Autumn/Winter is my favourite time of year to get dressed; the cosy textures, accessories, rich colour palettes and opportunities to layer and personalise outfits gets me excited every time.

As the new season collections now sit proudly in stores (and trickle into your inbox), it can be tempting to spend, spend, spend - it’s all so new and gorgeous, its no wonder we get caught up in the excitement and feel the need to buy it all.

As always, I’m hear to encourage to take a step back first and follow my ‘buy less, buy better’ mantra, which takes a little forethought but definitely pays off in the long run…

Defining Your Signature Style

If you haven’t discovered Pinterest yet, now is the time to open an account and start mood-boarding. I advise my clients to save images of any outfit/accessory/footwear they love the look of until they have around 30-50 images. It’s really important to do this instinctively - go with what you LOVE and forget about practicality/body shape/budget for now we want to see what themes emerge from the images you posted. Is there an obvious colour palette for you to work with? Is there a style of coat or jacket that appears frequently etc. etc. Make a note of the things you’re seeing that pop up in several images as this will be the starting point for your new season shopping list.

Assess Your Wardrobe

In the first instance take your mood board and see which outfits you can re-create with items you already own. You’ll be surprised when you do this at how much you already have that will fit with the overall vision in your mood board. Anything you don’t have that appears regularly needs to be noted down as this will form the start of your new season shopping list.

Personalise It

I’m all for taking inspiration from others, but it’s also important to make sure the looks you’re creating work for your body shape and colouring. For example, if you’ve pinned lots of images that showcase neutral outfits make sure the neutrals you fill your wardrobe with flatter your skin tone (for example, camel tones tend to work better on those of us who have warmth in our skin tone, if you have a cooler skin tone consider charcoal or greys instead).

Be Practical

I know this doesn’t sound very exciting but you have to consider your lifestyle and when/where you’re going to wear the different looks you’re creating. This doesn’t mean you need to throw out all the inspiration images we’ve just put together, but look at switching out footwear or outerwear to ensure that you can feel fabulous AND go about your day-to-day business in comfort as well as style. You can still re-create the overall looks you’re aspiring to, they may just need some tweaking.

Shop Your Wardrobe

Don’t pack away your Summer wardrobe just yet! Get your Autumn/Winter gear out and play dress-up. Experiment with layers under and over dresses and vests, add biker boots, leather jackets and cardigans to totally transform pieces and extend your wardrobe even further throughout the year.

And NOW it’s time to hit the shops!

The list of items you actually need is probably a lot less than you originally thought, which means your budget can be invested more wisely. Invest as much as you can afford in capsule pieces like coats, footwear and bags as these items will get the most wear and will also stand the test of time.

If you’re incorporating some seasonal trends into your wardrobe I would still opt for good quality, but spend a little less in this area as they may not have as much longevity.

And as always, remember my golden rule of being able to style every item in three different ways - this is a total game changer and will really help you create a hard working wardrobe of pieces that mix and match beautifully.

I hope this advice allows you to build a beautiful Autumn wardrobe of pieces you adore and will get lots of wear out of. For me, approaching shopping in this way is so much more satisfying than a mindless spending spree - let me know how you get on!

Until next time,

Anna xo

Anna Mewes - Personal Stylist was established in 2012 and has helped thousands of women with their personal style ever since. With a strong focus on using style as a form of self care Anna uses her expertise in colour and body shape to help her clients build a wardrobe of clothes that ensure they look fabulous for day-to-day life. A wife, mum of two and now with a new puppy in-tow, Anna caters for women with busy lives who want to feel their best whatever the occasion.

Alongside her successful career as a stylist, Anna is also a Fashion & Lifestyle writer with a Journalism diploma from London College of Style. Anna publishes articles weekly for her own blog as well as regularly contributing to fashion and lifestyle publications both in-print and online.

Visit Anna’s website here, read her blog here or follow her on social media here.

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