Introduction

As any man who advocates dressing well will know, accessories – when used correctly – are often the difference between a good look and a great look.

When the weather worsens, accessories also serve a practical function as well as their role in style, although it’s imperative the latter is never left out in the cold.

Below we’ve drawn up our definitive list of the five essential accessories – ranging from the practical to the stylish and everything between – which we think are the must-haves of the coming season. So without further delay let’s jump straight in with number one.

1) The Full Sized Umbrella

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1205 A/W 2011 Lookbook

FashionBeans would like to introduce you to London brand 1205′s autumn/winter 2011 collection.

1205 clothing collections include both women and menswear but tend to focus on tailoring – playing with the idea of producing a unisex wardrobe. With the Androgyny trend playing such a huge part in both men and women’s fashion these days, the lines continue to blur with regards to what constitutes true menswear or womenswear. Is this a range of clothes that finally allows you to raid your girlfriend’s wardrobe like she does with you?!

Their a/w 11 collection is made up of wool jersey pleat front trousers, suits, shawl collar blazers and shirts in a colour palette of neutral monochrome shades such as grey, white, black and navy.

Paula Gerbase, the designer behind 120, has kept the designs simple and focused on producing well cut tailored pieces that are sleek and simple. The whole collection is steered away from unnecessary detailing and utilises a mix of high quality fabrics – allowing both men and women to be able to mix and match from the collection to create their own individual look and style.

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Introduction

A jumper – of some incarnation – will be making an appearance in every male-dominated wardrobe this season. With layering a heavy focus for a lot of us, it’s a given. The jumper becomes that timeless garment to add warmth, along with style to any look.

With a wide range of alternatives available to us in today’s market, what style of jumpers should we be looking towards for autumn/winter 2011? Whether you are looking for a jumper to dress up or dress down a look, neutralise or add colour to an outfit, or simply just add as much warmth as possible, today we will be highlighting the three styles of jumper which you should definitely be considering for this season.

1. The Sweater

For some reason I hate the word “sweater”, so I was pretty shocked when I found the inspiration to include them into this article. I don’t know what it is, maybe the fact it reminds me of that awful school uniform I once had to wear on a daily occasion (that yellow sweater has scarred me for life). Or maybe it’s a result of being forced to wear that awful purple knitted sort from Grandma every time I felt a chill. Or even that it was the nasty headmasters trademark garment? Whatever it is I find myself currently staring at a wardrobe filled with them. My now ex headmaster would be proud of my current collection.

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Introduction

With wax and quilted jackets becoming hugely popular within menswear this season, and mixed in alongside key fabrics such as tweed and cord, it is safe to say that the farm house heritage trend is going to be seeing us right through the autumn/winter seasons. However, as the heritage and great outdoors type trends develop a strangle hold on our wardrobes and outfits for the foreseeable future, there is a key item which has previously been missing from the pages of FashionBeans. An item which has polarised the opinion of many men over the years but could take your layering and looks to the next level.

Let me introduce to you all, the gilet. Forget it’s previous misconceptions; forget it’s cousins the body warmer and tank top. It’s the easier option to throwing on an overcoat, a way to take your winter layering to the the next level, and the perfect solution to those casual days when the weather simply cannot make up it’s mind.

Gilets have come a long way in the fashion world and are bigger and certainly better than ever before. We all remember those awful body warmers from our early childhood years that we were forced to wear by our parents – making us look like miniature Michelin men. A sight for sore eyes I’m sure. Too much padding, too thick, and were impossible to move in.

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Introduction

Yesterday, in the first part of this mini series concerning key textures for this autumn/winter, we detailed how men’s fashion is going to have a love affair with texture in the coming months. Major fashion houses and high street retailers alike are releasing a plethora of materials and textures for you to integrate into your outfits and personal style. We also mentioned how mixing and matching textures within your looks can take them to the next level by adding detailing, focal points and depth to your layering.

The key textures covered yesterday were: Tweed, Velvet, Faux Fur and Shearling.

For the second part of our breakdown, I will be introducing to you to 4 more key textures that deserve a place in your wardrobe for the coming season.

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Introduction

I would like to first apologise for the seemingly persistent winter theme running throughout my recent articles, we are technically still experiencing our ever dependable British summer, although you would be forgiven for thinking that summer had actually ended many weeks ago. It is actually the 23rd September – to be exact – until Autumn does officially arrive and we really can give up any tiny morsel of hope we had left for a dribbling of sun.

Following on from our recent round up of 5 things you really should own for the coming season, I thought that I would expand a little further on one particular item – the shearling jacket. Without wishing to appear overbearing or forcing the issue, a coat is in all seriousness, an investment piece. It requires an awful lot of thought and consideration as it will arguably be THE defining feature of your entire winter look; it covers over half of the rest of your clothes and will get a great deal of use – whether you want to wear it or not.

This means that, in a similar way to shoes (in my opinion anyway), it has to be exactly the right one for you. A coat says quite a lot about the man wearing it and with the current trends in men’s fashion there really isn’t any room for us to be . . . . . sheepish (really sorry).

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Introduction

As the summer draws to an end, you may struggle to find something to smile about. However, not all is doom and gloom. The beginning of a new season means one thing – the chance to update and upgrade your wardrobe.

So pack away your beloved summer essentials, and start preparing yourself for the wind and rain.

To help you tackle the miserable months ahead, I have prepared a list of five essentials which should see you safely through the coming autumn/winter season.

Number 1 – Fair Isle

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Turtle Power

Turtleneck jumpers have long been in and out of men’s fashion, but could this be the year they turn from passing fad to a true essential for the modern day male? Whether you like it or not, X-Factor is back on UK television, and even though it might be funny to laugh at the deluded wannabes that grace its stage, my mind has been elsewhere when watching the show; namely focussed on the sharp style of both Gary Barlow and Dermot O’Leary. Who knew? Both of these gentlemen are well loved here in Britain, and it seems like their personal style has jumped a level over the past couple of years.

Dermot has particularly stood out for me over recent weeks. He seems to have a real penchant for turtlenecks at the moment, and although I had heard and seen rumblings of the item becoming a trend piece for autumn/winter, I had no idea that they would take off this fast. Indeed, it seems they are already becoming popular within this transitional period between the end of summer and autumn, as none other than the ever dapper Will Young also sported one on BBC breakfast the week after:

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