For style that’s evergreen…

Is it possible to be sick of winter before it’s even begun? The more I advance in years, the more I feel the cold, and the hail and chilly winds in Melbourne yesterday had this little old lady bundled up in dressing gown, ugg boots and a knee rug yearning for the good old days when the weather permitted an outfit like this.

When I planned this shoot with Cheryl from Business Chic I had visions of sporting this green cotton mermaid-skirted get-up all over the place. But I wasn’t fast enough to finish the whole thing in time to catch the last warm rays of sunshine – I only managed to make the top part, which is actually this dress:

I designed the shift dress so it could be worn alone or as a blouse to go with the mermaid skirt…

…but I didn’t finish the skirt until a few weeks later, so it’s only seen the light of day in the neighbourhood where we shot these photos.

Despite being such a strong colour and shape, the skirt is quite versatile. I’m looking forward to styling it* when it’s warm enough to wear it again, maybe like this…

… or perhaps in a totally different way? Who knows what I’ll come up with by next Melbourne summer? And that brings me to the point of this post (yes, there is a point, kind of!): how to have an evergreen wardrobe. All you need is the potent combination of a storage tub and a memory as bad as mine, and you’ll have what amounts to a fresh new wardrobe every six months.

You see, I pack away my summer clothes around about mid-April every year (making sure they’re clean before I do so that no stains set in while they’re resting) and don’t set eyes on them again until about November. While they’re thus enshrined, I forget about a fair few pieces, so when I creak open the lid of the storage tub again, it’s like getting brand new clothes – or at least looking at them with fresh eyes which allows for new styling inspiration. And I do this for my thicker jumpers and heavier skirts too, of course, so I have new-to-my-memory cold weather clothing when winter rolls around. I have to admit, though, I am struggling to feel inspired when it comes to cold weather dressing. Any suggestions for Pinterest boards or Instagram accounts that might help me rug up in style would be welcome. Summer is so much easier for me!

 

 

*It hardly needs to be said, but all jewellery and accessories in these photos are from opshops, markets, were received as gifts or made by me… as usual! Oh, and the batik bustier was a last-minute summer project to finally use up scraps of material from this top and skirt twinset – you can see me wearing it here too.