Melissa's Dress Up Box : What to Wear for Autumn/Winter 2014

Although summer finally seems to have arrived in New Zealand I am already thinking about the next fashion season which for the Southern hemisphere means Autumn/Winter.

Fashion really gets dictated by the Northern Hemisphere and although many of our great designers (Karen Walker, Kate Sylvester, Miss Crabb and Zambesi - to name a few) give us individual trends and direction the average high street store will be selling trends that are just beginning to fizzle out on the other side of the world.

However, now that everything is so global and many people are doing more internet shopping we can end up with a mix of trends from Autumn/Winter 13/14 from the Northern Hemisphere (as shown this time last year on the catwalks) as well as intermixing the odd new trend for Spring/Summer 14 (because it is nearly summer on the other side of the world) as in filters down through the chain stores (which are producing at rapid rates to keep up with what's new). This is especially true if you buy online from retailers on the other side of the world such as Topshop, ASOS or River Island.

So in this article I want to cover what we can expect to see trending for Autumn/Winter 14 in the Southern Hemisphere as well as a few of the trends that are only just starting to be worn on the other side of the world.

I am going to do the article in three parts - 1. what's worth investing in 2. which trends to sample, and 3. what to keep and pull back out from previous seasons.

Part one of this series - What to invest in this season:

The Sweater - well that seems fairly obvious when you are entering into winter months but the sweater (or jumper as we call it in NZ) was a huge trend on the catwalks for AW14. Especially chunky styles, turtlenecks and cropped options. The crop worn over shirts or under a long coat, the chunky tucked into skirts (especially the pencil) and turtlenecks layered under shirts or jackets.
Bold colours, patterns or monochrome are great options (I say go for classic stripes to always look stylish) and invest the most in great basic colours such as winter white, grey, black, navy and beige. Interesting styles will be a must like the one below from Cue.

Here are some examples of sweater looks for this season:

Burberry Winter 13

CUE - Faux Fur Marbled Sweater

ASOS Sweater with fur detail (on sale now for $40.68 NZ)

Leather Sleeve Knit from Witchery - $199.90 NZ

Sweater from Country Road $169 NZ

The Fancy Sweatshirt - following on from its close relation the sweater is the trusty sweatshirt. The sweatshirt is still going strong as a fashion favourite and there are plenty to choose from! Also opt for a plain sweatshirt and add a great scarf or statement necklace.

Kenzo Winter 13

Country Road Herringbone Sweatshirt $89.90 NZ

Topshop Bunny Sweatshirt

Warehouse Floral Sweatshirt from ASOS $79.10 NZ

The Shift Dress - the shift is back in monochrome, abstract patterns and bold colours. Wear it with tights and ankle boots as it gets colder and add a fabulous coat (or coatigan) of a similar or longer length.

Country Road Patterned Shift- $259 NZ

Asos Monochrome Shift- $107.02 NZ

Blair Eadie from Atlantic-Pacific Blog wearing black Asos Shift - $100.33 NZ

Karen Walker Dress

Portmans Nicole Shift Dress $89.95 AUD

The skirt - still going strong this season the midi skirt and pencil skirt are still going strong with a few mini's and trumpet skirts thrown in for good measure. Unlike seasons past there are now so many looks around to suit a variety of figures. Bold colours, lace, abstract patterns, winter white, animal/snake print and floral are all going to big looks.

Country Road Frill Skirt - $229 NZ

Topshop Scenic Print Skirt - Approx $96 NZ

Asos Leather Pencil Skirt on sale - $63.54 NZ

Asos Stripe Pencil Skirt - $78.03 NZ

Witchery Winter White Trumpet Skirt - $129 NZ

The Coloured Bag and the Clutch Bag - both of these have been trending for the past couple of seasons but are still going strong. Look out for tartan, fur and abstract patterns (most of which are on sale now on international websites!) Nothing adds more zing to an outfit than a quirky clutch or a pop of colour. Here are some of my favourites.

Asos Satchel Bag on sale - $60.20 NZ

Country Road Check Tote - $109 NZ

Marc By Marc Jacobs Yellow Tote from Shopbop - $374.42 NZ

Deadly Ponies Fur bag - $840 NZ

Mimco Cat Clutch - $99 NZ

Deadly Ponies Mr Chain Gang Bag in Iodine - $630 NZ

Boxy Shapes - Over sized shapes are a big theme this season and will flow through into the Summer. Think Wide leg pants, full skirts (especially midi ones), ovoid shaped coats, boxy cropped tops, shell tops, sweatshirts and jumpers. Many of these looks were seen worn top and bottom but for real life (rather than runway) find a balance - if you are wearing a wide top then balance with a skinny pant or pencil skirt, an ovoid coat over a fitted dress or a wide leg pant with a fitter jumper or top.