Fashion: Ten easy pieces for your winter wardrobe

As autumn draws in there are many ways to revitalise a stylish winter wardrobe. It is the hunting season for coats, a lynchpin buy that can make a real statement while covering a multitude. Topping and tailing means thinking about footwear as well – and for boots, whether over the knee, ankle or calf, search out the best. Here is a selection of items that caught our eye – for 10 easy pieces.

1. The coat: this one by Stella McCartney is a new take on that winter perennial, the camel coat, and hits all the right buttons in every sense (buttons are everywhere this winter) in terms of colour, cut and concept. The downside is the price at €1,495 Brown Thomas. But there are bound to be copies.

2. The dress

:

we have two picks; one is a shapely charcoal panel dress (€232 by Fee G), practical for work to evening with three-quarter length sleeves that elongate the arm and a prim, white, detachable shirt collar. The other is a black and navy contrast wrap by Atterley (€77.22, free shipping to Ireland,

[ atterley.com ]

) The V is rather deep so a variety of T-shirts or a striped top could lift it in different ways.

3. The trousers:

If you dare to flare – and there is a lot of noise about the 1970s and flares – then cropped flares need a whole change of proportion in terms of what you put with them. Stiff rather than soft fabric works best for crops which can be matched with a neat black polo, a knit tucked in at the waist or an A-line tunic and boots. These crops are from Zara (€59.95).

4. T

he

skirt:

A-Line, maxi, mini, straight or full? There is too much choice and too many considerations about what to wear with them, as well as taking into account what suits the figure. Brocades add a textured, luxury touch like this little skirt from Zara (€39.95), great with over-the-knee boots.

5. The

gilet:

sheepskin and shearling along with feathers and tassels reference the 1970s bohemian hippie trail, but this asymmetrical whiskey-coloured “Toscana” gilet from Celtic & Co is a more luxurious affair that can be worn instead of a coat, perhaps over those flares (€552). For delivery details visit

[ celticandco.com/ shopping-with-us/delivery-postage ]

. Penneys do a good lookalike shearling gilet in polyamide for €25 in black or tan.

6. The suit: the pink trouser suit above is from River Island (€101, €67, boots €50) – a daring paring making a strong statement for winter

7. Th

e

bag:

this cross-body can double up as a shoulder bag and has a casual look – it is €59.95 from Zara. The YSL Rive Gauche Cabas number is €1,690 from Brown Thomas.

8. The

jewellery:

Viv Walsh’s new collection is bigger and more colourful this season, like these earrings made with anthracite, shell, pearl and opaque red crystal (€60 from

[ vivienwalsh.com ]

or from her shop in Monkstown). Zara are doing a range of wonderful scarves made in India for €39.95.

9. The k

nit:

Roomy knits match the season upholstery style brocades and Aran motifs feature in many international collections. Look out for home-grown numbers from Ireland’s Eye or Inis MeÁin, but this navy cashmere from Sphere One by Lucy Downes is adaptable for both evening and day wear. It’s in cashmere, silk and wool with a grosgrain zigzag motif (€420 from Havana, Dublin, Brown Thomas and Kalu, Naas, Co. Kildare). The Carven sweater (€395 Brown Thomas) with its contrast panels enables to be paired easily with any of its colours.

10. The boots:

like a winter coat, a great pair of boots to weather the changeable demands of the long stretch from October to April is an essential buy. These are by Stuart Weitzman from Brown Thomas (€665).