I touched on metal mixing in my recent summary post about accessories. The guidelines I mentioned are seven years old, and although most of them still hold true for my own style, fashion has moved to the extent that it’s perfectly stylish to mix up any metal in any way in any outfit. For example, you needn’t match the hardware of your shoes and bag with each other, or with your jewelry. Your jewelry pieces needn’t metal match either. Nor the zippers and studs of your jacket and belt with your earrings or necklace. Or your belt buckle belt with your arm candy. Or your metallic shoes with the rest of the metals in your outfit. 

Although sporting a “melting pot of metals” in one outfit is now considered 100% stylish, you are of course entitled to your own metal mixing preferences. I certainly have mine, and I’d love to hear yours. I’ll go first. 

I’ve come a long way with my metal mixing recipe and preferences. In the mid ’90s and up until five years ago, I refused to mix my metals AT ALL, and only wore silver or platinum. I wouldn’t purchase anything with gold hardware, let alone mix metals in an outfit. Then in my late thirties, I started wearing my late Mum’s gold wedding ring on my non-watch hand as my way back into the world of gold. As crazy as it sounds, when I turned 40, I switched to Team Gold overnight. It was as if I needed to come of age all over again. Three years down the line and I actually prefer gold to silver against my skin tone. 

Today, I wear both gold and silver wedding rings and watches. I happily sport gold and silver hardware on belts, footwear, bags and jackets. I wear both gold and silver shoes. I very, very occasionally wear necklaces but when I do I will sport both metals there too.

As for mixing metals in one outfit, I’m happy to mix it up but still have my boundaries. For example, my watch and wedding ring that I wear on the same hand MUST be the same metal. No compromises. If I wear fine jewelry, I like the metals to match each other and my watch and wedding ring. But I will sport a moto jacket with silver hardware and wear a gold watch and wedding ring. I’ll also wear a silver watch and wedding ring with a gold belt buckle. And I’ll wear silver shoes with a gold belt, throwing in any metal with the watch, ring and bag. 

Lastly, to this day, I have never owned an item made of mixed metals. Whenever I pop on a mixed metal piece, like a watch, ring, belt, bag or shoe, I take it off favouring the single metal version. It makes little sense since I mix metals in an outfit, but there you have it. We all have our style idiosyncrasies. 

Over to you. What is your metal mixing recipe, and has it changed over the years?

White footwear and bags are one way to make your outfits feel more Spring and Summer appropriate. And while emerald was voted the colour of the season by Pantone, I vote white all the way. Remember that white comes in several shades so choose your white. White shoes can be bookended in an outfit with white belts, blonde hair, white tops and toppers, or a white bag. 

Here’s a selection of white shoes and bags, many of which have happily transitioned my clients into Spring. 

1. Kate Spade Little Ribbon Samira Clutch: This item isn’t completely white, but quirky and sweet all the same.
2. Kate Spade Charlotte Street Small Sloan Satchel: A beautifully made modern classic satchel with a high longevity factor. Look after it, and it will look after you. 
3. Vince Camuto Bolts Tote: A super bag that carries a laptop. Fab for work and travel. 
4. Pour La Victoire Nouveau Clutch: Wear it as a chain handle bag or as a clutch. Pretty and architectural. 
5. Munro Kimi Loafer: This Gucci lookalike is more comfortable than the quintessential Italian version. Runs narrow so you might need to purchase a wide size. Stunning with white jeans and shorts. 
6. Converse Chuck Taylor All Star Hi-Ness Sneaker: I have these and the brand needs little introduction. Pop in an insole for extra cushioning comfort. 
7. Tildon Lindy Wedge: If you can handle the heel height, go for it. Modern and fabulous on a foot that can fill out the sandal. 
8. Report Meliza Sandal: A great little caged baby wedge that’s quite versatile. 
9. Dolce Vita Orina Oxford: Fun ’80s flashback! These oxfords run quite wide and are pretty casual as well as comfy. Nice tiny heel height too.
10. Michael Kors Ava Sandal: A very trendy sandal that once again looks best on feet that can fill out the silhouette. Not good on low volume feet with long toes. 
11. Prada Tassel Loafer: Let’s just say I fainted when I saw this darling. So, so beautiful and runs big. 
12. Vince Camuto Minter Sandal: And a repeat style from last year. This sandal continues to be a winner amongst my clients because it looks as good with skirts and dresses, as it does with tapered trousers and jeans. It’s quite comfortable and refined on the foot. 

Banish all negative connotations of white footwear and at least try them on in stores if you have your doubts. Or take baby steps by sporting a white bag instead. Perhaps next season you’ll work your way to adding white footwear to your style.

Fashion is often cyclical and at some point in our style journey we will start to say things like “I had a top just like that 25 years ago!”. Or, “those trousers are very similar to what I wore back in the ’90s”. Or, “that outfit makes me think of my style in the ’70s”. 

Some people, even some style gurus, say that if you wore a trend the first time round you shouldn’t wear it again when it comes back into fashion. 

I don’t understand this thinking. Why on earth would you not wear something again several years later if you still love the trend?

If you loved a trend way back when, if you like the new interpretation of the trend, and if you feel that it fits your style persona and body type, you certainly have my blessing. Why not? Obviously, if the repeated trend no longer maps back to your style persona or works with your body type, by all means pass on the trend. No one expects you to wear a trend that gives you bad flashbacks. But bring on the good flashbacks! 

As a somewhat nostalgic dresser, I find myself deliberately purchasing trends that I loved to wear back in the day. Just recently, I purchased a roomy white silky pullover in a thick loose gauge knit because it brought back the best memories of 1987. Only this time round I left off the shoulder pads. I purchased a citron blouse with shoulder pads three years ago because I loved wearing shoulder pads in the ’80s. I purchased a plaid shirt last year because I adored wearing them in the early ’90s. I’m all over flat oxfords, pointy toes, and white footwear because I’m an ’80s gal at heart, and that means wearing brights like neon and shocking pink too. 

These are just a few examples, but my wardrobe is full of them. I wear the same trends decades apart in new ways because it’s important to add a current element to your style. But you can bet your bottom dollar that I’ll be wearing trends I loved the second time round. I hope to wear them the third time round too. 

How do you feel about wearing trends the second time round? Yes, no or maybe?

I have been wearing my skirts and dresses more frequently this year, and was going to show you one of those outfits next. But Greg was not on board with this. He wanted to rather do one of the outfits I wore last week, which is one of his favourites and, he says, epitomizes my Spring style. Light, lots of white, modern, simple, relaxed and cozy. 

I am now, more than ever, besotted with white jeans. I have three pairs and wear them at least twice a week, which includes wearing them back in Winter. Most of my Spring and Summer tops and toppers look better with white jeans. More modern, fresh, clean and somehow prettier. And very bright, which is what attracts me to white items in the first place.

My absolutely favourite trend of the year is wearing white on white, which means wearing white or shades of white together in an outfit. I’ve always worn lots of white, but have amped things up in 2013. I love how shades of white look both sterile and soft, and both cool and warm. Shades of white are seasonless and make me feel feminine when I wear them. In my style world, white jeans, and shirts for that matter, possess magical powers and I’m completely under their spell.

None of the items in this outfit are new apart from the patterned pullover which I bought with a store credit at Club Monaco back in January. It’s been frequently worn over the last few months because it’s light in colour, warm, and with a slightly relaxed fit. Wearing relaxed fits, either a little roomy or very roomy, are one of THE most important ways to update your style. And I’m all for it. 

I still pattern mix my outfits, but not nearly as strongly as I did last year. I’m into creating a lower contrast between the patterned items in my outfit at the moment, just to change things up. Belts and footwear are still my favourite ways to pattern mix outfits, so I added a black and bone polka dot belt to the optic white jeans and off-white patterned pullover. It’s faux tucked above the belt because of the welt on the pullover — a look I like more for my style than the semi tuck. I added another pattern by wearing snakeskin booties. Although this outfit includes a bit of black and neon, it’s essentially white from head to toe.

Greg’s favourite part is the way the cream in the booties picks up the cream leather jacket and bookends the ensemble. This jacket is a five year old wardrobe workhorse, which I hope to have for at least another five years. Retro black specs, gold watch, wedding ring and citron daytime clutch finish off the look. I thought about wearing my white clutch to make the outfit even more white. But I can’t resist a little blinding neon on a grey Seattle day because it cheers me up. And that’s that. 

Wearing a virtually all white outfit while I’m on the go in the pouring rain makes me smile. Impractical for some, but feels so right for me. And as long as I don’t spill my tea, I don’t get that dirty. So this is precisely what I wore last Friday while out shopping downtown with a client on a typical wet Seattle Spring day. We were in and out of shops on the street, not a shopping mall, from 10 till 6 with umbrella in hand. We walked at a fast and purposeful pace and had a productive and fabulous time. My client got the white jeans bug that day and came home with two pairs! Go Team White Jeans.