7 easy outfit ideas for February

Praise be! The longest month of the year is over! We had FIVE MONDAYS this January, which isn’t even funny. February is much better, thankfully. For a start, it always feels so much shorter, as those three days make all the difference (or two this year). Yes, we can still have cold snaps, grey skies and rain, but we’re hurtling towards spring. And the days are getting a tiny bit longer, the need for layering is a little less and the big coat may soon be confined to the place you put your big coats when the weather gets warmer. Not yet, I know, but soon.

So, today I bring you seven easy outfits for February. You may still need to add your big coat and some tights to a few of these, but they should carry you through to March and April. There’s nothing groundbreaking here, just some simple styling we can all replicate. Again, I must apologise for the lack of dresses, I just haven’t seen any good ones recently. If you have clocked any, do let me know.

MIDI SKIRT AND TRENCH COAT

The pleated skirt is making a bit of a comeback this season. If you can do a heel, then a knee-high, block-heel boot would work well here, or if you’re like me and prefer comfort over all, a fancy flat or a pair of loafers would be my top-two choices. I’m also seeing more V‑neck sweaters around this year, which I would wear with a simple vest top underneath. My friend Arlene tells me this one from Mint Velvet is THE perfect vest. I’m yet to try it but I do believe most things she tells me so it’s inevitably a winner.

BOMBER JACKET & JEANS

Super-simple casual look. Magazines used to call this an ‘off duty look’, but that sounds like it only works if your job is a police officer or a dinner lady. The addition of a shirt under your knit makes it feel like you’ve put a tiny bit more thought into your outfit, or is that just me? I always feel I’ve made more of an effort when I wear an actual shirt with a collar instead of a T‑shirt. For Uniqlo ‘Tardis bag’ fans, they have recently released new colours, most of which look like Mini Egg shades, which just makes me want to inhale them. There’s something about semi-spherical-shaped chocolate that’s only available for 3 months of the year that drives me wild.

THE POP OF RED

This is something that was all the rage in the latter half of last year, and it’s definitely continuing in 2024. You don’t have to go ‘full on’ here, you could just stick with the socks to dip your toe into the trend. Pun intended.

PARKA & WATERPROOF BOOTS

This isn’t a trend, it’s just my typical dog-walking outfit. I’m very taken with this parka from Hush as it’s a 2‑in‑1 affair featuring a removable padded gilet. Shout out to this very ordinary, but exceedingly useful, ribbed long-sleeve top from Uniqlo. I bought it in black last month and it’s become one of those things I have to wash and dry on the same day as I’m wearing it so often. A great basic. Basics are so often overlooked. I might have to do a special post soon on the merits of boring basics.

MINI SKIRT & LOAFERS

At 51, I’m wearing mini skirts more than ever. Actually that’s a bare-faced lie, as I wore nothing but mini skirts when I was a teenager. When you hear a boy say ‘nice legs, shame about the face’ you learn to make the most of your assets. That comment did cut me, though. It’s incredible how things stay with you for such a long time. I can’t even remember the name of the boy who said it but I do like to think that he’s fat, bald, going through a messy divorce and is currently questioning all his life choices after a recently failed affair with Kath in accounts that indirectly led to him being made redundant from his middle-management office job at a cleaning supplies firm in Woking.

Side note: this bag from Hush has definitely been ‘inspired’ by the Loewe Puzzle bag.

JUST BROWN

I mentioned last week that I have recently developed a love of the colour brown. It’s a lot less boring and more versatile than you might think. My brown trousers go with so many other colours. None of which I’ve shown here, so maybe I should have thought that through. I like this outfit, though.

SILK SHIRT & TROUSERS

I get quite a few messages from lovely ladies asking what they can wear to a night out at the theatre or dinner in town. My current go-to for a non dress-code-specific night out is almost always ‘a silk shirt and smart trousers’. I have collected a few silk shirts over the years. Get a good one and they will last for a VERY long time. I like Equipment, Matteau and & Other Stories. I bought a couple of good vintage ones from Vinted recently, too. It’s a gamble to get the right size, but you can always sell them on again if they don’t fit.

For good smart trousers, I like the Abercrombie Sloane pants, the COS wide-leg wool trousers and the Sézane Emilio, Dan and Damon trousers.

I might do that ‘basics’ post next week. If so, let me know your top five or six basics that you’d like to see featured. Unfortunately, you can’t actually comment here because it just gets flooded with spam from Russian porn sites, so just leave a comment under the Instagram blog post.

WearsMyMoney

I spent it all on clothes by the looks of things...