You are on Team Necklace if you prefer wearing necklaces to bracelets, and vice versa. Any necklace or bracelet counts. Real, costume, chunky, refined, dainty, avant-garde, classic, arty, metal, quirky, serious, plastic, resin, beaded, or gem-stoned. Take your pick. 

I wear a pearl necklace, and a gold initial “A” necklace every day. I wear pearl bracelets with my watch and pearl ring every day. They are the same fine jewellery pieces, and constants in my style. They feel unobtrusive and completely integrated into my look. So much so, that I can’t feel that I’m wearing the jewellery pieces. So I’m benched and can’t pick a side.

Over to you. Do you bat for Team Necklace or Team Bracelet? Tell us why and no batting for both teams. If you can’t pick a side, or wear neither, come join me on the bench. I’m serving Indonesian spicy salmon, brown rice and quinoa, blistered broccoli, pickled cucumber, and gluten-free white chocolate cookies for desert.

I’m happy with my style and my wardrobe is in stellar shape. It serves my needs, makes me smile, and sparks joy each time I put on an outfit. My wardrobe needs little intervention and addition at this point, so the plan is to generally leave it alone, and enjoy the heck out of my stuff. 

I’m down to one shopping mistake, and that’s with shoes. With my hard-to-please feet and walking lifestyle, delayed wardrobe disasters are inevitable. No matter how hard I try to make sure that a new pair of shoes will go the distance, they can sometimes malfunction after I’ve committed to them. It is what it is.

My biggest style surprise in 2023 was how much I’m enjoying my natural hair colour. I haven’t had it chemically treated for two years, and am not looking back. I’ve found my darker honey hair more versatile, since I can wear tans, toffees and whiskeys well too.

Thankfully, many of my style and wardrobe decisions, strategies, and processes have become intuitive and are on autopilot. They are internalized habits, and I don’t need to list them as style goals. I trust my instincts, and when I’m unsure, ask hubs Greg what he thinks of a look, style or colour.

To recap, my style descriptor is Urban Polish. I live in the city, walk almost everywhere in all sorts of weather with doggies in tow, wear smart casual and dressy clothes daily, and extremely comfortable shoes that go the distance. I am very neat, tidy, and organized by nature, so it’s important that my outward appearance exudes a high dose of polish.

I will continue to wear outfits that are Modern, Crisp, Retro, Playful and Dressy.

Modern, because I enjoy injecting a few hot-off-the-press trends into my seasonal look. That’s part of why fashion is fun, keeps things fresh, and it works well with my line of work.

Crisp, because I love wearing shades of white and clear brights, and have a strong need to create a fresh, professional and tidy appearance.

Retro, because of my fondness for fashion from the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s, but remixing retro sensibilities with a good dose of current.

Playful, because it’s become important to me to wear outfits that are or have soft, amusing, sentimental, nostalgic and fun elements. This also reminds me to not take fashion and style too seriously, and to do my own thing.

Dressy, because super casual does not make me happy.

My style goals are short and sweet:

General Goals

• To carry on doing what I’m doing.
• To grow my hair to shoulder length.

Specific Goals

None of these are urgent. If they happen, that’s fab. If they don’t, that’s fine too.

• Add wardrobe items in bright sour green, because the colour is finally available at retail and is one of my favourites.
• Replace two pairs of white jeans.
• Embellish my high Summer capsule, because Seattle Summers are hotter than they used to be. Notably, sleeved cotton midi dresses, and patterned cotton co-ords.

Please share your style goals in the comments section. I’m sure they will be interesting and inspirational to others, and I look forward to hearing them.

Forest green is not an abundant colour at retail. Until forest green gets its on-trend fashion moment, it easier to find wardrobe items in dark olive. That said, forest green is popular with my clients, who tend to pounce and stock up when they see the right items in the colour. 

Here’s some forest green outfit inspiration for colder weather. Of course, layer under and over the outfits as needed. Thermal undies, hosiery, socks, jackets, coats, scarves, headgear, and gloves can be dead right insulating additions.

1. Corduroy Dress

A forest green corduroy shirt dress is combined with tall black boots and a bag to match. The sleeves are scrunched to showcase forearm skin which creates outfit structure. Chunky earrings and bangle are the finishing touches of choice. Easy! A coat, scarf and hosiery will add warmth for outside. Personally, I’d add thermal underwear too.

2. Fair Isle Sweater, Blue, Earth Tones

A forest green Fair Isle pullover is combined with a navy pair of pants and white sneakers. The white embroidery on the pants and in the pattern of the pullover matches the white sneakers. A mustard bag matches the mustard in the Fair Isle. Blue jeans are an effective substitute for the embroidered pants.

3. Voluminous Forest Green

Wearing voluminous outerwear over voluminous pants is on-trend, and here is one way to sport the look. A Winter white zip-top sweatshirt is worn over dressy wide leg taupe-grey trousers. The trousers are at a long full length, which skim the surface of the ground and create a front break line. Off-white sneakers match the top. A roomy forest green coat tops the lot. Feel free to wear a more fitted coat, or slimmer bottoms to offset some of the volume of these proportions.

4. Forest Green, Black, Grey, White

Last, think of any way to combine forest green with black, grey, and white. Here, the green is more dark emerald than forest, but you get the idea. A grey knife-pleated skirt with black waist buckle detailing is combined with a very fluid green cabled pullover. It’s semi-tucked to showcase the belt detailing of the skirt. A black bag matches the black of the belt. Dressy white refined loafers mismatch, yet make the look to my eye. They are a gorgeous modern and crisp addition, although you might prefer the look with black footwear.

I don’t bat for Team Forest Green since I prefer a bright and acidic lime and Kelly green. How about you?

Gap’s High-Rise Stride Wide-Leg Jeans have been an unexpected success for me, a dear friend, and some of my clients. Despite their description, they aren’t too high rise, and fit neatly on the waist anywhere on the spectrum from a straight to curvier fit. Pass if you prefer a wider width waist. They glide very fluidly over the legs without overwhelming the wearer.

They come in full lengths and ankle lengths, across petite, tall, and regular sizing, across a few washes, and black too. They hold their shape after laundry and do not bag out at all. Super comfy, on-trend, fab quality, versatile, and flattering. They are thicker than Summer-weight jeans, with 1% stretch.

Our friend who visited for Christmas got them in a light wash, and I got them with the slanted tuxedo stripe side seam insets. We wore them a lot over the holidays and felt fab. We are a similar height — around 5ft 6 — making them full length on us in a regular length when wearing low-heeled boots or chunky sneakers. Mine have a raw and distressed unfinished hem, while my friend’s version has a neatly sewn jeans hem. Bonus, we got them at a discounted price.

I haven’t worn Gap jeans in many years. I’m reminded to leave no retail stone unturned. If something looks potentially fabulous in a store where you haven’t shopped for ages, try it. You might be pleasantly surprised.