Top Ten Tips For Autumn/Winter 2010

Autumn/Winter Fashion & Style

With my hopes of summer stretching into September completely disappearing and the rumours of hose pipe bans, heat waves and Indian summers begin to die down, I’ve been looking forward to the coming colder months plenty. And of course, I’ve been putting a lot of thought into what would be considered standard wear for guys during those times.

I think there is a tendency amongst men to associate Autumn/Winter with a couple of key themes and to stick to them religiously. Yes, it’s a great time layer up but when you end up looking like the Michelin man every day there comes a time when a simple overcoat will just do the job. The same applies for accessories such as scarves, hats and gloves. They are great for these windy months but sometimes wearing them all together is a bit too much, why not try and have a designated day for each item?

Top Ten Tips

So what I have outlined here are my top ten tips for the coming seasons. They are a mixture of items to purchase or dig out of the closet and ways to wear them without looking a bit too over the top and eager. I consider the first five to be the very basics for beginners and the last few for the more advanced of us out there. So here we go: -

1. Get yourself a pair of slim legged black jeans – not only are they perfect for adding that little bit of Ramones-esque, punk rock flair, but they can also strike a more formal and styled look when paired with a dress shirt and tie. They can also act as your anchor to help bring in bursts of colour within your outfit. It may be getting darker sooner but it doesn’t mean your clothes need to do so too!
2. Break out the cardigans again – yes, you can wear a cardigan without looking like your grandfather. Just make sure it’s one that is in a neutral colour and of a thicker, chunky variety and you can’t go wrong. Keep one packed in your work/travel bag for when the temperature plummets in the evenings and it will look great when matched with any item underneath; shirts, polo shirts, tees and the like.
3. A striped crew-neck jumper – stick to vertical stripes and make sure one of the stripes is in black, navy or grey. Pair it with any of your jeans or chinos and layer it with your t-shirts or dress shirts for an easy Autumn casual look.
4. A ribbed college scarf – what I mean by this are scarves with horizontal stripes through them in contrasting primary colours such as yellow and navy. These are typically quite long scarves so are great for layering because you can wrap them round a few times and they give a great individualistic feel to your outfit.
5. A well fitting trench coat – this one I’m sure you guys already knew about! They are everywhere at the moment. The reason I put this in is because it’s pretty much essential for the A/W this year and because I wanted to suggest that you get one in a camel tone if at all possible. The colour was all over the runways this season and should be considered in everything from chinos to blazers – but a trench coat is the easiest way to incorporate it into your wardrobe.
6. You need some tweed – Whether it’s on a blazer, overcoat or suit trousers this is the material to be seen in for the colder months. I personally prefer a tweed blazer because it goes great with dark denim jeans and a dress shirt, but as long as it’s in a grey tone of you will be able to pair it with anything.
7. An all purpose waistcoat – I’ve already dedicated an entire article to these but with them now being back in the stores I thought I’d give them a quick mention. Reach for one in black or grey with good fit and all five buttons and match it with whatever suits your fancy. They look great when thrown over t-shirts, shirts or used under blazers, you can’t go wrong.
8. The duffel coat – this will pretty much be my winter coat this year. Warm without being too bulky and restricting and always versatile and classic, try and find one in wool or cashmere if you have the funds. Wear it over everything.
9. Some bright socks – socks are something that I’ll be featuring in my basics series shortly, but for the moment lets try and keep it simple. Make sure the colour is complimenting to the rest of your outfit and if you want to add a little bit of runway flair get some pairs that are thick ribbed and quite long. Tuck your trousers/chinos into them and wear with your boots so they just pop over the top of them. It’s was happening left, right and centre in all the campaigns, runways shows and fashion editorial this year.
10. Put your wallet on a diet – seriously, we are awful for it guys. Just look at your wallet and get rid of any cards that you haven’t used in the last 8 months. The chances are you aren’t going to use them again. Keep it down to credit cards, gym card and ID. The rest you can keep stored for particular events. Then take out any loose change that makes the wallet bulged and store that too. Maybe start thinking about a piggybank if you have a lot! Then finally, get yourself a new wallet, preferably in brown. It’s probably been through the wars so out with old in with the new.

Until next week guys,
Matt Allinson

Featured Items

Here is a quick selection of what is out there at the moment from the early A/W collections: