The Winter Capsule Wardrobe | Workwear and Masculine Tailoring for Everyone

Blazer: Zara, Jumper: c/o Long Tall Sally, T-shirt: Zara, Bag: Primark, Trousers: Zara, Red Flats: New Look, Black and White Heels: New Look

When I started planning my winter wardrobe the first thing I thought about and wanted to focus on including, was work wear. I am in the very lucky position that we have the incredible freedom to not be confined to suits in our office. That’s not to say however that I don’t like dressing up or taking my cues from the boys or in this case, the power suit.

2015’s great plans included ‘growing up’ my dress sense. Don’t get me wrong I am still the same girl who loves her kooky pieces such as the pom pom scarf or my white Zara fuzzy box bag however now is the time to invest in not only timeless pieces but smart multi functional ones as well.

The ‘Power’ Suit.

I have always had somewhat of a fascination with the suit. Perhaps its from being a child in the nineties, or perhaps its the fact that I always envisioned myself in the corporate world, but the appeal of a great suit has never been lost on me. The only problem being of course that my body type doesn’t necessarily work with the whole trouser suit, or if your reading this in america, the pant suit.

Give me a skirt, blouse and fitted jacket and I will give you a great outfit, but a pair of trousers? You possibly have me stumped. Working with both an ‘apple’ shaped body and reoccurring IBS means trousers are rarely my best friend and not only that but they are often impossible to find. During Fall I documented my search for the ideal trouser and in the end it took me three months hard work to finally hit the jackpot.

The most interesting part about dressing is that each and every one of us is entirely different. Whether you relate as an apple shape or are blessed (or cursed) with a pear one, we don’t always find the same things work no matter what shape we relate to. So for me, Dorothy Perkins this last Autumn was a disaster. Each pair of trousers was cut awkwardly, with great fitting legs and then a last minute waist band which appeared to better suit the same pair of trousers several sizes down. Next meanwhile made trousers for girls far more blessed in the hips direction while I couldn’t even hold my breath long enough for H&M and yet . . . Zara.

I often feel oversized walking into Zara, after all, this is a European store which doesn’t necessarily scream 6 foot girl who bounces between a 14 and 16 please come in! and yet now I am the proud owner of the dream jeans and two pairs of trousers which are making my suit dreams come true. So how did I plan to wear them? Well the obvious was to ‘girl’ them up. However, when I looked through my capsule one thing kept screaming at me. Make a suit, make it tailored and take your cues from the boys! After all these trousers are a navy pinstripe! They are already well onto the banker train before we even started and even I was more than surprised to find out how pleased I was with this look over all.

In fact if the capsule can teach you anything its actually, don’t be confined by convention. It needn’t be in greyscale and just because you have a few pieces doesn’t mean you need to not be adventurous in your choices. I have also realised something great, everything works for everyone when you’ve got the right fit for you. So if you’re rocking incredible hips, check out Next, if your blessed with an itsy bitsy waist its DP’s tomorrow in your lunch break or if your pretty straight up and down try out Zara as you never know it might work for you too.

In the mean time I am loving the potential of Winter 2015. I see tailoring, I see work wear and I see power suits! Just because the nineties are well and truly over doesn’t mean that the suit has to be and just because I’m big chested doesn’t mean I can’t work menswear inspired pieces either, huzzah for the new year!

This dressing thing, I think I might just have cracked it!