The fashion industry produces billions of new garments per year and is designed to encourage novelty. However, by rewearing our clothes a few more seasons, we extend their lifespan and save them from landfill. According to a 2012 report by Wrap, around 350,000 tonnes of clothes, with an estimated value of £140 million, are thrown away every year in the UK.
In this blog post, I’m explaining the concept of transitional dressing and sharing some styling inspiration to help you wear your summer clothes throughout spring, autumn and even winter. No need to buy anything new this season, you probably already have everything you need in your wardrobe already.
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What is transitional dressing?
Transitional dressing means creating outfits using versatile clothes, which shape, colour and style fit almost every season. Building a transitional capsule wardrobe is about finding the best timeless basics for your style and pairing them with seasonal clothes.
In other words, it’s finding outfit combinations that allow you to wear your summer dresses and skirts all year round, without them looking out of place. Layering is one of the styling techniques you can use to make the most of your spring-summer wardrobe during the colder months.
My favourites seasonless basics
- Fitted t-shirts and tank tops in one solid colour like eggshell, charcoal, white, black,…
- Fine knits and long sleeves tops such as turtlenecks.
- Blazers and mid-season jackets.
- Dark-coloured jeans and cotton trousers.
5 transitional dressing styling techniques
Throwing a sweater on top of a summer dress
It’s the easiest styling technique and basically means you are transforming a dress into a skirt. This works particularly well with a slip dress, which has a midi or maxi length and sheer, floaty or lightweight material. However, it also works with a dress that has a maxi print and bold, bright colours. The chunkier the jumper, the better, as it creates contrast. If the dress is short, you can add tights underneath and pair it with boots to make it look even more wintery.
Wearing tights under your denim shorts and skirts
It’s also an easy styling tips but it may not suit everyone’s style. If you’re looking for the best tights to pair with your denim summer pieces, I’d recommend looking for low denier, which are more sheer than opaque and create a nice visual association with a fabric like denim. However, they may not work for colder months if you live somewhere where it’s particularly freezing like London.
Wearing your sandals with nice socks
This is a combination I’ve seen some London girls pull off well. I personally never managed to make it look good and it always feel too costumey for my style and my Parisian aesthetic. From what I’ve seen, it looks best with colourful footwear, high heels and statement shoes like sparkly sandals for example. I’ve also seen medusas and Birkenstocks paired with socks. That’s more a “work from home” style in my opinion but you do you.
Layering
There are almost infinite ways to layer your clothes and it can really help you buy less and wear more. You can layer a fine-knit turtleneck under a summery cami blouse, add a lightweight denim shirt on top and a cardigan above everything for extra-warmth. The key here is to experiment and play around with colour combinations, patterns and textures to make it work for you.
Blazers, mid-season jackets and boots
Investing in these transitional pieces is essential to bring your summery-looking clothes into autumn and beyond. I like the combo ankle boots with mini-skirt and high-knee boots under flowy midi skirts. A tailored double-breasted blazer can make a casual dress, you’d usually wear to drink cocktail by the beach, more suited to the office. Mid-season jackets with a padding are ideal to warm up light blouses and tops during autumn.
