It’s a cold winter day, but you still want to show up beautifully. Your coat is not an afterthought. It’s the first thing people see when they greet you in the parking lot or as you walk in the door. So it’s important to factor your winter coat into your outfit as you design it. I have for you a beautiful but simple winter style formula you can wear with your favorite coat on repeat.
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In the winter I frequently start my outfit by deciding on my outerwear and footwear. Especially if I’ll be outside a lot, I want to make sure I’m wearing a coat and shoes that are up to the weather I’ll encounter. So this month you can expect me to share several outfit formulas that begin with a great coat. Yesterday I shared a column of color created with the same coat I’m wearing today. Let’s check out another simple winter style formula you can wear with your favorite coat on repeat this season.
Elevated Casual Winter Outfit
This simple winter style formula is based on a favorite elevated casual winter outfit: jeans + pullover sweater + booties. But the key to the style formula is having sweaters you enjoy wearing in the same colors as your favorite coats. In fact, if you frequently wear sweaters in the winter, I suggest having one in each color of the coats you wear. It may take a little work to shop for them, but it’s worth the effort.
This simple winter style formula is one I sometimes call 2 over 1. You want to wear two garments (in this case, your coat and your sweater) in the same color and then a contrasting color of pant, jean or skirt. So your wearing 2 doses of a color over 1 different color. This combination works beautifully every time.
Because I had been gifted the beautiful Wilshire red top coat from J.Crew, I set out quickly to find a pullover sweater I could enjoy wearing under it. I landed on this luxe merlot embroidered sweater from Tuckernuck. I already had this inky burgundy cashmere cardigan, but if you love this style formula you know the more the merrier. The embroidered sweater is a thick, warm one, but it doesn’t contain any wool. So if you have a wool sensitivity but need warm clothing for winter, this sweater is a nice one. It fits true to size.
The next component in the winter style formula is a great pair of jeans, pants or a skirt. I like to keep the contrast in intensity low in my outfits, so I chose to wear dark wash wide leg jeans. The wider leg works nicely with the sweater, which features a not-too-long, fitted waistband. My exact jeans are no longer available, but J.Crew has updated them with these, which are currently marked down. They’re available in petite and tall sizes, too.
One of the things I love about wearing this particular simple winter style formula is that it keeps your color palette simple. You don’t have to worry about whether your scarf will coordinate with your coat but not your sweater. You don’t have to stress over whether your boots or handbag will look good with and without the coat. It all pulls together effortlessly and so smart.
I chose to keep jewelry and accessories simple. But you could also add a silk print scarf or a classic cashmere or wool long scarf. For tips on how to tie your scarves for winter, check out the video below. In fact, the silk scarf shown in that video would have work beautifully here, but I didn’t own it yet.
So just to quickly review, the essence of this simple winter style formula is wearing the same color pullover sweater and coat. They don’t need to match exactly, by the way. Then you wear a contrasting color below, but in the intensity level that you prefer. I wear this formula on repeat in the winter by making sure I have a sweater in the color of every coat in my closet. It takes the frustration out of getting dressed on a cold winter day, but it works equally well in the fall and spring with lighter weight jackets.
You can shop the look through the widget below, and I’ve gathered other sweaters to include as well.
Thanks so much for stopping in for a little style inspiration. Do you enjoy wearing this simple winter style formula, too? Or is this one you’ll try later this week? I’d love to hear from you today.
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Blessed for My Day
If we know Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior we live with a hope that others do not have. We know that our future is secure with Him, and we live as victors over the struggles we face today because we know He is working all things together for our good. If God is for us, who can be against us? The Sovereign Lord is at work in our lives and in the world around us. So we do not have to live in fear or dread.
But sometimes, as situations take a turn and time ticks by and circumstances seem to go from bad to worse, we can lose sight of that hope. Honestly, it takes determination as well as a consistent walk with the Lord to keep our faith and our hope alive. Today let’s focus on the grace that has been shown to us and the glory that is yet to come. Let’s live as women who have a living hope, showing others the joy of our salvation so that they want to know more about it, too.
Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, set your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. ~ 1 Peter 1:13
I am unexpectedly on a GLP1 journey. Complications from a July spine surgery have made it necessary to have abdominal surgery to repair two areas that didn’t heal properly. My surgeon strongly suggested I lose 20-30 lbs..,in two months. Since I don’t want to undergo this procedure more than once I turned to modern weight loss meds for help. Things are going well so I anticipate having to rebuild much of my wardrobe at some point. I am so glad you decided on the format you did for 2026. I know it’s going to be immensely helpful!
What a great, simple idea, yet one I never would have thought of planning, though I’m sure I’ve done it by accident. I run warm, so my coat is pretty much always open in stores, church, and other places where I keep it on. Your outfits with matching or near-matching coat and sweater colors look so striking and intentional! And I treated myself this year to several new coats in different colors. Time to make sure I have sweaters to match.
I’m encouraged by your format for this year – planning, building, styling for each season. When I switched out my warm weather clothes for my cooler weather clothes many weeks ago, I realized there are soooo many things in my closet that I’m not wearing on a regular basis (ill-fitting, don’t really like, duplicates, pick a reason!), therefore I need to do a harsher closet cleanout this season. Thanks for keeping us current!
Kay, hi.
it is January 6 and I’m sitting here with air conditioning on in Houston and temperatures in the high 70s and 80s. I am reluctant to dig back into my spring and summer wardrobe now. I do have Talbots thin, black slacks and have been wearing 3/4 or long sleeve cotton shirts in winter colors, but can you give me style tips or suggestions that I may not have considered? Thank you so much. I am rarely in a coat. Sometimes in a sporty zip up jacket over my black pants and three-quarter length or long sleeve cotton shirts. I actually like the L.L. Bean Pima cotton. Thank you, Lisa
I love your style and I like the idea of the future plans….However, I live in a warm moderate climate and could never wear most of what you style in winter and fall months. Do you recommend any other bloggers who live in the south that could better help us hot weather gals?
Just want to say I love the topics you’re going to cover AND the timing of them. Looking forward to it!
Yes, I’m liking these ideas that are easy to remember and carry out! And yes, it can be so hard to maintain our trust in the Lord despite all the evidence from the Bible and our own lives that he is to be trusted.