Blue and brown has always been a strong colour combination for me. It reminds me of the seventies although strictly speaking that would be orange and brown. Anyway all I know is that I’m drawn to it. Consequently my wardrobe is full of complimentary colours, re-styling alternatives with every piece, together or separately.

This brings me to the point of today’s post. I recently had a death in my knitwear family. The moths got to two of my cashmere jumpers before I realised our rented house was infested! They’re such sneaky little buggers, we’ve met before so I know their MO. Let me tell you they will not beat me this time, I’ve gone through everything and made some tough decisions. Also, I found an excellent eco-friendly dry cleaner nearby who removed every trace of the attack from one piece and managed to mend the wound. Although the other victim was not so lucky I’m afraid, the damage beyond repair. Thankfully that sweater was older and not such a tragic a loss.

Oh just FYI – It’s the larvae that eat your jumpers and not the adult moth. They chow down in Spring when you least expect it so the carnage goes unnoticed. It isn’t until Autumn when you reach into the back of your closet for a jumper, that you’ll realise the destruction. I once had a devastating experience where all my finest knitwear turned to dust. Cashmere and wool beauties were honestly just powder in my hands. I’m truly not exaggerating. Incredibly these minute creatures can gnaw through a mountain of luxury natural fibre so watch your silks too.

After that incident I went crazy into research, even watched a documentary about one museums struggle to save ancient carpets from these bastards. The struggle is real people… My advice to you if you haven’t experienced this phenomenon yet, is vacuum pack your expensive knitwear at the end of Winter so clothes moths can’t get to them. Clearly I need to follow my own advice. Although to be fair, I forgot to re-pack them because we moved. Stupid mistake I won’t make again.

A BLUE JUMPER WORN 3 WAYS

I could style this jumper a million ways but three is enough to get you started. First up is this William Morris print skirt that I bought for a tenner at Goodwill. I went back to Goodwill recently to buy the cute little owl tray Catherine spotted in my Instagram Stories. Unfortunately that was gone (sorry Lamby) but I did spot this vintage skirt so it wasn’t a wasted trip.

My local Goodwill has quite an extensive range of vintage items in excellent condition. This skirt was slightly too tight but since it had elastic at the waist I was able to alter it without much effort. It fits like a dream now! I paired it with tights and knee-high boots to keep me warm, belted the chunky knit and added my gorgeous basket bag from Estee-Rose London. I really don’t see why this style of bag is limited to Summer do you?

Now I realise the problem with showing you secondhand pieces is that I can’t link to exact items. However my goal here is only to give you outfit ideas, you should always look in your closet first. If you don’t have anything similar and you’d like to re-create this look, I’ve linked some pieces for you above.

Alternatively, try your local charity shops or thrift stores. The main point to consider when buying the skirt is that it is mostly browns. The type of print and fabric don’t matter at all it. For example the skirt could be a check pencil. Leopard print also works well, so long as the colours are brown tones it’ll look the part.

PUSH UP SLEEVES FOR A PUFFED LOOK

To get more of the puffed sleeve look from your chunky knit simply push the sleeves up. If you really want to go high and puffy, use a hair band to hold the sleeves discreetly in place.

Since I’m wearing my jumper loose I wanted to give it more shape so I don’t look like a jumper on a stick. Skinny jeans are fab but they can give me that lollipop look if I’m not careful. This way I create statement sleeves to break up the overwhelming bulkiness. For this outfit of blue and brown the brown comes in the shape of shoes and bag. Both of which have a distinctly retro/vintage vibe and manage to add a great deal of character to an otherwise basic outfit. For warmth and a little pizazz I’m wearing turquoise tights. Coloured tights feature highly in my Winter wardrobe, I just love them! Remember tights are a super cheap way to dramatically alter your ensemble.

RETRO CAMEL CORDS AND VINTAGE GUCCI

For my last outfit styling blue and brown with the same blue jumper, I matched my belt and pants colour. This belt is super versatile on any day of the week simply because of its neutral shade and wide shape. I can use it to belt any of my wool coats as the colour compliments all of them. I have navy, pink and this check one. In fact I wore it over my pink wool coat to a press event in the city recently. Needless to say it also makes a fabulous statement with any dress and looks pretty awesome with my blue chunky knit too!

Onto these velveteen cords from Escada that are my latest passion, I can’t seem to NOT wear them! I’m obsessed! My boots aren’t visible in these photos but the cords cover them anyway. This day I’m wearing the same Chloë block heel knee-high boots in my first photo.

True this is very much a “ME” outfit, you know? Probably not everyone’s cup of tea, so let’s wrap this up – Here we have brown or camel cords with my check coat and vintage Gucci bag. Not much to explain except perhaps to add that the trousers needn’t be cords. Any type of trews will do. Just stick with the brown theme and you’re set. At the moment I’m on the hunt for a pair of brown plaid pants with a fine blue stripe. Can you imagine how fabulous they’d look with this jumper? Equally gorgeous yet different again with my jumper from this post. Along with many other pieces in my closet. Hence why I’m being rather particular about the type and colour of check I’m searching for. This is typical of my ethos, thinking through every styling option before I buy is key to spending wisely. Perhaps it’ll take some time to find what I’m looking for but that’s exactly the point.

Nothing good in the world of fashion ever goes away so there’s no rush and no need to panic buy.

Bye Darlings xx