A denim-inspired home goods collection, an activewear brand branching out into sleepwear, the statement-making hair colour trend of the pandemic, and more fashion news that made headlines in January.

• H&M and ’90s jeans brand Lee are launching a size-inclusive, sustainable denim collection.
• Black-owned fashion label Telfar has won the Fashion Design of 2020 award from London’s Design Museum for its vegan-leather, gender neutral shopping bag.
• Topshop’s flagship store in London has closed its doors for good.
• Satya Paul, the Indian fashion designer who invented the modern sari and pioneered the ‘trouser sari’, has died at the age of 79.
• Levi’s is collaborating with Target on a denim-inspired home goods collection.
• Refinery29 reports that cabincore is this season’s trending aesthetic.
• A study from beauty company Sephora found that racial profiling leads minorities to shop online rather than in stores.
• The New York Times and Esquire have coined ‘hate-wear’ and ‘sadwear’ as terms for the ways people are expressing their pandemic frustration through clothes.
• Activewear brand Athleta is branching out into sleepwear.
• Nancye Radmin, a pioneer of plus-size fashion who for two decades ran an upscale chain of stores that served a group of women who had otherwise been overlooked by high fashion, has passed away at age 82.
• The Guardian explains why pink is the ‘statement-making’ hair colour trend of the pandemic.
• Dove is introducing its first-ever refillable deodorant.

Fun Fashion Quote

This quote from critical care nurse Marianne Merza on not saving clothing items to wear for good only made me smile:

“In the past, I’ve kept pieces in my closet, holding out for the right occasion, but since this year has been so grueling, I’ve been trying to create special moments for myself. This dress is something I’d now wear on a walk around my neighborhood. It’s such a special dress, but what am I waiting for? I’m going to wear it to Trader Joe’s!”

Winter tweed skirts are woven, woolly, warm, and worn in colder weather. They are typically a mix of flecked colours, but come in plaids and checks too. You’ll find them in all sorts of colours, but neutral versions are most popular. 

Tweed skirts are sometimes considered formal, overly classic, and constricting. I beg to differ, because as with many things in fashion and style, the devil is in the details. If you add the right support act to an item, you can effectively change its vibe.

I found some tweed skirt outfits that have a wonderfully relaxed and modern vibe to them. Only one of them is a pencil skirt, which is the most constricting silhouette. For a more comfortable silhouette, choose A-lines and flares. The outfits show fine-gauge and chunky knitwear as tops to keep out the chill, but feel free to add a blouse or shirt if that’s more your thing. Choose any colour palette, and use these looks as a guide to create your own versions.

1. Sporty Luxe

This is my favourite of the four because it looks elegant, practical, comfortable and crisp. If I put the jacket on properly, add a crossbody bag, nude-for-me hosiery, and stitch up the front vent a little so that it’s less open, I could run around town doing errands in this look with Yorkie Sam in tow. On that note, combine an A-line tweed skirt with a roomy pullover. Personally, I love the knee-covering length of this skirt, but you can go shorter. Semi-tuck the pullover, or wear it untucked. Complete the look with sneakers and a jacket or coat. I like the way the white sneakers and top match, thereby pulling the look together. The casual pullover and sneakers relax the skirt.

2. Kilted and Pattern Mixed

Combine a kilt with a pullover that picks up a colour in the pattern of the kilt. Add a patterned scarf in the same colour palette as the kilt. The scarf needn’t be another plaid or check. It can be any pattern as long as the colours are similar to the rest of the outfit. Add hosiery, boots and topper that work with the outfit. I don’t fancy the heaviness of the navy opaques and boots styled with this outfit. I’d have gone for something lighter and cream boots. That said, topping off the outfit with a navy coat would balance out the heaviness. The casual pullover and scarf relax the skirt.

3. Black Support Act

Adding a black support act to a tweed skirt that contains black in the pattern is usually a home run. Here, this black and white tweed mini has been combined with a black and white checked cropped pullover that simply looks like a smaller scale of the pattern of the skirt. But you can substitute with a solid black top to match black hosiery, and flat tall or short black boots. Throw in a bag, coat or jacket that works with the pattern of the skirt. The flat riding boots and chunky pullover relax the skirt. These types of mini tweed skirts look sensational on some of my petite clients.

4. Casual Elegance

This is the dressiest option. Combine a long flared tweed skirt with a very roomy pullover that picks up a colour in the pattern of the skirt. Semi-tuck it to create some structure by hinting at a waistline. The black belt here is part of the skirt, and matches the black boots. The tailored heeled booties amp up the dressiness of the outfit. Black hosiery and pumps, or tailored tall boots could work too. You can top off an oversized pullover with a ruana, cape, or poncho. The extreme slouch of the chunky pullover relaxes the skirt. Add jewellery, watch and eyewear as desired.

We add colour to our hair in all sorts of ways. We can go lighter, darker, or richer than our natural colour. We can change the colour completely, cover the grey, or throw in a rainbow look just for fun. It is a personal decision. We simply have to weigh up the pros against the cons of the time, effort, and expense involved, and decide what suits us best.

For many of us, one consequence of the pandemic is that we can’t have our hair coloured as often as we did before. As a result, our natural hair colour has been coming through. Pre-COVID, I had a partial foil of platinum highlights added to my hair every six weeks. When the pandemic struck I went without for four and half months. My hair is naturally blonde without any grey, so the grow-out was reasonably subtle.

As soon as I felt comfortable having my hair re-highlighted, I did just that. I’m still not having it coloured as often as I used to, but I’m adding the platinum blonde bits when I can because, to my eye, it’s more flattering with my complexion. It’s dyed to the colour it used to be naturally when I lived in a sunny Mediterranean climate and my hair was bleached naturally by the sun. Since living in grey Seattle, my hair has gotten darker and I don’t like it as much.

Personally, I’m not embracing the natural colour of my hair just yet, but plan to do so when I go grey. I fancy the idea of a natural silver pixie at some point, and am looking forward to it. On the other hand, some of my friends and clients have taken the opportunity during the pandemic to stop colouring their hair alltogether. Many have opted to let the grey come through, hang in there with the grow-out, and embrace their natural colour. This means saying goodbye to the time and expense of root touch-ups every three weeks, which I imagine to be quite liberating.

Over to you. I’m curious to know whether the pandemic has made you feel like embracing the natural colour of your hair more permanently, or at least for a while.

Today we’re checking back in with Buckinghamshire-based Hayley Hall, who was first featured on YLF in September 2019. Modern Classic dresser Hayley continues to love midi skirts and dresses, floral prints and vibrant colours, but is also having fun experimenting with neutrals and different silhouettes. Her wavy red locks and striking blue eyes remain part of her signature style.

Hayley believes strongly that wearing bright colours in even the most dismal of weather can lift your mood, so she wears them year round. Here she is sporting a wool coat in cheerful dark pink over a floral midi dress. The scoop-neck dress features small pink and white flowers on a black background. The lighter pink floral coordinates beautifully with our blogger’s coat, and the all-over small pattern stops the black from becoming too heavy. The relaxed-fit coat is tailored on the shoulders, which brings in structure. So do the straight lines of our blogger’s blush chevron-patterned bag. On-trend white sneaks echo the floral print and casualize the outfit. Sparkly statement earrings and a brownish pink lip highlight Hayley’s face and make her stunning blue eyes pop even more.

Hayley is a dress and skirt gal at heart, but rocks jeans equally well. For this casual Fall look in grey, black, and white she has paired grey skinny jeans with a rugby stripe tunic sweater. The soft cowl neck, great drape and bold stripe create fun visual interest. Pairing the tunic with skinnies tempers the volume of the top. Her white sneaks add casual crispness. Hayley’s gorgeous red locks peeking out from under the grey beanie adds colour around her face. And the playful pink pom-pom just makes me smile.

Camel and coral make for a striking and unusual colour combo. Hayley is wearing a coral mock-neck knit top with a navy pleated floral print skirt that hits just below the knee. The coral isn’t repeated in the floral pattern but works marvelously with the navy and camel. Scrunching the top’s banded hem to sit a little higher lengthens the leg line from the hips up. Opting for a Modern Classic faux leather biker jacket in a colour other than black creates soft edge. Hayley’s white sneakers echo the white in the skirt and add a Sporty touch. Her soft waves and red lipstick add glam.

Here we can see how a black leather jacket and black accessories create a different mood compared to the outfit above. They toughen up Hayley’s happy blue midi dress with gorgeous large-scale floral pattern in a snap. The V-neck wrap-over style accentuates our blogger’s waist, while the pleated skirt part creates extra visual interest and movement. The black biker jacket is fitted in all the right places and adds tons of definition and structure. Pairing the hard-edged stompy ankle boots with black opaque tights avoids creating a horizontal line with the footwear, and thus lengthens the leg line. A small black bag fits the mood of the outfit perfectly. Coral lippy and two dainty necklaces soften the look.

This Sporty Luxe look is irregular outfit juxtapositon at its best. The midi sweater dress and classic white sneaks with the three black stripes are the sporty casual components of the look. The black leather biker jacket is the Modern Classic that once again shows its tremendous versatility. The black faux fur scarf and beret in soft wool bring the dressy into the look. Colours like camel and oatmeal — like Hayley’s dress here — combined with black also help to create that Luxe vibe. The playful side split and straight silhouette of the dress create vertical integrity, while the fitted shape of the jacket emphasizes our blogger’s waist and creates structure. Throwing a cosy faux fur scarf over the leather jacket adds fab textural interest and brings in the Glam. So does Hayley’s red lipstick, and red hair peeking out from under the beret “Old Hollywood style”.

A signature “Hayley outfit” consisting of a great midi dress with interesting pattern and versatile jacket as a topper. Our blogger is sporting a fit-and-flare dress in a vertical, lace-like, black and white pattern that draws the eye up and down, thus creating a lengthening effect. The fitted waist and collar create structure, as does the cropped mid-blue denim jacket with its fitted silhouette. Turning up the sleeves and showing some forearm amplifies that effect. Our blogger’s on-trend espadrille flatforms bookend the colours of her dress, and — together with the eye-catching circular straw bag and oversized black sunnies — add that breezy casual high Summer vibe. Hayley’s very handsome pooch makes this pretty Summer picture even more perfect.

I can’t wait to hear what you think of this new batch of fabulous looks. Let us know in the comments, and be sure to check out Hayley’s blog and Instagram for even more sartorial inspiration.