4 Ways To Spice Up Your Outerwear This Winter

It's often at this time of year that I start to feel a little bit tired of the winter. As much as I love all the different seasons, by the time January draws to a close it can often feel as though the cold weather has gone on forever, and yet with February just around the corner, spring still seems a long way off. Quite apart from missing the sunshine and longing to spend a little more time outdoors, I start to get a bit tired of my outerwear too. No matter what I'm wearing, at this time of year it feels as though all anyone gets to see of my outfits is the same rotation of two or three coats, and a few scarves and bags.

So it seems to me that January is the perfect time to have a little outerwear refresh! Since we're going to be living in it for a fair bit longer, I thought I would share 4 ways to spice things up, so that we can all rekindle our relationship with our outdoor clothes. (Bit dramatic, I know.)

1. Step Outside Your Comfort Zone

When it comes to choosing winter coats, I think it can be all too easy to opt for the same styles over and over again. Sometimes that's with very good reason. After all, for those of us who live in colder climates, our coats end up working overtime and so it makes sense to stick to what's tried and tested and what we know suits us best. Sometimes, though, trying something a little bit different can work wonders, and reignite the fun factor that so often gets lost with outdoor dressing. Checks aren't usually my cup of tea at all, but something about this Topshop coat drew me to give it a try. As a result, I've been loving wearing it out and about as it's such a refreshing change from the plain camel coats I usually wear. Of course, coats can be pricey, so you could opt instead to experiment with something smaller. Maybe try a new style of hat (berets are very popular right now and one of my favourite hat styles), or perhaps an oversized scarf in a bold colour or print that you wouldn't normally go for. (I love this star print one!)

2. Add A Fun Accessory

It's amazing how much a cool pair of boots or statement handbag can pep up the look of your outfit. I always think that a great bag and coat are a perfect partnership, each elevating and complimenting the other. Personally, I am still completely obsessed with the circle bag trend, and when I saw this one from River Island, I fell in love. Not just with the beautiful details of the bag itself - the gold bracelet handles, the chain trim - but with the fact that I could see straight away how great it would look with my checked coat. In fact, even my older coats seem to take on a new lease of life when paired with it. And if that's not a good enough excuse to buy a new handbag, I don't know what is.

3. Go Tonal

One of the reasons we end up falling out of love with outerwear, in my opinion, is that we stop making conscious choices with it. Pulling on the same old coat and scarf every day becomes so familiar that it's something we do without thinking - we stop asking ourselves whether this looks good with that, instead we simply grab and go. By investing just a little bit of thought into it, we can elevate an outfit from something we've hastily thrown a coat over into a polished whole, and one of the easiest ways to add polish is to keep things tonal. By that I don't mean that everything has to be an exact colour match, but similar shades carried through your coat, bag, shoes etc can really help to pull the whole look together, transforming your outerwear from an afterthought to an integral part of the outfit.

4. Experiment With Makeup

As much as I love makeup, I don't play around with it a lot. Mostly, I think, that's because I don't have the type of face that can be altered much with makeup, so I've never really developed that level of fascination with it. But that said, doing something just a little bit different from your standard look can really add something to an outfit, and when we're stuck in winter coats for months on end, it's a great way to spice things up. In my case, I tend to reserve bold lips for evening wear, but I've been loving them for day time lately, especially when paired with this checked coat and burgundy roll neck. Different from my usual nude shades, it helps to add a little "something something" to my overall look. A slick of liner or subtle gleam of highlight would also work really well.

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Have you tried any of these tips? And are you getting tired of the winter yet?!

Kate x

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