10 Ways to Elevate Your Winter Wardrobe | Look More Expensive & Put Together

Hello guys and welcome back to my channel and welcome back to a brand new fashion video. Now there is a reason that some people can put on a really simple jumper, a pair of jeans and a coat and look incredibly well dressed. While somebody else can wear exactly the same outfit, but it just doesn't have the same effect. And often I think that there's probably the assumption that one of these people must have a more expensive wardrobe, but actually the most important difference is learning how your clothes actually work together. And I feel like winter is the season where that becomes so apparent because because we're dealing with heavier fabrics, more layers. coats, jackets and it can quickly become apparent when something is just slightly wrong. So today I am sharing 10 winter wardrobe upgrades that I genuinely feel can elevate your personal style this winter and by no means is this a list of 10 things that you need to run out and go and buy. This is going to help you understand fabrics, proportions, colours, layering so that hopefully Hopefully you will feel better dressed going into winter. I'm also going to be showing you outfit examples as well. So hopefully this video makes sense and you find it really useful. So. Let's jump straight into the video. First up, knitwear and I think this is one of the most important categories in your wardrobe because you can have the most beautiful coat, the nicest designer handbag, the loveliest boots but if the knitwear underneath isn't quite right then the outfit can just look a little bit tired. So there are three things to consider when buying your knitwear. Fabric composition, construction and fit. Now I'm really pleased to say that today's This video is sponsored by... LilySilk who have sent me some beautiful pieces from their winter collection. I'm going to be wearing various pieces throughout the video and will of course link them all in the description box down below. Starting with this brushed cashmere cardigan. This is made from 100% grade A Mongolian cashmere and what makes this particularly interesting is the brushing technique that's used to make this really soft fluffy appearance. So one thing I always encourage I encourage people to do when shopping. Particularly for knitwear is always check the fabric label. Two jumpers may look almost identical online, but then you can receive them and they will just wear completely differently. So natural fibers such as cashmere wool can be really lovely for winter because of their natural insulation and breathability but that doesn't mean every single natural fiber product is automatically better than every synthetic one. The construction, the yarn quality and how you care for it all matters but actually understanding what you're buying is a really useful habit to develop. So one thing in particular I love about this cardigan is it has a two-way zip and I love details like this it gives you so many more options when it comes to styling. I can wear it fully zipped or slightly open at the neckline or open at the bottom to create a completely different silhouette. Here I've styled it with jeans and boots, nothing too complicated but the texture of the cashmere makes it feel really lovely. Now if I swap the jeans for tailored trousers you can see how the cardigan works in a much smarter outfit and that's something I always What do you always look for when investing in knitwear? Can I dress it up? Can I... wear it more casually. Will I actually wear it regularly, i.e. is this going to earn its place in my wardrobe? Another piece I wanted to show you is actually the one that I'm wearing now, this brushed cashmere polo sweater. Again it's 100% cashmere but the polo neckline gives it a little bit of a different personality. I think even the most simple of collars can make an item of knitwear look a little bit more structured. And I love how this works with jeans, but equally how it works with trousers, it becomes a real classic winter outfit. So my first upgrade isn't necessarily go out and buy more knitwear, but be more selective about the knitwear that you choose to have in your wardrobe. Number two is your coat. Now I always say this but in winter your coat essentially becomes the outfit. You could spend 20 minutes choosing the perfect shirt, jumper, jeans combo and you pop your coat on and nobody sees any of it. So your outerwear really matters here and one thing to understand is that a good coat doesn't need to be particularly dramatic to look good. Sometimes Sometimes the most effective coats are actually just the simplest ones. But with beautiful construction and a more considered silhouette. This is the double-faced silk wool short coat from LilySilk. It's made from 90% wool, 10% silk. And what I really like about it is the versatility of the design. You've got this convertible collar, which means I can wear it in a slightly more open, relaxed way. Or change how it sits around the neckline. And then you've got this self-belt. Now, I love a belted coat, but I don't necessarily want to wear my coat belted up the whole time. So here I've wore it open with jeans which gives it quite a relaxed feel, however if I then fasten the belt you can see it offers a completely different silhouette. And did you notice how the belt changed the proportions of the outfit? It's not necessarily saying that either one of them is better, it's just about creating a different shape. And the other thing I encourage you to look at when you're buying coats is the shoulder construction. Where the shoulder seam sits, how the collar falls, the length of the coat. And crucially in winter the amount of room you've got underneath for knitwear because a beautiful coat is only beautiful if it actually works with your lifestyle and living in the British countryside I can assure you you need a coat that does considerably more than just look nice when you're standing in a mirror. Number three is proportions. Understanding proportions is the biggest difference between just wearing clothes and actually styling them. You can have the most beautiful individual pieces but if you don't understand proportions and how they work together the overall outfit will always be a little bit off. Now I want to make something very clear, I don't believe that every outfit needs to be flattering in the traditional sense and by flattering what people generally mean is looking as thin and invisible as possible. Not everything needs to show off a tiny waist. Not everything needs to give you longer legs. Personal style becomes much more interesting when you stop obsessing with trying to minimize your size. But proportions are still worth understanding. So let's take this ribbed cashmere polo sweater from LilySilk. It's made from 99% cashmere with 1% spandex and it's got this lovely v-neck polo design and ribbed texture. If I pair this with wide leg trousers I've got a relatively neat shape through the top and more volume through the bottom. That's one way to create balance but if I change the trousers for a straighter pair of jeans the silhouette becomes more streamlined. Now neither is right or wrong but when you change the proportions you change the overall impression of the outfit. So rather than asking yourself whether something is flattering Ask yourself what proportion you're trying to create because I promise you when it comes to fashion and styling that is a much more useful question. Number four is texture. Now if you're like me and you love your neutrals this is probably one of the most useful things that you can learn. There's a real misconception that an outfit needs lots of different colours to be interesting but actually you can create a very interesting outfit with a very minimal colour As long as you have a variation of texture. So this Fair Isle jumper from LilySilk is a really lovely example of this. It's made from a blend of wool and cashmere. And what I particularly like is the mix of the Fair Isle pattern with the cable knit texture. There's quite a lot of detail in the knit itself but because the colours are quite muted it doesn't feel too overwhelming. So here I've styled it with denim and some leather boots. This works because the denim is relatively simple so this allows the jumper to become the interesting part of the outfit. Now you could swap the jeans for wool trousers and introduce another texture. You could introduce a suede handbag or a suede jacket and then suddenly you've got lots of different textures working together to complement each other and make the outfit feel more interesting. Now I will say you don't need to mix every single texture you own and wear it all at once. There's a fine line between looking beautifully layered and looking like you've just fallen into a fabric shop but my advice is if an outfit feels flat look at where you can introduce another texture before you think about adding a different colour. Number five is tonal dressing. This is one of the easiest ways to create a cohesive outfit but when I say tonal dressing that doesn't necessarily mean wearing the exact same shade from head to toe. In fact I actually think it looks a little bit more interesting when there's a slight variation in the shades. You might combine cream with oatmeal and camel, or chocolate brown with tan and taupe. And because those colors belong to similar families, they look really cohesive without looking too matchy-matchy. So here you'll see me demonstrating this point by wearing my cardigan with my wide leg trousers and then a camel coat. All of these tones work so beautifully together, but as you can see, all of the individual pieces aren't the same colour but overall it gives you that really beautiful cohesive effect. Number six is probably the most simple upgrade that I'm going to mention in this video but it's swapping out your jeans for tailored trousers every now and again. Now don't get me wrong, I absolutely love jeans, I practically live in them but I also know how easy it is to fall into that So if your outfits are starting to lack a bit of interest, you're getting bored of what you see in the mirror, maybe try and switch up the bottom half. I'm going to show you exactly what I mean. I'm going to wear the same top. In this video with two different pairs of bottoms. Firstly, I'm going to style it with jeans. As you can see, nothing wrong with the outfit. It looks great. And now I'm going to switch it up to these tweed trousers from LilySilk. They're made from 95% wool and 5% mulberry silk. And I really like the high waist and the pleats in them. And pleats can be a lovely detail on tailored trousers. I I feel like they just make them think. Feel even more elevated and a little bit more expensive and rich looking. And a wide leg trouser works beautifully with knitwear. But more importantly, it doesn't automatically mean that you look like you're dressed for the office. I feel like a tailored trouser is still really wearable. And arguably more comfortable sometimes than wearing jeans and then you can see here with the addition of a coat we've got a new outfit completely and you can really change up the vibe of an outfit just by switching out one little detail. So if you've got those tailored trousers sitting in your wardrobe and you only ever pull them out either for work or special occasions this is your sign to get them out and start pairing them with things that you never would have thought of pairing them with before. I'm really surprised at how much you can get out of them. Number seven is layering. Strategic layering becomes so much more important in winter because it is so easy to wear so many layers and add so much bulk that you can barely move your arms. The secret to good layering is understanding fabric weight, necklines, and proportions So rather than just piling on as many clothes and layers as possible, you want each layer to have a purpose. There are so many ways I can demonstrate this, but here you can see I'm wearing a shirt. With the LilySilk zip cardigan layered over the top. Now, because the fabrics have different weights, you can see that the shirt really seamlessly sits underneath. And then you've got the extra added detail of the necklines. Now, you could choose to hide the neckline of the shirt underneath the cardigan, but you are really missing a trick if you do that. You want to utilize each different neckline so that you can see a little bit of each layer. You can see I'm literally doing that now. I've got a white tee Underneath this polo, but I always make sure you can see a little peak of the layer. It just also adds a little bit of visual interest as well as giving me that extra layer of warmth. So speaking of necklines, if you've got a turtleneck, a shirt collar, a scarf, a coat with a dramatic neckline then you can see how all of this together could look like a little bit too much, it looks a little bit too forced. So knowing when to simplify this is just as important as knowing when to layer. Start with a fine base, build your textures and gradually start to pay attention to how the different necklines work together. Number eight is something that I personally feel like we all We all completely overlook when We look at upgrading our personal style and that's what we're wearing at home because we spend so much time thinking about what we're going to wear when we leave the house. But what about the clothes that we spend half our lives in behind closed doors? Now listen, I am absolutely guilty of this. I've got some beautiful clothes hanging in my wardrobe. However, I am guilty of sometimes Sometimes getting home and just grabbing the most... Old questionable pair of joggers in my drawer and don't get me wrong there is absolutely nothing wrong with that but I do think there's something really lovely about making that extra bit of effort for the clothes that are just for us and are just for us at home to feel comfortable in. And genuinely LilySilk do my favourite loungewear sets. This is a matching cashmere loungewear set. from LilySilk. Both pieces are 100% cashmere and they have this beautiful ribbed texture and this is exactly the sort of thing that I'm talking about. It's incredibly comfortable, incredibly practical and it just feels so luxurious to wear and I do think that matching sets are such a good and really easy way to make your loungewear just feel more considered because you don't have to think about putting an outfit together, it's already done for you. And I will say as someone that works from home, I feel like if I'm wearing a put together outfit and I feel good, I don't know what it is, but it has this psychological effect where I end up working better as well. Because I genuinely do think this goes beyond just how your clothes look. There's genuinely something to be said for putting on something Lovely when you have absolutely nowhere to go because you know nobody else is going to see it and you are genuinely just doing it for you. Now I'm not suggesting you need to sit on your sofa or do a deep clean of your house while wearing cashmere every day but I do think it's worth having those one or two really lovely sets and you know just treating yourself to that Luxury me time in your home because genuinely I don't feel like personal style should be something that you just think about for when You leave the house. Sometimes it's just about making those every little day outfits feel a little bit more special. Number nine is footwear. Shoes can completely change how an outfit looks because the shape and the visual impact of what you're wearing completely changes the overall vibe and the silhouette of the outfit. So let's take these jeans for instance. If I tuck them into a knee-high boot you can see how it almost extends the the silhouette of the jean. However, if I swap them for a little bit more of a slender ballet flat you've got a completely different look and both things can work really well with heavier knitwear or chunky coats. So if I wanted something smarter I might opt for a pointed toe ankle boot. I do particularly like wearing a pointed toe with tailored trousers because they do create a lovely continuation of the trouser line and And just elongate the silhouette. And something else that's really important is the length of your trousers because even the most beautiful trousers will look a little bit awkward if the hem is just bunching around a shoe in an awkward way. I feel like we spend so much time considering the perfect trousers that sometimes what shoes will best complement them can sometimes be forgotten. So next time you are getting dressed try choosing your shoes earlier in the process and seeing what actually complements them. Because I will say, sometimes the thing making your outfits feel not quite right has nothing to do with the clothes and it's usually to do with the shoes. And finally, number 10, this might be the most important tip in the entire video. Stop mindlessly buying individual pieces and start actually building outfits. One of the biggest reasons people end up with a wardrobe full of clothes and still feel like they have nothing to wear. is because they are shopping for things individually rather than looking for the gaps in their wardrobes and building outfits. So you see a beautiful jumper and you buy it, you get it home and realize it doesn't actually go with anything in your wardrobe and before you know it you've bought another pair of trousers to go with that random jumper that you bought which then requires this pair of shoes or this certain style of coat and your whole wardrobe just becomes random. Suddenly that one jumper becomes a rather expensive undertaking. So one of the habits I've developed is trying to think of at least three outfits I can make out of an item before I allow it to come home with me. And most importantly those outfits must involve pieces that I already own because something can look beautiful on the hanger in a store but is it so beautiful if it comes home and does absolutely nothing for your wardrobe or your lifestyle? I think I've demonstrated throughout this whole video the various different ways that some of the pieces that I have in my wardrobe can like seamlessly match and intertwine with each other and I don't feel like I need to go out and buy more just to have something to wear. And that's really what I want to take away from this video. A great wardrobe isn't necessarily a huge wardrobe, it's a wardrobe where the pieces And the more you understand your own personal style the easier that becomes. You'll start recognising the silhouettes you love, the colours that you like and everything else just falls into place. Now before I go I did just want to quickly mention that Lilysilk have their seasonal Black Friday sale coming up, so if you have been thinking about investing in some beautiful knitwear or any of the pieces that you've seen in today's video it's definitely worth having a look at their collection and I will of course pop all of the links in the description box down below. A big thank you to LilySilk for sponsoring today's video and I hope you've taken something useful away from today's styling advice. I'd love to know in the comments down below which one of these you struggle with the most or which you'd like me to go further in detail with. Maybe you want some help developing your personal style, I could definitely do a video on that. But for now I will leave things here so thank you so much for watching and as always I'll see you in the next one. Bye guys!