5 Tips to Style Your Outerwear

Often people are not aware that the piece of clothes they wear the most is their outerwear. Coats are a Must in cold winter climate regions. Over the tenure of winter, wearing them can become boring. You can fast feel like you’re stuck in a style rut. Read my tips to style your outerwear to create different chic, cozy looks with your winter coats.

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How Not Get Bored with You Winter Outerwear

Many women do not like winters in the city. It’s cold. Wearing the same coat over and over again is boring. In regions where winter lasts more than four months, women often have more than one coat.  Where winter hangs around longer than four months creating an awesome coat wardrobe is essential. You have to cover the wide range of temperatures. In Interior Alaska, winter stays around seven months!

Nevertheless, you feel winter boredom style-wise!

Why to Style Your Coats?

It is amazing how many different ways you can style a winter coat when you spend the effort. In the following, you see various coat outfit ideas for different types of coats. It’s important to have the right coats for your climate zone. Recall, its original purpose is to provide adequate insulation.

For a fashionista, however, this everyday coverup has to look effortlessly stylish too.

Looking effortlessly stylish takes effort!

You can only have so many coats as your budget and closet-size permit. Thus, a wide range of winter temperatures requires layers for feeling comfortable. At the same time, layering changes the look. Hence, your outfit can differ depending on the ambient temperature.

Denim Duster

This duster is my favorite. It’s so easy to style. Well, denim works with everything. Here I went for a posh casual Euro Chic inspired vibe. In other words, all neutrals.

Faux Fur Frock

A faux fur frock in any cut is already a statement. They look best with a silk or cashmere scarf, tall boots and an upscale hat.

Any color of a scarf could acts as an accent.

Loden Coat

This example is the easiest. Start with an interesting coat like this lodden coat with a twist (motorcycle jacket cut, but half calf-length). Add a pop of surprising color with a bag (here orange) and wear your coat open with a dress underneath that picks up the colors of the bag and your heels. It’s a perfect look on a mild winter day when dressing in humid sub-tropical climate.

The above look works with nearly complimentary colors contrasting pinks and burgundy with loden-green.

When it is below freezing style your outerwear with a headband.

The following look shows an example that there is no need to have an exact match of the colors. The scarf ties the look together. It picks up the shades of the coat, shoes and jeans. The bag and hat repeat the black in the camouflage booties.

More on the origin of a janker.

Pea-Coat

Another classic is the pea-coat. The following outfit inspirations feature variations of the original.

While there are many trendy variations always look for a pea coat close to the original design. These usually have high quality. This means they won’t look dated in the next cold season. A perfect sultry color combination for Valentine’s Day.

Stylist tip: Red plus black reads sexy even when no skin (except the face) is showing.

Sleeveless Hooded Down Vests

Every now and then hooded thermal vests or sleeveless down coats are a trend. They are best for regions with mild winters. More on what to wear with a hooded puffer vest.

Cape

The above inspiration reverses the pop of color to a color with a pop of neutral

Tips to Style Your Outerwear: Shearling Outfit Ideas

In cold winter climate regions, a shearling is a nice alternative to down garments.

Monochromatic looks like above need interest. In this example, the  motorcycle cut is the statement. The accent color of the loafers and hats fabric flower that has also hints of pink pick up the burgundy color of the coat.

In the example above, the different texture of the black (Crocodile vs. polished leather vs. shearling) and burgundy items (sequins, colored denim pants, suede) adds the interest.

The look above shows how to add color with a floral-print scarf, matching gloves, and a fuchsia bag. Because the coat, tights and shoes are all black, the bright bag adds interest.

Which Coat Length is best?

When styling a winter coat keep in mind that the part of your “indoor outfit” may show. This part becomes automatically part of your look. Take the vibe and colors of the showing indoor as your lead for accessorizing. In the photo above, the scarf wrap, stone and leather color of the belt pick up the blue of the polka dot tight.

The above inspiration uses the color scheme of the paisley-print scarf to tie the tan bag, belt, and headband, the black coat and boots, and the blue skirt and tights together. In case of straight up-and-down or bulky coats accessorizing with a belt adds shape.

Tips to style your outerwear: Use printed scarves or what shows under your coat from your outfit as color theme.

Motorcycle Jackets Outfit Ideas

The next outfit inspiration with a motorcycle shearling is a leather-on-leather look. It works because of the different shades of brown and the different structure of the leather of the pants and jacket.

Using a Scarf for Styling Your Outerwear

There are many reasons and ways to accessorize with carves. The next example shows a coat with boy-friend jeans. The cable-knit scarf picks up the casual vibe of the jeans. While the belt adds shape,the hat adds height, which together are a nice styling trick to look slim in a thick shearling.

The Euro Chic styling above evolves around the colors of the fringed gray-burgundy-black long knit scarf. The fuchsia bag adds a pop of color to stand out in a crowd of typical black winter attire. Wearing a hat keeps your head warm, and adds height for a lean illusion.

The tan belt with its many brown shades of its tiger-eye buckle ties the various brown-shades of the outfit below together. Because orange mixed with black gives brown, adding jeans to any shades of brown always works well as an all neutrals outfit.

Layering Blankets Over Coats

The photo above shows a very northern styling of the shearling coat with a poncho. The belt keeps the plaid poncho in place. The black coat, tights and booties ensure a clean sleek line. The bag’s color matches the poncho. The burgundy beret works as it is a darker shade of the pink in the plaid pattern.

Blazer

In subtropical and Mediterranean climate regions, a blazer is often enough to stay comfortable in winter.

The example above shows how to style your outerwear in states and countries in the south where winter temperatures remain in the 50s or 60s (10 to 15^oC). Herein the print of the scarf provided the inspiration for the color combination. Its floral print has purple, pink, red blue and white on a black background. Thus, I pulled items in these colors from my closet, the pink cashmere mock turtleneck sweater, the red suede skirt, and the back-purple-white tweed jacket. Herein the scarf worn as a belt ties the colors together.

Tips to Style Your Outerwear: Shackets

Shackets are a hybrid between a jacket and a shirt. These over-shirts consist of fabric that is thinner than that of typical jackets, but thicker than typical shirts. All cut and styles of shackets  work with casual attire, and have become popular as season-transition pieces.

Invest in Classic Winter Accessories to Style Your Outerwear

When the winter last seven month, investing into great gloves in various colors is a Must-do to not get into winter boredom – outfit wise – or into an outerwear style rut. I invest in my classic basic everyday gloves in neutral colors for accessorizing with gloves.

When It Comes to Glove Trends Be Frugal

In this example, I created an outer outfit with my shearling motorcycle coat, chevron cashmere scarf, and beret that all have burgundy in common like the sweater. I added the mirrored Ray Ban purple aviator sunglasses, and Nordstrom Rack gloves to pickup other colors of the sweater. More on how to improve your style with gloves.

Tip: Invest in the classic, go for a bargain for trends.

On the contrary, go for a bargain when it comes to trendy gloves. Browse for unique gloves in thrift- and consignment stores as well as on sales. Trendy gloves typically have minor quality than high end basics as trends are not supposed to last, because they are supposed to be just a trend and go. Period.

Upcycle Old Investment Pieces

Also when you have an expensive garment that you have been already wearing for a couple of years, you may consider altering it a bit. For example, I bought my short black  with gray trim shearling shown in some of the style examples in Germany in 1999. I wore it over and over again every winter, ever since. I had it altered a bit (shortened) about 10 years ago (to get rid of signs of wear). It originally was a maxi coat. When you are a regular reader you may have seen the long version in my post on no fear of progress in style.

Tips to Style Your Outerwear in a Nutshell

Keep the outerwear in sync with your outfit. Doing so allows for wearing the coat/jacket open, when it gets too warm for the coat to be closed, but still too cold for not wearing the coat.

1. Let the indoor outfit that shows under the coat be your guidance with respect to vibe and colors.
2. Create a vertical line by the same color, a tall hat or long scarf.
3. Add interest with a pop of color.
4. Belt for shape.
5. Go for unexpected pairings.

Of course, you can also apply any combination of the tips. Have fun dressing for outside. Stay warm.

Tip: A skirt/dress hem should show about two inch (5 cm) out of the coat for the best look.

Photos of me: G. Kramm

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