Knits are big news in the fashion world and this long orange one is a perfect companion for these leggings.
Length is the whole decision
The colour is bang on trend and complements the botanical design, and the length is perfect, below the bum is the most flattering look.
I will be more specific, because this is the single most useful thing in this post. A long jumper should finish below the widest part of your bottom, not on it.
A hem that stops halfway across your seat draws a horizontal line at exactly the point most women would rather not have one underlined. Drop the same jumper five centimetres and the line lands on your thigh, where it does nothing but flatter.
This matters even more with leggings, because leggings give you no structure of their own. Whatever line the jumper draws is the only line in the outfit.
Two related things worth knowing:
Splits at the side help. A long knit with a small split at each hip moves with you instead of clinging across the back.
Sleeves want to be pushed up. A big jumper with the sleeves shoved to the elbow instantly looks more deliberate. Wrists are one of the few slim bits everyone has, and covering them entirely makes any knit look bulkier than it is.
Buy for wool content, not for price
Wherever possible, look for a high wool content in a jumper. It will help you sail through winter with aplomb.
This is where I would spend money if you are only going to spend it once. Check the composition label, not the price tag, plenty of expensive knits are mostly acrylic, and plenty of $20 op shop finds are pure lambswool.
What the fibres actually do for you:
Wool breathes, holds its shape and keeps you warm even when it is damp, which in Melbourne is most of winter.
Acrylic does not breathe. You will be freezing outside and boiling on the tram, and it pills within a season.
A wool-acrylic blend at around 70/30 is the sensible middle. Most of the benefit, none of the dry-cleaning bills.
Angora and mohair are lovely and shed onto everything you own. Know that going in.
Turn a jumper inside out and stretch a section gently. Good knit springs back. Cheap knit stays stretched, and that is exactly what it will do at your elbows by July.
Colour in winter, and why orange works
Winter wardrobes drift towards black, grey and navy without anybody deciding to let them, and then everyone wonders why they feel flat by August.
One strong colour fixes it, and it does not have to be a whole outfit. A single bright knit against black leggings and black boots is a considered outfit. The same knit in charcoal is just clothes.
Orange is a particularly good winter colour and an underrated one. It sits beside the warm browns and tans that dominate winter (leather, suede, camel, wood) so it never looks like it has wandered in from another season. It also flatters a much wider range of skin tones than people expect, especially the deeper, rustier end of it.
If orange is a step too far, the same logic works with mustard, rust, forest green or a deep berry. The point is simply to own one knit that is not a neutral, and to reach for it on the greyest day rather than saving it.
Over-the-knee boots, without the pirate problem
Boots that reach the knee and go over are the next big thing in fashion. They are making a statement on the catwalks so don’t hesitate, just go for it. The added bonus is the warmth factor.
They do have one failure mode, and it is worth naming: worn with a floaty skirt and a loose top, over-the-knee boots tip straight into pirate territory.
The fix is the same rule as everywhere else on this site. Keep everything above them lean and simple. Leggings, skinny jeans or a straight skirt, with a knit that skims rather than billows. The boots are the statement; nothing else needs to be.
The other thing to check is the top of the shaft. If it sits exactly at your knee it will slide down all day. You want it clearly above the knee, with elastic or a stretch panel at the back so it stays put when you bend.
Dressing for weather that cannot decide
Headed down the peninsula today for a picnic with my adorable mum, who packs a mean Esky! One small problem, too much cloud. The wool beanie and leather gloves solved the problem.
That is the whole trick of a Melbourne winter, really. The outfit did not change; two accessories did. A beanie and gloves take up no room in a bag and turn an outfit that works indoors into one that works standing on a beach in the wind.
Leather gloves in particular are worth having. They are warmer than they look, they last for years, and they are one of the few accessories that make a casual outfit look considered.
(This is from 2013, and yes. That is a beanie at the beach in July. Everything above still applies.)
If your knits and boots are not getting worn because you are not sure what to put them with, a wardrobe edit will usually find several outfits in there already.
Four weeks until spring, yayyy! Can’t wait. And now you’re Looking Good Girls.
“If anyone gives even a cup of cold water … , he will certainly not lose his reward,” Matthew 10:42.
Give what you have, for you never know - to someone else it may be better than you can even dare to think - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.