A poncho is an unstructured and loose outer garment that draws its inspiration from the authentic South American poncho. It’s usually made of a knit or a woven wool, and was originally designed to keep you warm. 

Ponchos were fashionable about ten years ago, but those looked different to the ones that are trending now. Those ponchos were often plaid, had fringe, sometimes a hood, and resembled some sort of blanket. Current ponchos tend to look more like knitwear or capes and are available in lots of variations. Neutrals or colours. Short or long sleeves. High or low necklines. Long or cropped lengths. Functional or faux sleeves. Fine gauge or chunky knits. Patterns or solids. Light or heavyweights. They usually showcase a high-low and/or asymmetrical hemline, and are oversized in the extreme, which creates excessive fabric drape.

My clients run the gamut when it comes to wearing ponchos because the look has its pros and cons.

Pros

• Dramatic: The excessive drape, asymmetrical hemline and volume creates a theatrical effect. You’ll probably like the look if you have an arty eclectic or avant-garde streak to your style. 
• Forgiving: It covers the body with loose, unstructured layers that do not cling. 
• Easy: It’s a throw-on-and-go piece that creates an interesting effect with a simple pair of bottoms. 
• Comfortable: Its unstructured design and soft fabrication makes for a cozy piece. 
• Practical: It’s an excellent topper for mild Winter weather. Leave off the coat, and wear a poncho with slim fit jeans or trousers and boots. 

Cons

• Unflattering: The sack-like silhouette and voluminous nature looks unflattering to those who prefer wearing structured pieces.
• Uncomfortable: Ponchos can be drafty and “lots of fabric”, which can cause discomfort. Some prefer the comfort and warmth of closely fitting pieces. 
• Too Bohemian: Too casual, frivolous and dramatic.
• Impractical: It’s hard to layer a jacket or coat over a poncho, which makes it hard to wear outdoors unless the temperature is just right. 

Petites can wear ponchos when they aren’t too long or overly voluminous, so don’t think that you have to be tall to pull off the silhouette. Furthermore, a solid colour, tailored sleeves, or shorter sleeves do wonders to streamline the unstructured style on a smaller and/or shorter height. 

Although I love unstructured pieces, the drapey and swingy integrity of the poncho is too arty, whimsical, boho, and avant-garde for my personal style preferences. That said, I like the pink style below because it’s more streamlined on the hips. I like the look on others, and encourage my casually eclectic, artistic, and bohemian clients to give the poncho a go.

Over to you. What’s your take on the modern poncho?

“Whiteout” means wearing shades of white from head to toe, or almost head to toe. The idea is that white comes in many shades, and that you wear some of them together in one outfit. Shades of white include bright optical white, a softer off-white, warm rich cream, a cool grey bone or stone (like an extremely light grey), or very light tan. 

First, a few tips about putting the look together:

• I’ve found that keeping the whites of two of the items in an outfit a close colour match creates outfit cohesion, and goes a long way to making the look feel pulled together. I like to match the white of my boots with the white of my jeans, belt or bag. Or I wear the same colour cream both on the top and bottom, while wearing a different shade of white footwear and topper. 

• Don’t feel the need to wear white, bone, tan or cream footwear with the outfit. By all means bookend the colour of your hair with black, grey, taupe, cognac or brown footwear. Or sport metallic footwear. 

• Whiteout can be interpreted in both casual and dressy ways. The casual ensemble on the left is with jeans, while the dressier version on the right is with crepe trousers. 

This is not meant to be a practical look. But it’s awfully pretty, and a refreshing way to wear light neutrals. It’s like wearing brights without the colour. 

Here are the components of the ensemble:

White Bottoms: Wear white, cream or stone jeans or trousers. By all means wear a skirt if that’s more to your liking. 

White Tops: Layer two tops in different shades of white, or stick to one white top. Wear a white button-down shirt or soft blouse under a pullover, or wear either the blouse or the pullover. I’ve chosen pullovers here because warm knitwear is trending, but feel free to choose cardigans or fine gauge knitwear instead. I’ve found that white knitwear looks best fluid or oversized because it adds depth to the colour. If you tuck, faux tuck or semi-tuck your top, then add a white or light snakeskin belt. 

Footwear: Finish off the outfit with footwear in a shade of white, or in a neutral that bookends the colour of your hair, or in a metallic. Patterned footwear like light-coloured snake skin is another option, or even cheetah and leopard. Choose tall boots, mid-calf boots, booties, pumps, oxfords or loafers. Wear nude hose for warmth when socks are not an option. 

Topper: Add a blazer, leather jacket, wool coat or trench coat in a shade of white. If you don’t have a topper in a shade of white, go with black, grey, taupe, brown or ink blue. Or throw on a topper in blush pink or other very soft shade of pastel. Leave off the topper in mild Winter weather. 

Accessories: A bag in a shade of white is a gorgeous complement, as is a shade of silver, pewter or gold. Repeating the colour of non-white footwear also works, like wearing a cognac bag with cognac booties. Or black bag with black booties. Add a scarf in the same tonal white palette if you’re after extra outfit texture and detail. Finish off with jewellery and eyewear as desired. 

Check out my White on White pinboard for extra inspiration.  

This ensemble pulls at my heartstrings because I love all shades of white. To my eye, wearing them together makes a luxurious, crisp statement. I’ve been wearing the formula even more regularly this Autumn and Winter and enjoying it tremendously. I feel somewhat angelic and rebellious at the same time. Rebellious, because I’m normally the only person on rainy Seattle streets wearing all white at this time of year. Personally I don’t find it all that impractical, but I am extra careful on the days I wear it.

Fab Links from Our Members

Dianthus enjoys browsing framework, an online magazine with interesting articles on both fashion and decorating.

At the start of the new year Bridgette Raes’ post on considering fashion and style as it relates to your goals really resonated with Aquamarine.

Pil found this excerpt from a Wall Street Journal article about online retailers and the cost of returns very interesting.

Angie thought it was fun to flashback to 2003 trends and compare them to what happened ten years later. 

For the thrifters among us, Joy wants to share this NYT article about the prevalence of high-low style in 2013.

Vildy likes to think about the meaning behind clothing and the Clothes on Film website contains lots of links to articles about and interviews with costume designers.

Adelfa found this article about why women have so many clothes and how it’s so easy to get it wrong a fascinating read.

Today is as good a day as any to think about your style goals. An in depth analysis is a worthwhile exercise if you’re stuck on where to start or what to do next. On the other hand, if you have a good handle on your current style and like the direction you have chosen, a more intuitive, incremental approach will be just fine. Either way, your style goals should always be flexible. 

The goals can capture ANY part of your style journey. From shopping, editing, outfit creation, budget and closet goals, to a new grooming and skincare routine. It might be about where you shop, when you shop, or which colours, silhouettes and patterns to wear more frequently than others. Specific goals I’ve seen include:

• Keeping your closet tidy.
• Taking daily photos of your outfits.
• Repeating outfits more frequently.
• Repeating outfits less frequently.
• Wearing belts more often.
• Going grey.
• Adding blue streaks to your hair.
• Planning your outfits ahead of time to relieve work week stress.

Absolutely anything that you want to achieve as it relates to your personal style can go on your list. The list can be long or short. It can be quite general, or very specific. You can write down your goals, or keep them in your head. 

I’ll start the ball rolling by sharing a list of my own style goals for 2014, some of which are continued from last year:

1. To wear Simple outfits that are Modern, Bold, Clean and Dressy. I’ve highlighted these words because they’re the set of adjectives I’ve chosen to define my style. Interestingly, they are the same adjectives I used back in 2011. They still feel right so there is no need to change them.
2. To continue adding a soft and refined element to my style while I marry my favourite style personas, Modern Classic, Punk, Trendy Fashionista and Androgynous, into a cohesive style that is age appropriate and attractive. 
3. To update my specs because they are my most important accessory. 
4. To NOT over purchase in Spring because that’s my shopping weakness. 
5. To NOT purchase items with too much design detail because I tire of the aesthetic.
6. To NOT purchase too many black and grey wardrobe items. 
7. To NOT purchase any more body hugging pieces. As far as possible, tailored is as tight as I want to go this year, although I will continue to wear the tight pieces in my wardrobe that tickle my fancy. 
8. To add more ink blue to my wardrobe.  
9. To continue purchasing warm knitwear while it’s trending because it’s extremely practical for my lifestyle and climate. And because I love knitwear. 
10. To continue mixing high-end and low-end pieces in one outfit. 
11. To continue exploring the world of trousers and looser fit jeans because they’re better suited to my climate than skirts and dresses when you run as cold as I do. 
12. To make my own style journey and those of my clients a fun and rewarding experience. After all, the main reason I’m giving this any thought at all is because it’s a fun hobby, as well as my profession. 

I’ll refer back to these goals during the year as I add to my wardrobe and create outfits, thereby staying focused and evolving in the right direction. As always, I look forward to the new year, and the adventures that lie before us. Each challenge is an opportunity to find a solution, so onward we go. 

Over to you. Have you thought about your current style goals? If so, feel free to share them in the comments section because I’d love to hear them.