Autumn capes

Alright Everyone!

Summer is reaching its final month and I know that many of us (including me) don't want to think about the warmth slowly fading away into chills.

But Autumn is just around the corner, where the leaves will transform into a vibrant sunset, the blackberries will be ripe for the picking and the early morning dew will cling to the newly formed spiders webs... 

"It's the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness."

Which leads me on nicely, (after just a little bit of day dreaming) to the trends of Autumn/Winter 2014- I would like to give you some ideas on the trend I would chose to wear and how I would wear it. 

As much as I love summer, I am an Autumn girl at heart. It is my favourite season and consequently my favourite time of year for fashion. This year a big trend will be Folk and Fairy-tale, (in fact I have a funny feeling this will be a big trend going into next spring and summer too), which is perfect for all you romantics who adore the floaty dresses and cape style coats. 

I have to hold my hands up now and say that I am one of you! 

The cuts are so flattering, very fairy-like and just beautiful to wear. Who doesn't want to feel like a little bit of a princess when it's cold outside and your hands are slowly turning numb!

I have decided to split the trends of Autumn/Winter 2014 into two parts, one going up this week and the other in a fortnight.

Without further adieu, lets delve into the world of capes! So here are just a few tips when trying to rock the ethereal red riding hood look... Enjoy!

How to wear a cape

Reminiscent of Little red riding- hood, capes are perfect to make anyone feel like they have stepped into their own fairy tale...

There are the long traditional costume capes (which remind me of Arwen from Lord of the Rings), the coats which hold the facade of a cape, and the fur lined short capes perfect for winter.

When tackling this trend, you need to be wary of what your pair it with, there is a fine line with capes. You can either end up looking like a unique, fashionable human being who has just walked off the Burberry runway, or you can go to the completely opposite end of the spectrum and look slightly frumpy. From experience you need to avoid the latter... at all costs.

Mustard cape

This can be done by not wearing full puffy skirts under the cape-either in dress or skirt form as the cape shape itself is very large and puffy, so by adding more volume at the bottom, this will make even the slimmest person look slightly larger than necessary. Sticking with the puffy theme, smock dresses also are not a smart idea because much like full dresses they have a lot of excess fabric, leading to the same result, in turn when wearing a cape try to wear fitted clothes underneath it. Dresses that nip in the waist, skinny jeans etc. However an exception to this rule of smocks and full skirts is when wearing a coat style cape, because they are naturally a lot less puffy.

Outfit ideas

If you are looking for a cute but stylish vibe, then I would suggest a brightly coloured cape to add a pop of colour, for example an autumnal mustard (like mine) or the classic red. To keep the simplistic and chic atmosphere I would then pair the cape with some plain jeans or an a-line mini skirt and desert boots, maybe adding a scarf and a woolly hat. For a more runway inspired outfit you can look no further than the Burberry A/W runway. A beautiful knee length dress, like the ones found in Boden.co.uk and Hobbs.co.uk would look gorgeous with a pair of boots, woolly tights and a shawl style cape thrown over your shoulder-Effortless and ethereal.

Another cape style which is also stunning, is the duffle and wax cape , both very versatile and simple (and the wax one is practical, with Barbour.com doing lots of cape styles ) Furthermore a tartan pattern can give you lots of colours which you can pick up on when choosing the other garments to wear-there is a tartan shall style cape to be found on asos.com for just £10.

I hope this was useful somehow, it might even have allowed you to discover your inner red-riding hood or elvish princess....
(Probably not, but it was worth a try!)

I'll see you soon for the second installment, (can you bear the suspense..)

Byee!