Do you remember when you were little and your mum used to make you separate your summer and your winter wardrobes? Wasn't it* so* galling to watch her whisk away the floral sundresses and jazzy patterned denim shorts, just because the days were getting shorter and the nights were getting colder?
Those days are gone. Mum (collective) no longer has any power over our wardrobes. So BREAK OUT of those seasonal sartorial limitations and screw up that traditionally restrictive system by... wearing some of your winter clothes in summer. Because a) they really do work and b) life's too short not the get the most out of a jacket you've lived off soup and bread to afford. Here are 8 items you should shuffle to the popular part of your wardrobe, asap.
1. Doc Martens or biker boots
Sure, they're great for crunching snow and go brilliantly with leather trousers, but our favourite way to wear our biker boots isactually with a pair of brown, bare legs. Channel Cressida Bonas and pair your scuffy DMs with dungarees. Another age-old favourite is a 90s grungey floral tea dress with some chunky biker boots. It's enduringly trend-less and always looks adorable.
2. Black tuxedo blazer
Nothing chicer than an excellently cut black blazer. Which is what makes it so perfect for the summer. Where it works nicely with a poloneck in winter, in the summer it upscales an otherwise casual summer look. Some denim cut-offs and a striped tee segue into lo-fi workwear with the addition of a tuxedo jacket. Fact.
3. Giant scarf
No, don't wear a woolly snood with your swimmer. Yes, we know that that's what they do in fashion editorials - but what they do in glossy magazines isn't necessarily relatable to real life. Saying that, a giant scarf is super handy is when you're leaving a hot country - it gets damn chilly on the plane - or on the beach in England, when a boiling hot Blighty day can suddenley turn and you're shivering in your playsuit like a sodden chihuahua.
4. Aran sweater
Every girl should own an fisherman style aran sweater. Alexa Chung is proof of how well they work with skinny jeans and chelsea boots. Trends come and go, but aran sweaters are never going to be 'uncool'. One of our favourite times to wear our aran sweater, believe it or not, is in the summer. With cut off shorts or a lace-trim slip dress, it evokes vintage beachside at its best.
5. Tartan shirt
With gingham kicking plaid's butt this summer, tartan hasn't been getting much airtime. But we'll always stay loyal to a vintage tartan shirt. They'retomboyishly sexy worn open over a bikini, or some dungarees - and if you're worried about over-heating, just hack the sleeves off an old one and let your arms roam free.
6. Leather skirt
The assumption that you can't wear leather in summer is total BS. There's a definite sensibility to avoiding Ross Geller-style leather trousers in peak summer, but a leather mini skirt looks ace with a lightweight chambray shirt and will keep you warm enough to avoid tons of layers when the sun goes down. After all, sweater + jacket + scarf = an exhausting algorithm to maintain/ tote around after 5 wines.
7. Cashmere socks
Our favourite thing about the winter months is skidding across wooden floors in a pair of fleecy pyjamas and ribbed cashmere socks. So toasty! So fun! But we'll let you into a secret: there is no nicer way to treat your feet at a summer festival than with some cashmere socks hidden snugly inside your Timberlands/wellies/Converse. Your body may be aching all over, you may be muddy from head to toe and you may have lost all your friends and be stuck with the irritating pillhead with a dayglo penis inextricably painted across his pate - but your feet will feel like* actual* marshmallows.
** 8. Black dress**
We've said it once, we'll say it again and it sure as hell was going to make this list. A black dress is just as good in the summer as it is in winter. Black looks great against tanned skin and nothing but a plain gold chain and some sunglasses. Where your black camisole dress is a regular worker with a white shirt underneath and a bomber jacket, it's just as beaut worn totally solo. Except, maybe with a pair of pants underneath.
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Pictures: Jason Lloyd-Evans, Courtesy of Maja Wyh
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.