I wasn’t sure whether to put this outfit into my ‘How to dress more creatively’ series, because even I wouldn’t recommend bare thighs in the minus temperatures! However apparently there’s a saying in America that you shouldn’t wear white after Labor Day (early September) and I want to dispel this myth! We had fun with the photos and I wanted to show you the gorgeous dress – the outfit could always work indoors!…
Welcome to my series about how to dress more creatively. People bored with the contents of their wardrobe have asked for my help, so here’s my guide to moving away from the jeans and Breton striped tops you might automatically reach for!
How to style winter whites
Wearing white in winter can really brighten up a dull day and make you feel fresh and bright. My advice is to look for winter fabrics and textures as thin white cotton might look out of place and leave you feeling a little chilly! Here I’m wearing a pretty white velvet dress from Odd Molly. Corduroy; chenille, wool, denim, leather and any chunky knits would also work well for this season. White silk would look very classy for an evening event.
Head-to-toe white or mix it up
It’s up to you whether you want to try going head-to-toe white – that’s an easier look to pull off if you have white trousers. White jeans with a chunky white jumper, or white wide-leg cords with a softer white shirt would go together; and don’t be afraid to mix different shades of white either. My legs just don’t look good in white tights, so I wouldn’t wear them with this dress. Instead, I chose a pair of khaki green over-the-knee socks. If you’d rather mix white with another colour, I thought the soft khaki looked nice with it; in fact any colour in soft grey-ish tones would work well. Bright strong colours with white could be too jarring, and I’d save the pastels for spring.
The practicalities of wearing white
Whilst I definitely don’t think white should be confined to summer months only, we do have to have to think about practicalities as well as style. There is no way you’re going to find me walking the muddy lanes of the farming village I live in whilst wearing white trousers! They are better kept for dry sunny days in town. However there’s no reason I wouldn’t cosy up in a white knitted jumper. I particularly like to wear white on those rare occasions we see snow in Britain because then I can wander around feeling like a snow fairy!
This was a fun photo-shoot to do, but I can tell you it was freeeeezing! We were up in the Catskill mountains (I’m sorry, I can’t remember the name of the lake we found) and it was about -12 celsius outside. At least this dress had long sleeves and was fairly warm, but take a look at this post if you want to see the photos we took of me at the same time, in a summer cotton dress! It was nice to have that thick furry blanket to wrap around me!
Shop white clothing for winter:
