How to Get Out of a Winter Style Rut

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Every year, this happens like clockwork. The holiday’s end, there’s no reason for me to rock sequins on a regular basis, and stores start carrying resort wear that I can’t wear in the dead of a Northeast winter. Every year I fall into a bit of a winter style rut, and I end up rocking a uniform. Everyone has a different winter uniform, but for me, it always ends up being an oversized sweater, jeans, and boots. Yawn.

Admittedly, whenever I look through my winter style archives on the blog, all of my outfits are a little lackluster. Going to NYFW last year during the dead of winter was a fantastic experience because it gave me much needed inspiration to up my winter style game (exhibit A and exhibit B). This year, I’m hoping to do a better job at thinking outside of the box even when it’s downright frigid out, and keeping my wardrobe fresh: and here’s how I plan on doing it!

Winter Style: Unexpected Layers Are Your Best Best

The remarkable thing about winter style? You can layer your little heart out! From vests to jackets to cardigans, you can pile on all the clothes and look incredibly chic while doing it. This dress is super versatile because you can either wear it like a maxi as I did, or you can unbutton it entirely and wear it as a duster over a tank and jeans. I also am a huge fan of tights, and I’m trying to play around with new colors this season. I typically gravitate to either black sheer or black opaque tights during the winter, which is a little boring, to be honest. I was sent this grey pair of Hanes Perfect Tights during a campaign I did last fall, and I love mixing grey and navy tights into my winter wardrobe to mix things up a bit.

Winter Style: Play Around with Different Color Palettes

I think everyone has a few neutral colors that they gravitate toward in the winter. I did an audit of my closet, and I have eight grey sweaters. Cardigans, cropped sweaters, etc. While they’re all different styles, I knew going into this winter that I did not need to buy a single new grey sweater. For any reason. At all. 

I also frequently wear black shoes and accessories during the winter, which I’m trying to switch up. I found these Stuart Weitzman shoes on sale last year, and I love a good chocolate brown shoe. I also picked up a plum pair of booties during the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale last fall that I can’t wait to put in rotation!

Winter Style: Shop Your Own Closet

I am a huge, huge fan of Pinterest (p.s. — I pin pretty actively too!) I like pinning outfits on Pinterest and seeing if I can recreate a look with pieces I already own. Winter can be an expensive season to shop for: you need layers, coats, heavy boots, etc. Also, not to mention: there’s a limited amount of winter stock in stores at the moment since the holidays are over. I own a lot of clothes already yet tend to gravitate toward the same pieces when I’m stuck in a rut, so I like to turn to Pinterest to get a bit of inspiration on how to style a piece in a completely different way.

Dress: byTimo | Tights: ℅ Hanes | Boots: Stuart Weitzman | Bag: Tory Burch | Earrings: ℅ Kendra Scott | Lip: MAC ‘Rebel’

Photos by Tom McGovern