Those of you who have read Easy and Elegant Life for a while know that I’m not much on trends. To begin with, I’ve over 40. Which means that I’m over it in general. I know what suits me (usually) and like to wear that. However, when I spot something that looks to me like it has staying power (flat front trousers with a narrower leg aren’t going anywhere quick), and may suit my attempts to look casually elegant at all times, I try to emulate it as best I can. Now the great thing about being a clothes-horse and never really getting rid of anything is that when something hits the popularity meter again, I generally have an original lying about somewhere (e.g. LL Bean, Norwegian Sweater). So when I see something like this (from Fedali? I tagged it Fedali, but lost the source and can’t find the brand on the web; gotta be from Pitti):
I get all excited and run to the sweater closet. That third photo? I reinterpret it as a shawl neck sweater. The ones above it? Full zip chunky cardigans and cashmere scarves. Half-zip cashmere sweaters and rollnecks? I got ’em. Gloves and corduroys? Check. Suede shoe or chukka? Check. Monochrome? I can do that. Layering? See Norwegian Sweater, LL Bean and think back. That was worn with a down vest, a Lacoste polo shirt and an OCBD. If it was really cold, you could throw a white cotton rollneck into the mix. But that was high-school.
So, out for a very early morning dog walk, with the mercury hovering around 21°F, out came the roll neck, the shawl collar sweater, the zip cardi and a scarf to go with the cords and gloves and suede chukkas. Yes, I did shave later.
Brown accessories, especially when they are in suede, is a very Italian thing, and I have grown to love it. I find people, both men and women, fall into two different categories–black-shoe people or brown-shoe people. I have always been a brown shoe person. Of course I have the black shoes, belts, handbags, and gloves for my dressier occasions, but I rarely wear them during the day. The brown suede buckle trim on the gray sweater is no small thing. For day time casual and informal attire, people who wear brown accessories rate higher in my style book than those who are wearing black. Your brown accessories with the gray/charcoal ensemble is the difference between good and great!
Excellent winter styles. Thanks for sharing them.
Thanks Todd. I was on that day.