With fall comes a sudden darkness. That doesn’t just go for the weather. This is the time of the year when people put away their colourful summer clothes and suddenly you’re surrounded by black, grey, brown and plum. Not that I mind any of those colours, but let’s spice things up a bit.

• Since you’re likely to be wearing a lot of dark jeans, tights and sweaters, focus on the details. Jewellry can make you shine. Especially earrings as they will frame your face.
• Nail polish. Your nails are one of the easiest ways to add some colour, and although you might think no one looks at them, people do notice nicely painted fingernails.
• Bags. I’m not very good at getting colourful bags myself, but I often notice when other people have them. H&M used to have a bright green one that I really liked. If nothing else, get a bright totebag! They’re cheap and will carry anything you need!
• And last but not least; who ever decided that coats and jackets have to be colourless? No one, that’s who! I know it’s easy to go for the simple choices and buy a brown or black one, simply because it will match anything. But unless you usually wear lots of pink tights and skirts, any jacket in any colour will most likely match anything you’ll be wearing. If you still want to play safe, get a white one. But please, for your own sake, make sure it’s not dry-clean. I made that mistake, I have a white winter coat, and I’ve spent ridiculous amounts of money on dry-cleaning it. So yeah, you want to check that. As for me, I went to buy a bright red coat a while ago, I’ve been wanting one for ages.

These are just my tips and ideas to prevent the next 8 months from becoming a dark mass.

I live in an area where it usually gets down to about -30 degrees celsius in the winter, so when I overheard two women saying that it’s getting too cold for wearing skirts and dresses in mid September, I was shocked. I usually wear dresses all year round.

I grew up in a somewhat warmer place, so moving here forced me to face many challenges. How to stay warm but still dress nicely in the near arctic winters was definitely one of them. I like feminine clothes, so wearing jeans 8 months a year is not something I want to do. So here are my tips and ideas!

• Layers. I know people go on and on about this, but not only do they keep you warm, it’s also easier to peel clothes off if you end up in a warmer setting.  Say you’re going to your favourite café for a cup of hot tea. It’s bound to be warm there, and if you’re wearing your thickest sweater, you’ll get uncomfortable. Layers!
• Tights and stockings. People underestimate them. Sure, a thin pair of 20 DEN stockings won’t do much to keep you warm, but there are really nice stockings up to 120 DEN, and there are knitted wool stockings that you can wear on top of them (you won’t want them on your skin anyway, they’re itchy). I often wear two pairs of stockings in the winter, it keeps you as warm as if you’d been wearing jeans.
• Legwarmers. I know, I know, they’re not really this season’s attire. I don’t care though because they’re easily hidden by my winter boots. Also, when I go to the library no one cares what I’m wearing :)
• Hats. Now this seems to be a real dilemma for people. They always say that hats don’t fit their style, or that they make them look stupid. But there are tons and tons of different kind of hats, and I’m pretty sure that with some effort, you’ll find a kind that you like. Personally I found that I look better in all sorts of hats after I cut my hair.
• Last but not least; look at your feet. What kind of shoes are you wearing? Are you wearing pumps when it’s cold? You’re bound to be freezing. Wear some kind of boots. An idea is to bring whatever shoes you want to wear to the place you’re going. That way you can wear warm and comfortable shoes on the way there. I usually do this when going to work in the winter.

Now I hope that at least some of you are no longer in fear of the winter and that I won’t be the only one wearing skirts and dresses this year!