Notes on Styling | 24 | The Jumper Dress
8 looks with some styling & shopping notes
It’s funny how certain items catch hold in a season.
The jumper dress ticks so many lovely boxes. Comfy, once you buy well. Cosy comes as a given with a great Jumper dress but it is also an item that can be taken in so many different styling directions.
This is the magic.
First, consider your shape and the silhouettes you can play with but just as important is the feeling of the outfit you like to wear - your style. Do you like your clothes to feel polished? Modern? Preppy? Elegant?
The words you love to use to describe your style will help you buy better items and that will ultimately help you create more of the outfits you want to wear after the newness wears off.
I have picked & styled 8 lovely Jumper dresses below from different brands and taken them in different styling directions.
The shoe options you have for me are a core item to create a style direction and to change the feeling of a look. To take it up or down a notch, to make it feel elevated or preppy, girlie or sexy. But also great shoe options combine comfort with the style feeling you want to create more of.
Just before this week’s looks, a couple of styling thoughts on choosing for your proportions & shape.
Consider your proportions & shape but remain open-minded
You will see a lot in the shops that are below the knee. This is one to play with. The general rule is the longer you go the more likely is you will need a heel to give you back good proportions. To help you feel right. But not always.
I have a client at the moment who is 5ft 4 and she got a gift of this oversized black jumper dress (below) that she thought would never work. But that’s the magic of having a clear style direction and your style words help you focus on creating the feeling you want in your clothes. Your Style Design will in lots of cases overtake the rules.
Celia’s words are MODERN, ELEGANT & SIMPLE and that’s what we focused on when trying out this dress and playing with the styling and the shoes and jewellery we picked. In theory, this should not work, the rules would say it would swamp her petite 5ft frame but the modern feel for Celia overtook the rules and felt chic, modern and stylish. Interestingly she had the same feeling even without the belt and also with a really nice smart trainer. It was a whole new style for her (she was much more used to things being fitted) and this is the balance to play with between the things we think will work for our shape and proportions but also in fine-tuning what matters to you and being open to try.
Playing :-)
Is fitted more flattering?
This really follows from the above point. It depends on the style direction you love and what feels good to you. What will be the most flattering is a finished look that encompasses the things that matter most to you. If you go for looser (like mine from Primark above or Celia’s), it can feel better in general terms to keep the length a little above the knee for two reasons. 1) Above the knee will give you more height, and more flexibility with the boot or shoe you wear. 2) If you are conscious of or hold your weight on your bum or hips, longer can make you more conscious of this area. This simply comes down to the fact there is more fabric hugging the bum and therefore highlighting it. This is especially true if it’s more fitted too.
Ultimately, it comes down to self-confidence, I am a pear and I am happy to go for a more oversized style that’s longer and I would want to team it with a heel to give me back height. Whereas with a shorter looser style, I am happy in a flat boot.
It’s all about the right shoes and boots
Maybe this is obvious but one of the things I find hard to bear in styling (first world problem I realise but nonetheless), is keeping your boots and tights the same colour or at least tonal. Having say a brown boot, a black tight and a different coloured dress, just no :-) Too many lines look messy, will shorten your frame and will create a feeling that there is something not quite right.
But secondly, the right shoes or boots set the tone of your outfit always (I am going to write about shoes shortly, thank you for your requests! I am on it!). You can have the best outfit that can be let down but a shoe that throws the feeling you want to create. It’s not so much about needing the right shoe for every outfit you love but more having a solid selection of shoes and boots that really feel true to your style will transfer across outfits and looks. Trust me.
I’ve popped the link to all items below our outfits this week or you can click through to my full Styling Boards to see all items linked for each look.
Which do you prefer? I would love to know? If there are any items sold out that you love, do email me I may have seen something similar on my browsing.
I am also trying out different layouts here - enjoying playing with things, hope you are enjoying too. All feedback and thoughts welcome in the comments below or email hi@juliecobbe.ie. x
Look 1
The words I would use to describe this look are Chic, Neutral and Sexy. With items from Reiss and Mint Velvet, they combine to make an outfit that’s both cosy and soft but still true to a more dressed-up feel. The colour direction here is warm with a mid-toned.
Look 2
A different shape, a different colour direction and a different feel. I would use the style words Elegant, maybe Creative and yet Classic to describe this look. The shape of this dress will suit taller and slimmer but if the fabric is really good it can offer the right support to curves too. It does lend itself to a heel to finish off the elevated feeling. The colour direction is warm/ bright/ deep.
Look 3
Cosy, cosy cosy! We have Mint Velvet, COS, Sezane & Mango here. A mix of modern and softer girlie brands. Sometimes I consider the brands I pick from in terms of their personality but often I just take an item and pair it with other brands that create what I want to create. I would describe this as chic, soft and classic. A soft & warm colour direction.
Look 4
I’ve taken pops of brighter tones here together. If you love colour in your look, my general rule of thumb to play is just keep the colour tone similar for example if you have a bright jumper dress like this, you can add in other colours just try to keep them also bright. The same depth of colour brings cohesion. I’ve given 2 different shoe/ accessory options here to also just play and show how they can change the feeling. The black feels more professional, serious and the softer tones more relaxed and fun.
Look 5
This dress from COS I feel is quite dramatic. It’s full length, very elegant but would most likely need a heel to get the full style value from it. I’ve kept the tones deep as I think this dress works so well with them. I’ve also opted for a shorter jacket which will feel better around the waist and create more proportion and shape. I would describe this look as Dramatic, Modern and hmmmm maybe Preppy.
Look 6
This dress is the length you will see most often in the shops. It is from Hobbs and I’ve teamed it here with a MAC from Zara, accessories from Arket, Rizo and Mint Velvet and boots from Oliver Bonas. This is the dress length I find challenging for my style and shape as it will hug the bum so just consider how this feels for you or how you would style it to create an outfit you love. It’s got a great price point I thought as generally I am quite shocked recently at how much the high street (both cheaper and mid-range) have been increasing their prices. I would describe this look as Simple, Elegant and Effortless with a deep colour palette.
Look 7
Similar to the dress style my client the lovely Celia is wearing above, you can look at an oversized shape like this and think what the hell do I do with that! For me, this is my ideal shape! I would style with the heel to give back a feel of proportion but I love the cosy, couldn’t care less but I still look stylish feel it gives! The style word that oozes out here is effortless. Alongside this dress I’ve chosen from Hush, Mint Velvet, Smaak Amsterdam, Vagabond and Pilgrim to style and I would use Pared back and Chic here with my other 2 words - Effortless, Pared Back, Chic.
Look 8
Finally, the classic Autumn colour palette. Deep warm tones. Lush. This dress is from BA&SH. It’s a cracker. I would describe this look as a lot of things! - Wearable, Smart, Chic, Cosy, Textural, Fun. Why not pop into the comments if you want to pick your own words to describe any of the looks?
Choosing the right words for you, building an outfit that creates the right feeling and style for you - it’s a journey of fine tuning and having fun styling from this new perspective.
Finally..
Well, you style words are everything! They can help you overcome some of the challenges you can feel with picking for your body shape choosing items that fit your words and feel good to you is just everything and it can surpass all the rules for your shape and proportions.
Finally, it’s worth considering how we think and buy in items yet we live life in outfits. Your clothes don’t exist in isolation from each other. You don’t walk out the door in an item. You walk out the door in items that all play together to create an outfit. Items should be considered and bought in the context of the whole of what you want to build and that’s where your complete Style picture, your Style Design is your North Star for buying better.
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Happy styling this week.
Julie x