When I’m heading to the gym, I usually don’t care at all what I look like. I tell myself: “I’m doing sports, I’m a tough cookie. Anybody got a problem with my no-style style?!”
Anyways, so last week, as I was walking to my sweaty faith, I had a style epiphany. It was -20°C, I had bundled myself up in my warmest-but-ugliest clothes and I wandered: “Could I possibly be as warm without looking like I’m about to climb mount Everest?”, to which I answered, “Joelle, here’s a challenge that’s right up your alley.”
Since then, I’ve been on a quest to find different ways to pair things together in order to 1) avoid frostbites 2) be the queen of winter style.
Good news, I think I’ve succeeded. I bought the cutest booties (with the meanest grip) at L’Intervalle boutique, a classic black knitted hat from Aritzia (the kind that leaves a 3-inch space above your head to hide random objects, like an apple), a huge grey blanket scarf (which I’m planning on wearing until the day I die) and posh elbow-length black suede gloves.
Throughout my very scientific research, I came across a few styling tricks that I thought might be quite helpful to the girl who:
a) Gave up winter style altogether a long time ago (me, until NOW).
b) Looks incredibly stylish, but who’s clearly freezing and suffering from pneumonia.
1. Too many layers? You must be kidding.
You’re most likely already doing this one, BUT have you really pushed layering to its absolute potential? For example, wear a cardigan that’s longer than your coat or wear a turtleneck underneath eeeeverything. Been there done that? Try leggings under your ripped jeans, a sleeveless tailored vest over (yes, I said over!) your coat or put on your favorite dress on top of trousers. Get creative peeps!
2. Cinch that little waist of yours
I bought this beautiful oversized coat in Brussels last fall. It’s so big, I could probably fit three Joëlle under there. The downside: To stop the cold air from travelling through all that empty space, I need to keep it tightly closed with my hands. Not very convenient. If you own a similar coat, why not keep it in place with a belt? Pick one in your closet and off you go, with your hands in your pockets.
3. Have a range of hats and scarves ready
Visualize yourself wearing your favorite coat. How does it look with a baseball cap instead of a beanie or with motorcycle gloves instead of woolen mittens? Pretty different, right? Well, I just proved my point.
4. Embrace fur (faux or vintage, not new)
Faux fur is faux sure (haha!) the texture of the season. With brands like Shrimps and The Haute Pursuit offering faux fur luxurious pieces, the hairy material has a much better reputation than before. Otherwise, go for a vintage real-fur one and never look back. It will make your most boring black t-shirt not boring at all.
5. No need to hide them, we know you’re wearing winter boots
Winter in Québec is serious. Snow, ice, freezing winds: at some point you have to surrender and buy winter boots. Most of them have an athletic feel which seems to always be working against the look you’re trying to achieve. So you just end up wearing them anyways, but then your outfit looks weird as soon as you take your coat off. Next time, view the boots as your starting point and style the rest accordingly.
Do you have any other tips to keep warm during wintertime?
J’adore cet article! J’ai lu un article dernièrement qui disait qu’au Québec on devait abandonner notre style car l’hiver et la neige le rendait impossible. Je suis contente de voir d’autres opinions!
@veryjoelle voici le lien dont je parlais ;-) http://www.lapresse.ca/vivre/mode/201412/19/01-4829722-lallure-de-montreal.php