Autumn Style Edit
Everything I want to wear in Paris as the leaves turn brown and the temperature drops, including leather jackets, leopard print shoes, red cashmere jumpers and pieces with a more personal twist!
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This is the first time in a while that I’m really looking forward to autumn and dare I say it, even winter. I usually dread chillier and damper days, and often find the colder seasons difficult to dress for (and drive Victor mad for months telling him I’m cold every five minutes), but I’m feeling an unusual longing for cosy knits, woolen scarfs, stomping around in boots, layers, big coats, hot chocolate and snuggling up in old bistros in Paris with Victor. It’s perhaps because we had a sudden burst of balmy weather this week, which I was neither expecting, nor ready for. Forgetting to check the temperature, I went out in a leather skirt, long sleeved top and suede jacket on Wednesday night, and spent the entire evening feeling hot and sweaty and wishing it was, in fact, colder. Luckily I haven’t yet packed away my summer wardrobe. (I’m off to Lisbon for a week in October with my mum to celebrate her birthday, and am thinking I might get a little more wear out of it.)
The other reason is of course because it’s fashion month and rather than feeling overwhelmed by the number of emerging trends, as I have done these past couple of years, I’m feeling excited and inspired to get dressed this season, because my approach to style is changing. I can’t wait to experiment a little more with items that I wouldn’t normally wear and go beyond my tried and tested monochromatic colors of black, white, navy and gray that I’ve been slowly shifting away from. If you follow me on Instagram, you might have noticed that there’s been a lot more brown, green and even yellow cropping up in my closet of late, along with more pattern - take this dress for example that I wore to a wedding brunch last week. (Linked here).
I also recently read
’s piece about current fashion being, well, a little boring and it struck a chord. I’ve been thinking the same for a while as I continue to see the same outfits copied and pasted over and over again on social media (and indeed in brand collections), outfits that adhere to the minimalistic and muted ‘quiet luxury’ trend, which as Sarah Mavaleix says in the article that Pantin references, “isn’t so quiet”. It’s everywhere. Case in point: I’ve seen this black COS dress paired with a white t shirt on three people I follow on Instagram in the past couple of days. It’s a great look, and looks great on them, which makes me want to wear it, but I don’t want to be a cookie cutter. Whilst much of my wardrobe does indeed follow the more minimalist/ quiet luxury trend, I’m starting to feel a less inspired by it. Like Pantin, I too am craving clothes that make me feel, so I’m on the hunt for pieces to help inject a little more personality; a little more ME into my closet.The same goes for my perspective on interiors. Over the past two plus years since I started designing for clients, my taste has changed dramatically. I’ve moved away from the monochrome and beige I enjoyed a few years ago, to more color and pattern, and favouring vintage pieces over new to create personal and layered spaces - perhaps my taste in clothes is just catching up.
Saying all of this, I still subscribe to the importance of having a capsule closet; great basics that form the foundation of a wardrobe (items that you know go together especially when you’re in a rush to get dressed), but I’ll be building upon them with more interesting items.
So here’s my autumn edit, with everything I want to be wearing in Paris this season. You’ll find lots of very wearable and indeed timeless items like a black leather midi wrap skirt I just purchased that I’ve already worn three times to various different events (I’m now thinking about all the ways I can style it), but there are also a few fun knits thrown in and jackets, along with interesting accessoires and colorful trainers. Enjoy! Much love, Marissa xx