By Aoife McLoughlin

Gorgeous six inch Jimmy Choos and a slinky black dress might be your ideal look for the Christmas season but if it was a choice between comfort and chic, comfort always wins hands down for me.

As much as I love the glamorous look of a heel, besides giving me shin splints, (I lean forward when walking in them), they ruin my posture instead of making my legs look long. I also refuse to suffer from the cold in the name of fashion, so when it comes to it, keeping warm and upright are top of my list. So although I wouldn’t be seen dead out in a tracksuit, these factors can curtail my style hunting.

However, there are a few items I would like to see on my Christmas list – be it for our homegrown concept of “the Christmas day outfit” or for gift ideas for the practi-chicks (the practical yet chic chicks!) in your life – these will keep you looking both glam and comfortable over the Christmas season.

Gifts under €200

Snow boots, Sorel €145, The Great Outdoors and Fitzpatricks

Foxford Wool and mohair throw, €89.95, Kilkenny Shop  – to snuggle under for the winter nights ahead

Gifts for under €50

Jessie J watch for Swatch €50, Swatch shop Grafton St or Arnotts

Cashmere Lounge pants £22/€29.50 (for hanging around watching all those movies over Christmas), River Island

Cross body bag £25, River Island (handy for all my bits with a baby on board)

[View with PicLens]

I do like the gift of clothes, and often like to choose these myself so here are my “big ticket” Christmas pressie choices for this year:

Ankle Boots

Obviously with a lower heel or a flat, ankle boots can look great casually or dressed up. Paired with a shift dress and leggings, this is a great day-to-night outfit. For a total night time look, put on a pair of black opaque tights (or patterned /coloured if you’re feeling adventurous) and add a Christmas sparkly number and you’ve a modern, funky take on your traditional Christmas outfit.

Ankle boots are also great for casual wear. Team with leggings or skinny jeans and they are a practical and cool look – especially for those rainy days where the ends of your boot cut jeans always get soaked. New Look Biker ankle Boots (£119)  are good for a day look and are very comfortable while still showing off the legs in leggings or a dress.

Black leather biker jacket / black blazer

Ok, it’s cheating – two different items under the one heading. But both serve the same function – keeping the heat in! I’d like one or the other.

Sometimes when you first hit a party or pub, you don’t want to bare the whole outfit until the evening has warmed up a little and so a short jacket or blazer is a great way of feeling comfortable yet chic. You can throw off the jacket later on when you hit the dancefloor.

There are some great leather jackets styles available on the high street at the moment in both real and imitation leather. I’m a huge fan of clothing items that have multi functions such as day and night looks. This faux leather one from H&M €149 can be worn both casually with a simple t-shirt / loose blouse or glammed up for a more night look with a dress.

The same can be said for the simple blazer. Although the blazer is heavily influenced by 1980s trend at the moment, there are still plenty of styles to choose from and it is one wardrobe staple that never goes out of fashion. Why not combine the two and get a leather blazer?

A jacket or blazer is also a great way to hide any lumps or bumps you don’t want to draw too much attention to.

And now if someone could please somehow slip this list to Santy for me, you’d make me a very happy practi-chic-chick!

By Ann-Marie Proudfoot

I’m sure we’d all love to be able to fall out of bed, throw on ‘that old thing’ and look like a million dollars or have unlimited time to get ready each morning, but the reality is both are pretty hard to achieve, especially if you’ve more than just yourself to get ready. 

We were staggered at the results of a recent Debenhams survey which asked their Irish female customers what they wore on the school run:

• 6 out of 10 women admitted to feeling pressurised to compete in the fashion stakes thanks to ever increasing numbers of yummy mummies in the press. Half of this group admitted to taking tips from celebrity super mums like Elle Macpherson, using her as a benchmark of how it should be done.

It seems most celeb mums dress to impress when taking the kids to school, at least if these pictures of Elle McPherson and Stella McCartney are anything to go by. Designer McCartney looked chic in a belted trench coat, aviator sunglasses and knee-high boots while on the school run in London while McPherson opted for a white blazer, scarf, jeans and Monica Vinader bracelets and pendant. The top accessory for both? Dark sunglasses.

• 4 out of 10 women were managing to get their children dressed and ‘doll themselves up to the nines’ before dropping the kids off and returning home to change into more child friendly outfits

• The majority of women (79%) said they wouldn’t be seen dead in their track suits on the school run, 88% said they would never turn up without make-up on and 57% agreed that runners or Uggs are not appropriate footwear

• Mascara and lip gloss are viewed as the absolute minimum when it comes to facing other mums at 8am, closely followed by concealer and bronzer

Statistics aside, if you want to achieve a stylish yet casual look, here are our tips for Mum’s on the school run…

1. A coat or ¾ length jacket

You can hide a multitude under a ¾ length jacket.  For those chillier mornings, this oversized parka will look great with your skinny jeans and a pair of converse trainers. If you want a slightly smarter look this knitted rib coat can be worn with jeans or leggings. For later on in the season this lighter weight parka is a great casual option from Awear. Or again for a slightly smarter look, make like stylish Mum of four Stella McCartney in a Mac which is always a really good basic to have in your wardrobe as it can be dressed up or down.

2. Knitwear

Cardigans work for practically, comfort and look smarter than throwing on a sweatshirt. This Asos long line cardigan can be worn loosely or with a belt added to give a little more shape and add some detail.

3. Dresses

Dresses work really well because you have an outfit in one. Here are some casual styles that can be worn with leggings

 -  For a nautical look,  team this striped-shirt dress with denim legging and flat pumps or boots.

 - This oversized knit dress is great with black leggings and a bright contrasting scarf.

 - This denim shirt dress can be worn with black leggings or black skinny jeans.

4. Jeans

Whether you prefer skinnies or boot cut, make sure you have a pair that fit you well and can be worn with flats.

5. Leggings

A good quality pair of black and denim leggings are great staple pieces as they go with lots of different looks.

6. Scarves

For those days when you need a pick-me-up, throw on a coloured scarf to lift your complexion, like this printed option from River Island.

7. Flat pumps

Flats are a must for Mums. A black and a tan pair are always good basic colours to have in your wardrobe. Rockport have comfortable yet stylish ballet pumps with a built in wedge due out for this autumn winter.

8. Flat boots

Whether you like a slender or a chunkier style, a comfy pair of flat boots are always a good option to have in your wardrobe. Here’s great biker boot style from Red or Dead or if you prefer something more chic, opt for a riding boot.

What do you think is a good option for the school run?

Image credits: Getty

As well as contributing to WSW, Ann-Marie Proudfoot is a stylist over at Proudfoot Style.

Tipped off by some of our readers (you know who you are), I discovered Jeggings this winter – you may recall back in October, our Ask the Stylist: Jeggings article gave us the lowdown on how to wear these leggings cum jeans and so this installement of Go Buy Now is dedicated to shopping for them.

I’m now seeing this new wardrobe staple everywhere on the high street and this week’s find came from none other than Vero Moda (that’s “real fashion” in Italian).

Last week, again through a readers tip off, I bought a pair of jeggings in Vero Moda and am now wondering how I survived without them.

They come as “jeans” (blue denim, stone washed grey and or black) and also in solid colours such as navy, dark grey and true light grey.  I loved the pair of black ones I bought so much that I went back the following day for a navy and a “blue jeans” pair.

They cost €14.95 each or you can get two pairs for €24.95. Needless to say, the second time around I availed of the two pairs offer!

Vero Moda is located in 14 towns in Ireland and in many UK cities (except London?!).  Locate your nearest shop here. You can also buy these jeggings online via Asos who sell Vero Moda.

Dare I say it but the Vero Moda grey jeggings look like these ones worn in January by Victoria Beckham spotted at Heathrow airport (hers were Stella McCartney ombre jeans worn with an Isabel Marant a/w 2009 fur coat, a grey tank top,  a grey trilby hat and Brian Atwood suede peep-toe ankle boots).

After discussing the styling implications for wearing jeggings (the main thing is to cover your crotch!), these babies are so comfortable and fit into my winter boots perfectly – they super fitted and even make my legs look slimmer!

So out with the skinny jeans it is. My denim effect jeggings are now my new skinnies.

Image credits: Red Carpet Fashion Awards, Asos.

Related articles

Ask the Stylist: Jeggings

Go Buy Now: Red Dress

At WhatSheWears.ie, one of our greatest pleasures is helping our readers interpret the latest trends and solving their style conundrums. While we attempt to fulfil this duty on a daily basis through our celebrity style rundowns and trend reports, sometimes these queries require a more in-depth response. This is where our free Ask the Stylist service comes into play. Send your style dilemmas to editor@whatshewears.ie and they may appear here answered by our experts.

Firstly, can we explain what jeggings are? They are a cross between leggings and jeans – with the fit of leggings and the look of jeans, you could say.

Ingrid Hoey, stylist, suggests:

I love Jeggings and my favourite pair is from Urban Outfitters, they fit really well and wash well.

The most important thing you need to remember when wearing Jeggings is to wear something long enough to cover the crotch area! It doesn’t need to be tunic length because unlike leggings, jeggings should look and feel like a really snug and comfy pair of skinny jeans. That’s why they are great for wearing with this season’s thigh boots because they will tuck into boots much neater than skinny jeans.

Kate, you mentioned also that you’d love to try shorts over jeggings and that you saw a staff member in Topshop wearing shorts over jeggings and it looked amazing.

As for wearing the shorts over them, I think it would be more comfy to wear a lightweight pair of leggings under shorts otherwise you could feel a tad hot as the day wears on!

For me Jeggings rock, just remember the golden rule and wear something over them that covers the crotch area.

AnnMarie Proudfoot, our guest contributor, suggests:

I agree with Ingrid about the crotch thing!

If you find that your jeggings or leggings spend their life slipping down, I would recommend a legging with high polyamide (nylon) content. The shape stays in them and allows for a really tight fit. For leggings, try Marie Claire 100 deniers which are available in Arnotts for €10.

Littlewoods have a fab pair of jeggings called Apple Bottom jersey leggings (€84). A little pricey but very nice! This brand is by the rapper Nelly. These are made up of 98% nylon so they won’t be slipping anywhere.

If you need more instant gratification than ordering online, I believe Pepe Jeans in Exchequer Street, Dublin 2, carry this label too.

Miss jo-jo, a WhatSheWears.ie reader, suggests:

I’m giving Jeggings a go this season. They are so comfy and have an elasticised top, yeah! They are almost like jodhpurs so good for those knee high boots.

I bought the ‘Gold Sign’ brand from Brown Thomas for €150 (yeah I know, expensive), but the Cost per Wear will be very low as I live in them!

Pictured

(Left) Apple Bottom jersey leggings, Littlewoods, €84
(Right) Turn Up denim legging, Urban Outfitters £26, €29

Related articles

Ask the stylist: White Jeans

Ask the stylist: Sunglasses

This month’s Must Have list is brought to you by none other than our glamorous resident stylist Ingrid Hoey. Read all about Ingrid here.

“This list could be quite long this month as the stock in the shops is just amazing at the moment! I have tried to narrow it down to my true favourites. Here goes:

Sheer spot tights from Topshop

All the major designers from House of Holland to Ashish to Anna Sui featured patterned tights on their autumn runways.

I found some cute sheer spot tights in Topshop for only €12. I adore them! They will bring any little black dress bang up to date.

For instant catwalk glamour, wear these with a black leather skirt, or indeed any black dress.

Wolford Grace Leggings

How hot are these? I think they are the sexiest leggings I have come across in a long time! At £199 they are a luxury indulgence but I think they are worth the investment. I would wear these with a black boyfriend jacket, a long white T-shirt and a statement Joanne Hynes neckpiece (€295 pictured left).

Christopher Kane for Topshop

Clutches are everywhere again this season. Bag yourself this rock chick version from Christopher Kane from Topshop (£50); a bargain from Topshop’s UK website!

It ticks all the trends for this season; studded, rock chick and leather (it even has leather tassels!).

Leather

Autumn’s must have buy is a leather skirt or dress. Agnes Deyn’s leather skirt from French Connection featured on September’s Must Have list so I’ve chosen a different one.

I love this skirt from ASOS (£87) which is very similar to a leather skirt that Gwyneth Paltrow was photographed in. It’s an investment buy so look for classic shapes like a pencil skirt”.

Related articles

September Must Haves

Guest Stylist’s Picks for Summer Holidays

How to wear sequinned blazers

Voted label of the year 2008 by The Guardian, American Apparel has announced that it is soon to open its first Irish shop in Dublin. If you fancy working there, they are recruiting this Wednesday March 11th at 10am in the Morgan hotel in Dublin’s Fleet Street. More details here .

American Apparel is an LA brand with a focus on basics in quality fabrics with a great range of colours. Renowned for its cotton tshirts, the company has strong ethical values on subjects like  immigration.

Let’s hope that with their shop opening, they give us an Irish version of their website. After all, their clothes in the US are cheaper than in the UK, so hopefully their Irish prices will be half decent.

Whatshewears.ie top three items from this cool shop are:

1. Sheer Luxe Back Seam Tights (pictured middle). This is a great alternative to the famous Wolford seamed tights and great value at just £28 (€31.50)

2. American Apparel has leggings in every colour you can imagine. Whatshewears.ie especially love  these leggings with zips  (shown here in white) which were worn by singer Lykke Li at her  recent Dublin concert. Also these  black high shine leggings  (shown right) are ideal for the fashion forward amongst you.

3. If you like to accessorize your dog a-la Paris Hilton, these doggy t-shirts pictured are available from £10 (€11.20) from their UK shop until the Irish one opens. If you’re not a dog lover, the dog tshirts would make original presents for your canine loving friends.  

Needless to say, we look forward to the grand opening of American Apparel in Ireland!