Are you sick of winter and all the fashion head games it plays? March is several weeks off, and they say tomorrow it’s going to snow! This is the time of year when, regardless of the cold weather, I have to get out of my dark, heavy winter clothes or I feel like I am going to suffocate.
What do you wear to feel happy and alive when it’s freezing out and still not quite spring? Here’s a look at a few great tops to perk up your mood and bridge the gap between seasons.
To make it feel more like spring, try these dressing tricks:
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1
Choose Soft Pastel Shades
Pretty pastels like lilac, peach, pink, soft blue, pale yellow, and mint green remind us of summer, so wearing them is a great way to take your mind off the harsh winter.
Luckily pastels have become trendy to wear year-round, so there are a lot of pastel tops and clothes to choose from right now. I love this cute striped sweater. It has a fresh, summery feel but is acceptable to wear year-round. Wear it with your favorite jeans all year round.
2
Slip Into a Pretty Floral Print
Spring florals are always a great way to perk you up. This ruffle tie-neck top is a feel-good find this time of year. You can't help but smile and think of spring when you slip this on and see how cute you look covered in petite blooms!
3
Play with a New Spring Detail
Something as simple as catching the early wave of a new spring trend can make you feel more alive in winter.
For example, ruching is the big thing this spring, and that's why I'm attracted to this button up top with front ruching. It's just a little bit different, which makes it fresh and exciting, and that vibrant orange color tricks me into thinking I'm enjoying a gorgeous sunset on the beach.
4
Incorporate White
White always looks fresh and springlike, so if you can find a top like this to ease you into spring, you're sure to start having more pep in your step!
The great thing about this floral boatneck top is that it's versatile. The pattern has dark and light colors, so you can wear it in winter with dark, long-winter pants or pair it with cropped white jeans in summer. Either way, it will look equally fabulous!
5
Keep an Eye on Eyelet
Eyelet is a summer fabric, but now you can wear it year-round. Choose colors that aren't white such as blue, pink, red, or green and pair your eyelet with jeans, pants or layer under a blazer.
6
Transition By Wearing Navy
When I can't bear to wear any more black, but Easter egg spring colors feel too light for this time of year, I turn to navy. Navy is the perfect transitional color I like wearing from February to May.
This navy boatneck blouse is something I'd typically wear now. I call it a spring teaser. It's dark enough to look right for February - March, but it also opens the door to spring. The touches of tumbling daisies are fresh and uplifting. Wearing this is like announcing, "O.K., I'm done with February. Hurry up, Spring!"
7
Throw on a Spring Jacket
Another way to shift your winter wardrobe into spring is with a chic transitional jacket. This stunning tweed jacket is a great way to dress up a pair of jeans in the winter. This pink and ivory one has a pretty windowpane pattern and the colors scream spring.
Don't you love a piece you can wear for a long stretch?
This jacket would look great right through to early fall, and because it is so light and soft, I think it would be perfect for traveling.
8
Wear a Lightweight Layer
This beautifully ribbed sweated has short puffed sleeves that make it ideal for layering under blazers and cardigan sweaters. Because this is a lightweight sweater, you won't be bogged down with a lot of bulk or heavy fabrics.
9
Look Modern in Colorblock
The color block trend is sticking around for another season. And for good reason. It's easy to wear, looks modern, and the stripes give it a sporty vibe. This color block sweater also happens to be slimming since the stripes fall in a vertical rather than a horizontal pattern. Don't you just love the subtle, neutral colors?
10
Green is Great for Transitioning
Let this impeccably tailored tweed jacket put a spring in your step. Whether you're heading to the office or to lunch with friends, this vibrant green blazer flatters all skin tones and looks great with jeans, skirts, and trousers.
You can even save this blazer for a festive St. Patrick's Day celebration.
What do you wear to get you out of the dumps this time of year? What colors, patterns, and styles make you feel uplifted?
Thanks for sharing such an excellent article. I was looking for something to buy for my mother on her 45th birthday & this article for yours helped me.
Hello, I just discovered your blog last week, and I’ve enjoyed reading your posts on style and looking good. I’m an almost 60 grandmother of seven, and I want to feel good about how I present myself. I love this post and plan on ordering. Have you ever posted your particular hairstyle and its type of cut? It is simply adorable, and I would be interested in knowing how you style it.
I look forward to reading and learning more about style and looking at our best in the season that we are in. Blessings to you!
Hi Cathy, Glad you are enjoying the blog. That’s a great idea. I will have to talk to my hairdresser about doing an interview, and she can explain what she does. Thanks!
Do you think tops with ties in front or side add more bulk to the middle area? That is the area I am working on minimizing. I love winter; I wouldn’t say I like February – it seems like such a long month.
Hi Arna, Thanks for dropping by. If you are concerned about your middle, you are better off with a side tie. You are drawing attention by placing the link in the middle of your stomach. Depending on your tummy size, you may not want any association around your middle area. You could also try a link at the hip. You are looking forward to spring too!
Hello Deborah,
Based on your recommendations, I recently purchased a floral print top with pleated cuffs on a mauve background from The Loft. It is wonderful. I can wear it dressed down with white or blue jeans, or dress it up. Many thanks for your recommendations and advice.
Wonderful Ezell! So glad I could help you pick out such a cute top. I recently started shopping at Loft, and they have some beautiful things at great prices!
I would love to see models in their 50s and above more often.
Hi Sandee, I agree. Models our age are few and far between. I rely on photos taken from brands that use young models. I have been trying to get them to change for years. I can’t afford to buy clothes and hire models, but I do feature 40+ bloggers here in my 40 and 50+ blogger category: https://www.fabulousafter40.com/category/street-chic/40-50-bloggers/.
Cheers, Deb
I love the tulip print blouse. The details on the sleeve, plus the fresh print, are calling my name. Off to check out shipping details to Canada.
Hi Joanna, They ship to Canada, but there is a duty/shipping charge. I’ve done it before, but then I found out that if you call a Nordstrom store in Canada, they will search in Canada and ship it to you from one of their Canadian stores for free! Nordstrom is in Vancouver and Toronto so call one of their stores to order and receive free.
Thank you for that info. I shop at Nordstrom anytime I visit Ottawa. There is one in Vancouver, but it’s about a four-hour trip from Vancouver Island (ferry et all). I didn’t know the store would search out and ship. I love the selection at Nordstrom, especially the shoe department. I’ll be calling for the tulip blouse.
There is also a Nordstrom in Calgary as well! :)
Great post!
I love the floral cold shoulder top so much! But has anyone here experience with Nordstrom deliveries to Europe ? At the website they state it is possible and that all charges (also customs) are included at the check-out. But I rather rely on actual experiences: Anyone tried it yet?
The pleated hem is a cute new look!
Hi Cheryl, I like it too. It’s such a feminine detail. Isn’t that color gorgeous too? Cheers, Deborah
I’m unsure what makes us think we must dress to match the environment. No wonder we start to get a case of the blahs when everything around us is dull and gray…maybe because we’re only wearing light and gray clothes. Color does wonders for the mood, and it just helps to break up the scenery ;) Thanks for the colorful inspiration.
Shellie
http://www.thefabjourney.com
I love these and the thought of color again, especially with spring coming soon.
What about those of us that are a bit rounder?
I love this look. Can these be worn with leggings? I could carry this off since I have the legs.
I love these. I think it’s important to know how to combine your style with some of the latest trends but not be a slave to fashion. Deborah, you have a good handle on a lot of this. There was an article a while back in More magazine about Carolina Herrera. She knows her style – fuller skirts at about knee length, crisp white shirts, fabulous jewelry. Would that we all were that way in knowing ourselves! For myself, I prefer a v-neck.
These are adorable, and I already have several of them on my Nordstrom wish list, but I’m wondering if they can be belted. I’m an hourglass, which means that straight tops/dresses that hang from the bustline make me look much heavier than I am. What do you think?
Very Good Posting!
What a great idea. Time to dig through my closet for something I’d put away for winter.
Andrea
Hi Sniff,
Please have a great trip, take some photos, and send them my way! You will be getting some great deals with the Euro going your way!
I love these. I live in Norway, but I will be going to New York in April for some shopping. I’ll be sure to put Nordstroms on my to do-list.
I love them all! I have the figure and look very young for my age. I have a very soft, almost girly look, so I THINK I could pull it off.
I love this look! 20,30,40 can all wear these adorable styles.
I must not shop enough. I have not seen these, but I will now head to the stores.
I bought something like these late last summer at Steinmart and I love it! I’m going to bring it out for spring too. So comfortable with sandals.
Hi Lisa,
Yes, get it out early and start wearing it with a cute cardigan and leggings or jeans and boots!
Hi!
This is a fun site! I am 46 and need the inspiration here!
I go to church. I dress for church. It is the nicest I look all week, as I have been a stay-at-home mom for 20 years. I really enjoy that one day each week to dress it up. I think that through the years having a weekly dress up day has helped me keep my weight down. I don’t know, but if I never had to wear a dress or skirt and jewelry, but just did the casual affair all the time, I think it would have been easier to let myself “go”.
I think it helps to dress up. Church, the office, a date night, night out with the gals, some special but regular reason for raising the fashion bar. For years, I even had a dress up Monday established here at home, just to jump start myself for the work week. (I am a very active homeschooling mother) My daughter and I wore a dress every Monday.
This Sunday I was exactly where this post suggests – the winter blahs! And I dragged out a dress that looked almost like these shifts! Funny! It is an older “geo” design of a few years back, but the three-quarter sleeves, black-with-royal blue colors and shorter length. As stated, the length would have been shorter on a tall gal, but I am 5’3″ so it hit my knee. It was only 36 degrees but I went without hose and used s bronzer on my legs. It felt Great!
Thanks a lot, I’m having a blast here.
Sandra in WA state
Hi Sandra,
Welcome to the group! Thanks for writing in…I LOVE to hear about what everyone is wearing! Also, that is an excellent point about having to dress up at least once a week; it makes you aware of sneaky weight gain! Did you realize that you only have to gain 5 pounds a year, and in 10 years, you could be 50 pounds overweight? At this age, we need to be diligent so that the pounds don’t sneak on.
By setting an excellent example for your children by staying fit and dressing nicely, you are helping them see the importance of healthy living and self-appreciation! Good job!!
I hear complaints from corporations daily that their employees are dressing poorly and that it is bad for business and makes for sloppy work.
I feel that with a little effort, you can still be comfortable and look and feel great! Sandra, you are preparing your kids for success in the real world! YEAH!
Welcome, and we look forward to hearing more from you!!
Cheers, Deborah