Good news! You don't need to sacrifice style for warmth, or vice versa. Tina Dragone knows this well. Her eponymous boutiques have served the local community for thirty-three years, during which she has outfitted fashionable women for every season. Here are some of her tips on how to survive winter.
FUR: An essential piece for any woman this winter, she says, is “a beautiful cashmere poncho trimmed in fur or a fur vest.” If you’re not one for real fur, worry not; faux pieces work too.
FOOTWEAR: Another winter must-have is a shoe bootie. "Stewart Weitzman makes great shoe booties. He’s a home-run designer in my world.” She also recommends several other designers, saying, “Ivanka Trump made some spectacular shoe booties this season, high- and low-heeled shoes that are beautiful and you can actually walk in. And Prada makes a fabulous low shoe bootie which I personally own.”
LAYER: The secret to staying warm while still being fashionable is to “layer, layer, layer. You can put on a great pair of wide-legged crop pants, which are going to be such a trend going into spring, especially in denim. You could wear them with a sock pushed down into a shoe bootie and you layer up underneath. I layer with a t-shirt company that we have here at the store called Majestic, and then you throw your sweater over that and you’re good to go,” says Dragone. She adds that long duster coats, sweaters, scarves and fingerless texting gloves are all on trend as the cold settles in.
COLOR: Just because the skies are grey doesn’t mean your wardrobe has to be. “Color always makes a woman feel beautiful and look great in the winter. It brightens up your skin. If you can’t get somewhere to get a tan, just wear some color,” she says. “We’ve been seeing a lot of blue—navy, jewel tones, beautiful hot-cobalt, and sea foam. We’ve seen coral as well. I think these colors will carry over into early spring.” However, that’s not to stay monochromatic can’t work in the winter. “I think a beautiful pair of ivory pants with an ivory sweater is a fabulous outfit. I love that look; very clean and classic, and yet, edgy.”
Tina Dragone
1687 Post Road E., Westport, 203-259-1184
1049 Boston Post Road, Darien, 203-655-0289