Two is better than one.

Styling is about putting items together that weren’t necessarily meant for one another, but approaching it with enough flair and balance that an outfit is transformed. It sounds simple right? Our stylist does an excellent and seemingly effortless job with putting items together from our catalogue and adding a few from her own little “magic box” to help you and I picture how we could wear it. But there’s so much more you can do with our pieces than just “option A”. Take the Cashmere Dress in the image above for instance, what a transformation with very little change! The celebrity stylist Gok Wan goes to great lengths to encourage a “capsule” wardrobe, where he brings a small selection of good pieces together in a variety of ways, and the results are impressive.

With no Gok on the TV to guide us at the moment and the lack of free personal stylists (I’m not suggesting they should be free, but wouldn’t it be wonderful if they were!), we have only glossy magazines and TV to guide us along. I personally find that the best place to begin is with your favourite piece and then any current trend knowledge you may have gleamed. There are other routes of course, but this seems to work for me.

With that in mind, I’ve played with a few alternative “duet” combinations from our new autumn winter catalogue, to help you picture wearing the item another way to the image in the catalogue.

First I’ve pulled out the Sheer Knit Cowl Jumper Dress, in rather the same way that the Cashmere Dress is transformed in the main image above. Without the belt the dress has a loose, slouchy fit then add the Buckled Obi Belt and it’s much more fitted. Have you heard about the minimalist trend this season? Well this hits that trend bang on the head! Just keep accessories “minimal” and you’ll be good to walk with the elite.

I like the above picture because it’s a way of working the thigh high boot trend, without the expense of thigh-high boots. Our Over The Knee Socks can be pulled fairly high, and then all you need do is to team with a pair of knee boots or just a simple ankle boot and you’ll pull off a favourite footwear craze for autumn.

The above combination has come from the mix of chunky knitwear that was very heavily featured on the autumn winter catwalks. Magazines are pulling out cable knit jumpers everywhere, and this Cable Dress is perfect. By adding a pair of knitted Boot Warmers, you’re exaggerating the trend and bringing attention to the fact that knitwear is fashionable again. Be bold!

To finish with I’ve reverted to Harpers Bazaar (it’s made quite an impression on me this month!). In their “Aviator Chic” feature, Katherine Hepburn gave them inspiration for styling around the current flying-gear trend. It’s about the overstated sheepskin embellishments, and so I’ve teamed our Black Merino Coat with a black Diesel Trapper Hat, to show off the aviator trend in all it’s glory!


… so there should be nothing stopping you from having a go for yourself now!