Style Notes for October
Magpie Witch is having a moment.
Every year, it seems, the “mood” of October gets more and more pungent.
Having said that, my head has been catapulted forward to December for the last 4 weeks or so, since we’re doing belts-and-braces style planning for the festive period this year. As a result, I find that when I sit down to type the words around all the image-content I created for this article, I’m somewhat discombobulated.
This happens often, I find, when you work in fashion and you forward plan (but only a season ahead for us and by necessity.) You can sometimes miss the here and now. My mind’s eye is stuffed with ruby red cord and winter tweed and limited edition flutter blouses (but, alas, I digress, more on that come November.) I find this manifests itself in many a weekday spent in double Stalf sweats, since the headspace I’d usually occupy with sartorial creativity has already been commandeered by the magic I’m creating for the next 8 weeks.
I want it known, I’m not knocking double sweats- they have played a vital role in my day to day over the last few weeks and if you’re after extreme comfort, do yourself a favour and order yourself this set in a size bigger than you usually take:
Mine are both years old and still worn on the regular.
…but my point is that each new month serves up its own distinct, secret sauce and I’m loathe to miss out on squeezing it all over my morning-outfit-choices simply because I’m 100%-ing a future collection. Being creative, for me, is wholly immersive, it’s all consuming at certain times of the year and if left unchecked, I find that weeks fly by without me consciously enjoying the particular joys that come with each flip of the calendar.
For now, this article is serving a useful purpose in yanking my brain back to October. The deliciousness of October. The month of pretend-winter. Wear whatever you fancy. Light the candles. Spooky season. Cosy Days. The return of actually getting dressed. The delectable imposition of necessary-practicality on an outfit. Coats are back. Boots with everything. The first frost. Incidentally, I noticed the first frost already showed up here in Lincolnshire: last week when I opted to wear a vest and shorts on my 6am run, I was a kilometre in and half way up a big hill before I noticed the twinkle on a grass verge in the passing car headlights and realised I was huffing and puffing but frozen solid. I got round that circuit quicker than usual.
Autumn is the high-season of whimsy and as the gateway to the months ahead, October stands proud at the entryway, bedecked in berry tones and a plaid shirt. Pumpkins at her feet and latte in her hand.
Here’s my moodboard:
Takeaways from the above:
Books as an accessory? Explore.
Scarves should not be neglected. In lieu of scarf, tie jumper round neck.
Grey Marl and Burgundy are best friends.
Plaits should be incorporated into every look (although I forgot to do this, damnit.)
The stompier the boot, the better.
Injecting every look with a little Alice in Wonderland is ideal.
Forgetting your blouse is fine (so long as you’re wearing a knitted hood).
Imbibe your outfits with a nod to spooky season, whilst it’s here.
Every year, about this time, I pull out my black wool coat and layer a (white, specifically) Flutter Blouse underneath. The upshot is deliciously Dickensian, or perhaps vaguely “Alice” and is a combination that gives me much pleasure, particularly in Autumn:
You can pretty much pair with whatever bottoms take your fancy, from sweats through to denim. Midi skirt? Perhaps a Wide Trouser? But just now, Chocolate Check Work Trousers and beaten up boots have been a fall-back combination for the days when my brain is elsewhere but the sweats are in the wash.
Without the coat looks good too…
Yummy textures, as below.
…and if you fancy adding in the cardi-as-scarf:
Did you manage to snap up the Chocolate Cross Stitch? This was super limited edition, I bought everything the supplier had.
It goes with everything. Chuck some well-loved blue denim at it. Or pattern on pattern is always a good look in my book:
Notice the burgundy shade underneath and book-as-clutch-bag.
If you’ve bought any of our checked Wide Trousers in the past, try them with the Cross stitch for Autumnal, soft pattern clashes. This fabric is a rich brown-aubergine shade with icy blue details and will work well with shades of blue, purple, brown, denim. I went liquorice check.
Incidentally, my supplier has this fabric back in stock, so do drop me an email (customerservice@stalf.co.uk) if you’re keen for a slice of liquorice-checked-Stalf.
So, your Chocolate Cross Stitch has seen you through the week, and now the weekend has arrived. I advise you to leave on the burgundy base layer and pull on Grey Marl Sweats. In fact, if you have a favourite item in burgundy, I urge you to pair with your grey sweats immediately. Double grey sweats with berry shades sandwiched in-between are delicious this time of year. Add in aforementioned stompy boots rather than trainers and you’re onto a winner:
Do you own a checked shirt? This is the season you can go whole hog and pair it with our Dungas if you’re in the mood for ultimate lumberjack. I went Painter’s Blue Twill with my Dungas (my absolute favourite just now, I’m wearing them on repeat) but the Chocolate Checked version would also serve up a perfect check-on-check collision when paired with a flannel shirt. Mine is my finacé’s and was bought in a vintage shop in Edinburgh but is serving up perfect Ralph vibes.
I’ve been trying to pin down what it is about these Dungas that I’m particularly keen on. What is it about them that compels me to pull them on over and over again? And, while I’m mulling it over, what is it that caused me to actually utter the words “I think I might even like them more than my Cocoon Jumpsuit!!”??
They feel somehow streamlined and yet totally functional. Sleek but still workwear-y. The blue twill is lush and super soft, almost like a moleskin, but I’ll happily wear them every single day. The colour is classic and yet vivid. They encompass so much. They’re a dungaree but nothing about them feels cliché or frumpy (which, I’ll confess, are apprehensions I battle with when we’re considering dungarees in the main.) None of that here, thank you very much.
Perhaps I’ll do a whole post dedicated to this piece, since they’ve switched up my favourites list. For now, we have 3 pairs in stock (I’m hopeful I might be able to get more of this fabric but there’s no guarantee.)
…and here we are, having arrived at Stalf for Halloween.
Look, I could’ve easily made this into a whole article, but I respect that not everyone is into Halloween/spooky season like we are in our house. So it seemed more reasonable to create a piece of mini-content here.
I present to you, The Magpie Witch, featuring our Gathered Flutter Dress in black double gauze. The full look (including Staffy-shaped familiar) looked like this:
I’m sure the regular subs amongst you will have already recognised that much of this outfit was Jude’s work (as I type, he’s sat next to me, sweaty-headed and fresh from his halloween disco dressed in a leopard print catsuit- ever inspiring.)
If I dropped the witch’s hat this is a dream outfit for me. Part goth, part spook, part glitter and magic and whimsy… and I’m starting to think that all October outfits could be bettered with the inclusion of black lippie?
That’s it for this week, subs! Thanks again for being here.
I’ll be back next week.
Paris