Going grey is inevitable and it leaves you with two options. One, dye your hair to cover the grey, or two, embrace the natural change. In my experience, most women progress from option one to option two over time, colouring their hair until they’ve had enough of the expense and effort it involves. Whatever you choose, there is no right or wrong. It’s a personal decision. 

Today, more than ever before, individuality is celebrated. Our current fashion era encourages all sorts of outfit juxtapositions, colour combinations and unconventionally flattering proportions. The stereotypical lines between feminine and masculine fashion are blurring. In general, fashion is more accepting of differences and individuality, and this has definitely had a positive impact on the acceptance of greying hair. Challenging the hair colour’s traditionally negative association with age, grey has even become an edgy choice for the young and fashion forward, much like rainbow hair.

Then there is the strong and growing emphasis on practical fashion. The Sporty Luxe trend, ultra comfortable fashionable footwear, roomy fits, and the ongoing movement towards more causal attire are all examples of this trend. Showing your natural grey is practical, and fits right into today’s fashion era.

If you doubt that grey can be fashionable and stylish, just do an image search for “gray hair” on Google. You will see something like this:

Once the negative associations are lost, grey is just another colour. Greying hair creates a salt and pepper effect with dark brown or black hair. It looks fashionable and attractive when it’s cut into a good shape, is well maintained, and looks healthy. Uniformly grey hair in all shades from dark grey to white can look stylish in a wide range of cuts, from ultra short pixies to long flowing locks.

And like any other aspect of your colouring, it impacts your style choices. Several of my clients have stopped dyeing their hair at some point in the period that we have worked together, going from being a brunette to looking salt and peppered, or to sporting completely grey hair. Their changing hair colour has usually meant adjusting the colour palettes in their wardrobe and in their make-up routine.

Deciding to go grey is a big step that requires confidence and patience. Like when growing your hair out from a pixie to a bob, there is an in-between stage where you’ll probably feel unkempt, frumpy and awkward as the one colour integrates with the other. It takes a while to reach the stage where your hair looks deliberately streaked with salted grey, or goes completely white. Sometimes it’s worth dyeing your hair if the grey is sparse. Sometimes it’s worth cutting your hair shorter to achieve an even crop of grey hair faster, rather than waiting for the two-toned effect to grow out with longer hair. And sometimes it’s worth dyeing your hair a completely new colour so that the transition to grey is more gradual.

One practical note: Grey hair usually has a drier and courser texture than your natural colour, so it’s important to maintain your hair even more vigilantly when you’re leaving things au naturel.

You shouldn’t feel pressured to colour your greying hair if you don’t want to. Just like you shouldn’t feel pressured to stop dyeing your hair if you prefer sporting a colour other than your own. Personal style is exactly that: Personal. And thanks to modern fashion, grey and colour are now both equally viable options.

A new Costume Institute exhibition, Hugo Boss going fur free, a sneak peek at Christophe Lemaire for Uniqlo, and other style news that made headlines this week.

• Topshop is releasing an archival collection with 33 of their greatest hits from the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s.
• Here’s a sneak peek at the Christophe Lemaire for Uniqlo collection.
• Gap is testing a free delivery service for guests at the new Virgin Hotels Chicago.
• This Autum, the Costume Institute is staging a Jacqueline de Ribes exhibition, which will feature about 60 haute couture and ready-to-wear ensembles from the French style icon’s personal archive.
• Luxury fashion brand Hugo Boss plans to go fur free as of its Fall/Winter 2016 collection.

Fun Fashion Fact

Did you know that British fashion retailer Topshop has been around for 51 years. It started out in 1964 as “Peter Robinson’s Top Shop”, a youth brand section within the Sheffield branch of the Peter Robinson department store. In 1973, parent company Burton Group decided to split them up into two chains, Peter Robinson and Top Shop, with the latter focussing on the 13 to 24 age range.

This ensemble was inspired by two street style looks I saw. They combine cream or white with black, finishing off the outfit with cognac accents. The grey in the outfit works well as a fourth neutral, but is not a compulsory addition. 

There are countless ways to combine these neutrals so feel free to be creative. I’ve started the ball rolling with two easy renditions. The one on the left is business casual, while the one on the right is smart casual. Note that cream is interchangeable with white. 

Black Bottoms, Cream Top & Cognac Shoes

Combine a pair of black cropped trousers with a soft cream blouse. Add cognac high-vamped shoes like mules, peep-toe booties or cage heels. Sport a black skirt, pair of shorts, or culottes if trousers aren’t your thing. A cream lace blouse adds a nice bit of texture to the look. A cream bag is a crisp finishing touch. A grey jacket like a blazer is optional, but handy to have at your desk in an air-conditioned office. I like this rendition best without the jacket because it’s extra Summery. 

White Jeans, Grey Top, Black Jacket & Cognac Accents 

Combine a pair of white jeans with a grey T-shirt, black jacket, cognac shoes and a cognac bag. I’ve kept this look just like the inspiration picture, but do choose any style of white jeans and cognac bag. Select shoes that work with the silhouette of the bottoms. A black or white top works as well as a grey one if that’s more to your taste. I like the casual beads that add texture to the outfit. My version is a tribal necklace from Zimbabwe, a country in Southern Africa we visited a few times many years ago. One of my favorite things about our time there was the local arts and crafts.

You could leave the second outfit un-layered by combining white jeans, a black top, cognac shoes and a cognac bag. A Summery cotton or linen scarf in the same palette can take the place of the necklace.

I’m enjoying The Guardian’s Oz Stylewatch series, and wanted to share three pieces I found particularly interesting:

This article explains why it is so hard to find Australian-made shoes.

“Starting a fashion label in Australia is notoriously risky. Starting a footwear label is even harder. The production is more expensive; the makers are harder to find and more selective about who they’re willing to work with. Unless footwear craftsmanship becomes a hot new trade to learn, the mid-range shoe shortage isn’t going to change.”

Alyx Gorman explains how “office-ish” clothing is the new trend for Australia’s growing creative sector.

“This kind of clothing is office-ish. It takes workwear staples such as shirts and tailoring but changes the proportions and prints into something too quirky to pass for conventional business gear.”

Luxurious, bathrobe-esque coats are apparently the latest must-have for the Australian Winter, and have “muscled their way to ‘staple’ status”.

“Finally, a luxuriant bathrobe is a status symbol the high street cannot replicate. Without Max Mara’s specially milled cashmeres and wools (the real deal will cost you between $1,700 to upwards of $8,000, depending on fabrication and your fondness for fur trims), or Guo Pei’s yards of fur, these garments would be plain old cereal-and-milk encrusted dressing gowns. In a rich textile, the style is dangerous and beguiling, it begs ‘touch me’. It suggests you know what you’re doing. In a poly-wool blend, it simply says: ‘I have given up on wearing real clothes’.”

Fab Links from Our Members

Crutcher is blown away with Dixie of Inside Outer Style’s unique style and the fact that she wears hats so well.

Grammy-Award winning Chrisette Michele has launched a clothing line for “girls with curves”. Robin thinks it’s exciting to see more women of colour in the fashion industry, and, of course, to have clothes for a wide variety of bodies.

Brilliant ‘80s band Duran Duran goes down as the most stylish band of all time in Angie’s book. She LOVES the way they dress. Now the gents are 55 years young and looking better than ever promoting their new album. Go Team White Jeans.

If you love menswear and Italian accents as much as Skylurker, then this article and video on Pitti Uomo are for you.

This story about a plus-size Old Navy Shopper turning a fat shaming incident into a positive experience has been trending on Facebook. Daria has mixed feelings about it, and wonders what you think.

Autumn’s post about the Women’s World Soccer Cup really resonated with Lavinia, because this is exactly what she has been feeling as well.

L’Abeille found a roundup of comfortable and stylish flats, and because some are menswear-inspired she wanted to share some inspirational menswear looks as well.

“Shopping has to be fun,” Boscov said. “It’s not that you need anything. Shopping is entertainment and should be fun, and we have to remember that.” Vildy loved this quote from the chain store’s CEO Jim Boscov, and adds that she recently visited one of their department stores and thought it was delightful.