When you’ve been dressing for a certain weather pattern and it comes time to switch out your wardrobe for a new season, you could feel two ways about it:
- You’re so happy to get out of the clothes you’ve been wearing for the last several months. A change in color palette and fabric weight is refreshing. You’re thrilled that warm weather is coming.
- You’ve enjoyed the groove you’ve been in. You like layering, wearing boots, and being generally covered up and cozy.
Some people favor one season over another purely because of fashion preferences. However, even if spring/summer is your favorite fashion season, it can take a bit before your wardrobe feels fully grounded again.
I’d like to make this easier for you. I’m going to share some lateral fashion moves you can make at this time of year starting with footwear.
If you’ve been wearing wool socks and booties for weeks, you’ll surely feel out of step with warm fronts coming in. What would be a lateral fashion move? If you like having your toes covered and you’re not interested in starting up your pedicure schedule, you could continue to wear booties. You can simply swap your winter wool socks and booties out for perforated ankle booties and foot liners. Your feet will still be covered but you’ll look and feel cooler. If you work in an office, you may be comfortable covering your toes and in slingback pumps. In a more casual work setting, sneakers or slip-ons will cover your feet nicely.
What would be a lateral fashion move for layering if you’ve been layering shirts, sweaters, cardigans, jackets and wool scarves in your outfits? Stick with your love of layering but start looking for very lightweight pieces to do it with. If shirts are your first layer, be sure you find some in spring-weight cotton. You can feel the difference as soon as you touch them. Instead of wool knit sweaters, wear silk or cotton sweaters. Instead of wool cardigans, look for linen cardigans. You’ll be using your layering techniques but switching to warmer weather materials.
What would be the lateral fashion move if you love your outer layers? While you’ll be saying goodbye to heavier coats, there are lots of coat styles for spring/summer. Swap your warm trench coat for a loose silk one. If you love jackets, take a look at silk baseball jackets. Even leather comes in different weights. A spring weight leather jacket could replace your heavy duty one. You may be leaning on a jean jacket this time of year. You can get the look of a jean jacket in a cotton or linen fabric and still enjoy wearing that classic outer layer. Kimonos offer great third piece options as well.
You may have been wearing a scarf every single day these last few months. Not only do they keep your neck warm, scarves give you an opportunity to add a stylish element to neutral colored clothes. This lateral fashion move is easy and functional. As we start spending time in air-conditioned spaces, you’ll need neck protection to keep from getting too cold. Instead of wearing an angora wool scarf, wear an open weave linen scarf. Patterned cotton scarves or neckerchiefs can give you the same stylish element to your outfit that your multi-colored knit ones did in winter.
Are you ready to make some lateral fashion moves in your wardrobe? I am happy to help! Just give me a call and I’ll help you get in step with spring.
Tehillah is a NYC based image consultant, closet editor and personal shopper and is available for private consultations. Call (929) 265-2156 or email [email protected]. Be sure to connect with up2date on social media for more styling tips, event info & other fun things- instagram @up2date_nyc – Facebook – up2datenyc. To sign up for our monthly newsletter www.up2date.nyc/subscribe
