This moment of the year always feels like a key change in the song of life. The nights fall hard and fast now the clocks have changed. For a brief few days, the leaves underfoot are thick as shag carpet. The world is aglow with deep autumnal oranges and reds: pumpkins, then fireworks, then poppies. The mood music is shifting, the energy rising, as the year builds to a crescendo.
What this means on a practical level is that it is time to get the winter store cupboards prepped – not just with food, but with all the essentials needed to get through the colder months.
So, here’s a few things on my radar this month. Two possibles if you are in the market for a new coat – one with an integral hoodie that could be an alternative to the scarf coats I wrote about in my column recently. The only slippers you will ever need. And perhaps a treat or two (I can never resist an excellent earring). I’m not for a moment suggesting you buy these things – you may not want anything. You might file away an idea for next year. Or something on my list might remind you about a treasure you can dig out of your own wardrobe. But here’s a starter for 10.
The perfect peacoat
Double-breasted peacoat, £159
johnlewis.com
I cannot do justice to how excellent this coat is, and the photo doesn’t either, but please take my word for it when I say it looks and feels delicious. Well-thought-out pockets and expensive-looking detailing (for instance, a concealed button to hold the collar in place). It’s chunky, though, so not for you if you prefer a narrow silhouette or have a tendency to overheat.
A brilliant party top
Bandeau top, £65
monsoon.co.uk
If I wasn’t such an incredibly nice person I would keep it as my secret, but I’m telling you because I love you: Monsoon makes marvellous party clothes. The silver dancing shoes I bought there last year have been a joy and no one else has them. This bandeau top with button front is fabulously Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy and available on a high street near you. You owe me one ladies.
A chic phone wrist strap
Beaded phone ropes, £14
notanotherbill.com
I hate to say it, but a well-dressed phone is an essential part of your look these days. Please don’t tell me you are still carrying yours in one of those leather wallets. Buy a sleek, simple silicone case with buffers to protect the screen and attach a wrist strap to keep it tethered to you – or your handbag – so that it can’t get knocked (or nicked) out of your hand. These beads are nice. Mine are blue.
The dinner knit
Sweater with shoulder buttons, £29.99
mango.com
I’ve included a shopping link here just to show you what I’m talking about, really, but this is a general style tip rather than an arrow towards any one item. A simple knitted sweater that has something a bit special enough to go out for dinner in is one of the most useful pieces in your wardrobe. Buttons at the shoulder are a more chic, understated detail than sparkles or a fancy trim. With jeans and hoop earrings this Mango number will take you anywhere. Try searching “shoulder button jumper” on Vinted or Depop for alternatives.
Dancing shoes
M&S X Sienna Miller chain-detail satin sandals, £69
marksandspencer.com
Don’t mess about if you want these, because the second drop of Sienna Miller’s collaboration with M&S went on sale on 31 October and these – the only shoes in the edit – won’t hang about. The gold chain suspended from the ankle strap makes these shoes feel super special. I’m very into the poison green colourway, with a sheer black tight and an LBD, but they also come in black.
Rivals-worthy earrings
Heart-shaped earrings, £9.99
hm.com
Binging Jilly Cooper has reignited my lust for 80s-style gobstopper costume jewels. Also, I have a soft spot for a heart-shaped earring. These are divine, darlings.
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The world’s most elegant slippers
Ballet shoes, £22
uk.blochworld.com
Big, fluffy slippers make me feel like a cartoon bear, which is not a look I go for even behind closed doors. Standards, people! Ballet shoes make the best house shoes. They last for years, protect your tights or socks from holes, have bendy soles comfy enough to curl up on the sofa in, and won’t embarrass you if the doorbell rings. These days they tend to come with pre-sewn elastics across the top of the foot, but I just snip those out. Go for black or ballet-slipper pink.
Vintage preppy pleat skirts on eBay
The vortex of disappointment which hit me after failing to snag one of the pleated short skirts from the Bella Freud x M&S collection made me realise how much I want – need – the kind of pleated above-the-knee skirt I haven’t worn since school uniform days. I went down an eBay rabbit hole, and can report that this is an excellent source of the new skirt shape you need. I’m still deciding between this classic check Burberry one and this excellent grey woollen Ralph Lauren number (pictured above).
Two-in-one coat and hoodie
Coat/hoodie, £89.99
mango.com
Your coat needs to juggle two important jobs. It needs to keep you cosy and dry, obviously. But it also needs to make you look smart, polished, professional. A lot of the time, these two roles feel as if they are in opposition – choose between an elegant coat and bedraggled hair, or staying dry but looking like an overgrown toddler. This coat-hoodie hybrid could be the answer.
Give your belt a starring role
Do you own a belt? Any belt? Then you have a new outfit. This is what you do. Wear the longest sweater you own – one that covers your bum – over wide trousers, or a really long skirt. Then cinch your waist with a belt. And add heels. So chic.
A hair claw to make you smile
Swiss cheese hair claw clip, £11
RUBS.com
Very silly, but anyone with medium to long hair needs to put it up now and again – this will put a smile on your face while getting your hair out of it. Rainbow Unicorn Birthday Surprise also does a cheeseburger, if Swiss cheese isn’t silly enough.