalistic necklace like this one or very simple minimalistic earrings. Layering is not just about adding pieces on top of each other, it's mostly about styling your clothes so they feel more personal and they look more interesting. Your simple classic cardigans have so much potential. You can wear them in different ways, button up or button down, more modern or more classic. They can also imitate your knitted waist coat underneath your blazer or a jacket so they add so much interest to your simple outfit. Don't forget about silhouette because you can wear a simple outfit like an oversized shirt, a knitted vest top and a long skirt but if you wear a short jacket on top of it you create very interesting silhouettes and interesting layers that are visible from the outside. Same goes for oversized. You can wear your oversized trousers with an oversized blazer but if you combine it with a long sleeved top and fitted cardigan you achieve very interesting put together and modern layered outfit. As a finishing touch don't forget about your scarves, your hats, beanies, your gloves and hand warmers or wrist warmers because they add a lot of interest and most of all they keep you warm. I'm for example looking at these wrist warmers at Massimo Dutti that are made from wool mix. They're very cozy, they cover your hand but they're not restrictive and they add so much visual interest to your outfit as well especially if you wear it with a similar color coat or a jumper. So when you put an outfit together think about every detail because everything counts and it doesn't have to cost you anything. It's more about creativity and trying to repurpose your clothes in a different way. Okay that's all my layering techniques that I could remember today. I'm sure I've missed something and by the way if you know some interesting layering tips or tricks let us all know so we can use them in our future outfits. I hope you enjoyed this video and it made you rethink your wardrobe and how you layer your clothes. Please don't forget to give this video your thumbs up and if you enjoy my content in general subscribe to my channel because this is the best way you can support my work. Thank you so much again, have a lovely stylish week and I see you in my next video!