London’s Calling!

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I will be spending the next few months in London, and obviously, the first thing on my mind (other than staging an impromptu rendezvous with Prince Harry) is the fashion, and how I will adapt my wardrobe to fit in with the Londoners.

Having arrived a little short of two weeks ago, I have already noticed some main points of interest among the Londoners and their sense of style, which, by the way, is continuously impeccable.

First off, there are an amazing amount of women who don their tights on a daily basis. Although tights are popular in their own right in the U.S. I have never witnessed so many women wearing tights in so many different ways. It seems that the outfit of choice becomes complete when the addition of tights is made. Shorts, skirts, dresses, and even oversize sweaters are all tights-appropriate outfits.

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Next, I have become obsessed with tweed jackets and their underrated versatility. Before my arrival to the U.K., I always imagined tweed jackets as a piece made timeless by Coco Chanel, and something I planned to adopt into my wardrobe when I was older, wiser, and with a paying job to help me afford a Chanel jacket.

Chanel, via dailymail

But boy has my mind been changed!

Women in London rock their tweed not only to the office, but I have observed many using it to lighten up a rather tough ensemble. The most jarring of which was a women I saw whose outfit was almost entirely some form of leather, but with a light pink tweed jacket on top. I was stunned to see not only a juxtaposition of lighthearted girly-ness of the jacket with the toughness of the leather, but also the vast difference in the weights of both fabrics. It seemed effortless and made me crave a jacket of my own (which I am now on the hunt for, stay tuned!)

 Of course I have observed much more than this due to my love of people-watching, but I will not bore you with those details because this post is already longer than I intended, but I will be posting a bunch more about London because I just can’t get enough!

Cheers!

Layering

Not that I'm complaining....BUT this New England weather is seriously messing with my wardrobe choices! For example, this past Saturday I opted for a long-sleeve dress under a legitimate parka to a formal due to the 11 hours of straight snow status. Using this mindset, when getting ready for class today, I chose red jeans, heavy wool socks, leather boots, undershirts (plural) under a long sleeve chiffon shirt, all covered by my anorak jacket and thick circle scarf. HOWEVER, mother nature must have been having a hot flash because within moments of stepping outside, both the anorak and circle scarf were immediately  unnecessary, and the thick socks became a regret.
How is a girl supposed to deal with the schizophrenic "winter" we're having up here? I have devised a fool-proof guide to layering in a changing climate. (Thanks polyvore!)
1. The key is to choose light layers. Heavy layers not only add unnecessary bulk, they also don't give room for average temperature days, they leave room for either snow or the beach.

Made at polyvore.com by me

Here, I layered with extremely light fabrics, easy to remove and shove into your bag if need be. Starting with a light cotton tank, pair with a chiffon printed blouse, and finally with a draped cotton-blend blazer. I like to somewhat match my scarf to my top so there is a light brown scarf that could be warn close to the face (as pictured) or more draped if unwound. On the bottom, I chose leggings and some heavy-duty boots. This could obviously be paired with a heavier jacket for those really cold days, but on days like today you could get away with pretty much just what is pictured.

2. Tights! One great tip is to use tights, especially printed ones! 

Made at polyvore.com by me

Tights are typically pretty thin and airy, and can make you look covered in days when showing bare legs is not appropriate, yet don't suffocate you like jeans. Worn under skirts, dresses, or heavier-fabric shorts, tights are a great opportunity to not only showcase those gams, but also some personality with the print. 

3. Cardigans

Not the 90's band........

                   These!!

Made at polyvore.com by me

Cardigans are something that are instrumental in nice layering. They can be in a variety of fabrics, and easily layered with others. The ones above vary from heavy (wool, bottom left) to very light (cotton, upper right). Cardigans also look so cute when belted, so if you have a ton of layers on under the cardigan, throw on a skinny belt over the outer layer so you don't lose your waist!

Let's hope these tips come in handy over the next few weeks, and we keep lucking out on the snow status! (If I jinxed us...my bad)