Spice Up Your Coats With These Easy Tricks

This winter, don't feel drab when it comes to wearing coats. I know, they make you feel like you're wearing a million layers, but, hey, they keep you warm. While you're wearing your plain coats on the chilliest of days, why not spice them up with a few simple tricks? I'm going to share with you a few ways to add a little oomph to your outerwear.

Add a Bouquet of Brooches

Brooches are an elegant touch when it comes to anything and everything, especially coats. Put an odd number of brooches, like one, for a simple look, or put a few on, like five, for a modern, funky style. When you're picking brooches, try to keep a few things in mind:

1. Keep the metals the same. If you have a gold pin and a silver pin, don't mix them. Mixing metals can cause your look to clash (you should keep this tip in mind for anything else in the fashion world.
2. Vary the sizes of the pins. If you have three super large pins, they might begin to interfere with each other. Try picking a tiny, eye catching one, a medium, funky one, and a larger simpler one. Varying the sizes will balance out the brooches, and will be easy on the eyes. 
3. Be smart with sparkles. If you go overboard on the bling, your classy brooches will begin to look tacky. A helpful hint: try having one brooch with sparkles, another in a solid metal, and the last one in a different material such as glass, fabric, or ceramic.
4. Stick to a color theme. If you're going to have a colorful pin, like that peacock one pictured above, make sure the other colors of pins go along with it. That means stay in the color family. If you're new to fashion and don't know what that is, look at this handy-dandy color wheel.

Bunch It Together With Belts

Ahh, winter coats: their shapeless, unflattering form can be a real bummer when it comes to staying warm fashionably. A good way to beat the winter-coat blues is to belt your puffy coats. Yes, belt your coats... with a fashionable belt! Take an embellished, elastic belt, and stretch it over the center of your puffy jacket. For an idea of how it should look, take a look at these coat-and-belt combinations I put together for you.

Now, you can be fashionable and warm this winter, rocking your new coat styles.