The art of layering

Discover the styling trick that gives your wardrobe a fresh lease of life! As well as being environmentally friendly, layering clothes extends the life of your wardrobe without you having to spend a penny. And it looks pretty cool too! Here we show you how to layer clothes.

Athleisure and layering

Everyone’s got a hoody , and it’s one of the easiest items of clothing to layer with the added bonus that a touch of Athleisure gives a flush of youth to your look. But to make it stylish you need to take it out of your casual wardrobe and introduce it to your tailoring. Make sure your hoody is neat and not too oversized. Layer it under a tailored coat with a pair of smart cropped trousers and finish off with white trainers.

Seasonal layering

Extend the seasonal life of your wardrobe by employing an old trick stylists have been using for years. It’s all about the summer/winter mix and the layering of sleeves. For example, team your summer short-sleeved dress with a long-sleeved ribbed polo or layer a long-sleeved stripey tee under your summer-weight jumpsuit. Just ditch your sandals for heeled ankle boots for an instantly modern look that will see you through the colder months. It’s best to have at least one pattern going on and if you’re feeling adventurous, mix patterns like stripes and florals or checks with polka dots − just keep the colours in the same family and the prints in the same scale.

Layering with texture

One of the tricks to layering clothes is mixing different types of fabrics. Think soft with structured or silky with more technical fabrics such as sportswear. You need lots of light things to go under chunky things. Here I’ve started with a thin cream Thermolactyl turtleneck that goes under a silky shirt dress and the final layer is a chunky cardigan. Make sure you pull the sleeves of the dress out. Finish off by wrapping a navy leather belt around the cardi and team with some knee-high boots.

Layering for warmth

Extend the life of your puffer-style jacket or gilet by layering it under your winter coat. Not only will it give you an added layer of warmth but the combination of a technical fabric under a classic coat looks really modern. Puffer-style gilets also look good layered OVER a tailored blazer, but get the proportions right − keep the gilet a similar length to the jacket underneath.

Layering with accessories

Never underestimate the transformative powers of a great accessory. The make-or-break final layer to any outfit is in the detail, be it a brightly coloured bag layered over a simple sweater and jeans or a boldly printed scarf wrapped round a winter coat. Another nod to layering is the current trend for wearing lots of different sized gold chains round your neck or a collection of studs and hoops in your ear. Accessories add the final layer of colour, texture or print to your outfit and elevate it from ordinary to sublime.

Shop all these styles at damart.co.uk today!