My High-Street Autumn Shopping Edit

AUTUMN IS HERE! It’s the best season of the year for many reasons; the ability to go to sleep without having a ding dong with your other half about whether to sleep with the fan on or off and the subsequent sweaty night of duvet tussling that follows it, the fact that you can have soup for lunch and it doesn’t feel like hell, the Underground is a semi-reasonable temperature instead of feeling like you are mere inches away from the sun’s surface and *cough* it’s my birthday/Virgo season *cough*. As I tell you EVERY. DARN. YEAR. It’s my favourite capsule wardrobe period; a time to embrace jackets and coats and boots and knits and all those chunkier clothing pieces, but without the need to wear thermals underneath and feel like your fingers might drop off. It’s lush. So today I thought I’d share my high-street shopping autumn essentials. A guide for what to remember to dig out of the depths of your capsule, make a purchase if you’re lacking and lusting, or a shopping list for your next second hand treasure hunting trip. Here are the four things that I’m inappropriately excited to wear…

A CAMEL COAT

Ok let me tell you a funny story. A few weeks ago at a girl’s night in where my friend told a story that was akin to the ‘David’s dead Big Brother debacle‘ that left my other pal momentarily unable to breathe and had me belly-laughing possibly the hardest I have all year, we spent the journey home discussing a much more important matter – coats. “I’ve seen this coat on *Mango that I love”, my mate enthused. “It’s a camel coat with a tie-waist and it’s perfection”. “What – *this one?”, I replied. “Yes!”, she shouted. Out of all the coats available, we’d selected the *same one* as the coat of the season. I have one from *Whistles that’s around two or three years old now so I won’t be making a purchase, but if we have similar style tastes and you don’t have one then I can highly recommend. They help to make an outfit look a little more polished and one that has a tie-waist allows you some flexibility with styling; wear open with a chunky knit underneath, or wear it bundled around you with plenty of layers underneath when it gets colder. Like a more versatile trench coat, right?

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A CREW-NECK JUMPER

My most worn item of clothing from October time till around May by a country mile, a crew jumper jumper is a non-negotiable in my capsule wardrobe and has been for yonks. Roll-necks are great, turtlenecks even better for their layering potential, but a classic crew neck cut is better for transitional months when you don’t fancy completely boiling whenever you come inside. Warmth without feeling like you need to strip, you know? It’s a great piece to pop on under a light jacket too for in-between days of weather. My personal preference is cashmere because it’s so soft and so toasty, and word on the street is that the *M&S Pure Cashmere Round Neck Jumpers are the best high-street buy; just £79 and available in a shedload of shades. Although there’s something about the fit of this *Mango 100% Cashmere Sweater that just looks dreamy (and the styling online – OMGERD). If you fancy a twist on a wardrobe basic, that’s also a neutral pattern so still within the limits of my personal comfort zone, then this *ASOS WHITE Jacquard Crew Neck Jumper might be right up your street.

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A STATEMENT BOOT

Off course a classic black boot is going to be an essential for a lot of us, but if you’ve already got that category down, then a statement boot might be the right addition to your wardrobe in order to give it some jazziness potential. Aside from an all-black head-to-toe outfit, an all-black head-to-bottom half outfit with a pair of fabulous boots that wouldn’t look out of place on Noel Fielding is my favourite autumn ensemble. Think muted shades of green, orange or yellow, patent leather, leopard print, zebra print, mock croc, snakeskin-effect – I love ’em all. I have a pair of *Ganni Boots that I picked up as part of my spring capsule wardrobe earlier this year and NOW IS THEIR TIME TO SHINE. In fact these *& Other Stories Croc Lather Cowboy Boots are a brilliant dupe if you’re in the market. I have to say though that I love the look of these *ARKET Square-Toe Leather Boots in Mint Green; a classic shape in an unusual colour, but one that’s neutral enough to still work with the contents of your wardrobe. The others that I love are the *& Other Stories Snake Cowboy Ankle Boots which are almost a carbon copy of the *Topshop pair that I wore for the whole of A/W last year. They are wild, but I love ’em.

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AN OVERSIZED SHIRT

Ahhhhh the year-round staple that I will no doubt include in every single one of these round-ups. I wouldn’t say that you ever *need* anything, but if you don’t currently own an oversized shirt, then it’s definitely something to think about, seriously. Wear them with just jeans and sandals in the spring, as a beach cover-up in the summer, as a light jacket in the autumn and then under a jumper during the winter. Your cost per wear can literally get down to the pennies price bracket within a matter of months. I have the *& Other Stories Oversized White Shirt (gifted), that has been pretty much all I’ve worn for the past 18 months, but the *ARKET Oversized Poplin Shirt in Black has been an autumn 2019 capsule wardrobe purchase because I just wore the white one SO much, I felt that having black was perhaps a bit more seasonally appropriate. In fact *& Other Stories pretty much rule the roost here because they do an oversized shirt so darn well. Another of my favourite picks? Their *Oversized Wool Blend Workwear Shirt which is part shirt, part jacket and such a good autumn staple. Chic and with an unrivalled ability to conceal a food baby? I’m SOLD.

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Photos by Mark Newton