Today is December 22nd, the shortest day of the year and longest night for  those in the Northern Hemisphere; from now on every day will get longer and every night shorter. The winter solstice marks a major turning point for us because the longer days allows us more opportunity to show off the style. Soon, 4:48 will no longer mark the typical sunset, rather it will mark the beginning of the extra two hour opportunity you will have to stunt on the streets. But wait, it’s winter. It’s cold, snowy and depressing outside; “there’s no way I’m going bother dressing nice when it’s so cold my body starts shivering as if I just had a vision from God to lead the plebs to salvation.” Here’s the thing: the cold will be the last hinderance on your mind because A) global warming and B) you’ll be layering up (but mostly because of the global warming).

Just because you can wear a tee shirt and shorts in mid-December doesn’t mean you should. Fall/winter is the only time you get to wear pants, sweaters and jackets on the daily without sweating like Steve Harvey after calling the wrong Miss Universe winner; take advantage of this opportunity. Unfortunately for you, some days the weather ends up colder than teachers who don’t round up; on those days if you don’t layer up you’ll be on the fast track to looking like an overstuffed snowman in your stupidly puffy bubble coat.

The biggest factor in your outfit is the color of each piece. Unless you want to look like a color-blind 5 year old, don’t wear pieces of the same color – same shades is cutting it close, but when done right it’s “better than words.” Focus on creating contrast between your top and bottom half, but not so much that each piece attracts too much attention.

Earlier I wrote and pushed you to cop a pair of white sneakers because they might be the hottest trend since the Hitler Youth haircut. I pray you copped a pair in the past 3 months because they might be the most versatile shoes you can own. Here they offer a pop of color in an otherwise neutral outfit. The Gap jeans have been fading over the past 3 years which only adds to their appeal. Blue jeans/white sneakers is eye catching, it’s a simple combination you cannot mess up.

The top half is where it gets a bit tricky. You want this to be the focus of your ‘fit but not because of its garishness. A good way to accomplish this is to use two different shades of the same color. On top, there is the charcoal grey, speckled Banana Republic bomber. Speckles are definitely a trend this year, but buy at your own risk as there’s no telling how long it’ll be in for. The speckles add another dimension to the outfit as it’s not too often you see patterns on your average guy’s clothes. Underneath the heather grey pullover offers the contrast on the top half needed to keep the outfit from becoming your usual, uninspired spaghetti and tomato sauce, created from the exotic cardboard box you found in the noodles aisle and the half empty jar of tomato sauce left in the freezer. The undershirt is the simplest part of the outfit: pick any color that won’t clash with the rest of the outfit. In this case I chose white because it complimented my shoes.

So next time it’s a bit too cold for cargo shorts and flip flops, skip the overstuffed bubble coat and slip some layers on. You keep warm by having layers of air insulating your body, hence why a thin pullover and light bomber can end up keeping you warm. Sit tight, diligent readers, we’ll be back (soon).

– Sid

All photos courtesy of Mayur K.