Wardrobe Wake-Up: Dressing-Up Box

Autumn's most flamboyant trend is all about colour, chaos and creativity and the good news is, anything goes! So this trend isn't so much about waking up one part of your wardrobe this season but all of it. Mix-and-match anything and everything in your wardrobe for day or night:

At Alexander McQueen, brocade capes were teamed with elaborate head pieces and fierce footwear:

John Galliano added oversized bows to his models head, alongside layers of faux fur, tweed, satin and then tied it all together with a belt:

Coloured tights made a big comeback on the legs of models on the Jean Paul Gaultier catwalk:

And at Meadham Kirchhoff colours clashed and textures ruled:

Take inspiration from your favourite television heroines, Carrie Bradshaw:

And Ugly Betty:

Or even your favourite fashion bloggers, Katie, of What Katie Wore:
 

 
Or Susie, of Style Bubble:
 

 
And throw caution to the wind as you pull out all of your favourite pieces and throw them all on together. Clash colours, mix textures, layer-up.
 
One of the easiest ways to pull off the trend is to add a pair of coloured, textured or patterned tights to your outfit. Try these from Tabio:
 

 
Or these textured cable knit leggings which I am currently lusting after:
 

Do you plan to play dress-up this autumn?

WARDROBE WAKE-UP: re-work the maxi

Grunge glamour was a hot trend on the Autumn/Winter catwalks and it is easy to recreate with pieces already in your wardrobe: just grab your maxi dress/skirt from last summer and add a thick knit. Job done.

This is the day-time look for winter 2010 and soooooo comfortable too. I plan to wear this. A lot.

From top: ASOS Fairisle Jumper; ASOS PREMIUM Printed Satin Lace Maxi Skirt; ASOS Bobble Stitch Jumper; and Warehouse Maxi Seamed Skirt.


Will you be cosying up in a chunky knit over your maxi this winter?

WARDROBE WAKE-UP: cape

This is another Carrie Bradshaw inspired piece already in my wardrobe. And one that was big on the catwalks for Autumn/Winter 2010 (see Erdem, Celine, Alberta Ferretti and Jaeger London, above).

A cape is the most versatile coat: they're practical, easy-to-wear, comfortable and cosy... and elegant. It's like a blanket under which to keep warm and hibernate when the weather gets cold.

I have found a few affordable options: Oasis Wool Mix Duffle Cape; ASOS Hooded Military Cape; and Cooper & Stollbrand for ASOS Checked Cape.


Will you be hibernating under a cape this winter?

WARDROBE WAKE-UP: faux fur coat

The second in the Wadrobe Wake-up series. This week, taking inspiration from my fictional favourite fashionista: Carrie Bradshaw.

I love Carrie's oversized furs that she wears as she runs around New York in the winter in Sex and the City.

Fur - real and faux - was all over the catwalks for Autumn/Winter 2010 and the high street has duly followed suit, producing all manner and style of jacket, gilet and coat in a variety of colours and prints, to suit every taste. Remember the furs - in animal print - that I spotted on the catwalk at Westfield shopping centre?

I already have my little faux fur jacket that my (stylish) sister bought me for Christmas last year but I think this year, I might also invest in an on-trend shaggy faux fur gilet - à la Carrie typing away at her computer, above.


I have hunted down some fabulous faux furs to save you the trouble: clockwise from top centre; Warehouse Dip Dye Mongolian Wool Gilet; Yumi Faux Fur Coat With Glass Button Detail; ASOS Vintage Look Blonde Fur Coat; and Oasis Faux Fur Coat.


Have you already got your faux fur, left over from last winter or will you be jumping in the trend for the first time this season?

WARDROBE WAKE-UP: boyfriend jeans

This is the first in a new series of posts which will take an item already in my wardrobe - and I imagine, most people's wardrobes - and look at how it might be worn for the new season. I realised recently that I actually have a fair amount of clothes in my wardrobe and that in recent years I haven't invested in too many cheap items, so that most of these clothes are of pretty good quality. I just don't seem to wear a lot of them. This series will attempt to "wake-up" my wardrobe and, hopefully, help you to do so too.

Not particularly the most obvious choice but my style icon for autumn is Katie Holmes. She might not be the most stylish of the Hollywood crowd but after seeing a photo of Katie Holmes from a few years ago in husband Tom's jeans, I am going to take the way she wears them for myself. I found my own pair of boyfriend jeans in a Topshop sale a year ago and am never too sure how to wear them without looking frumpy or boring.

Katie's variety of looks (above) prove that boyfriend jeans do not have to be boring jeans.

The androgynous look was big news on the catwalks for Autumn/Winter 2010, too, so with a pair of boyfriend jeans, you'll be right on-trend.

Jeans featured above, clockwise from top left: ASOS Aged Vintage Peg Leg Jeans; ASOS Aged Vintage Roll Up Boyfriend Jeans; ASOS Ripped Mid Blue Iggy Jeans; and Levis 601 Tapered Boyfriend Jean.

What item will you be "waking-up" this season?