Tres Cher Pull Over!

We can’t help but notice that it’s suddenly got rather nippy of late. It seems the days of lounging outside in a vest and cut-off shorts have sadly come to an end for 2009. They do say however, there is a silver lining to every cloud; in our case that has lining has got to be the winter wardrobe and it’s made of wool and leather.

We love a good chunky knit but in the early autumn when the temperatures are tepid, a thin pull over is all that’s needed. Now the winter collections have firmly established themselves in-stores there are lots of new threads to choose from.

New on Net-a-Porter (http://www.net-a-porter.com/) we spotted this gorgeous Sonia Rykiel wool intarsia jumper for £465 which would look great with skinny jeans or tapered trousers and has casual daytime style down to a T.

Unfortunately for the most of us the price tag couldn’t go unnoticed, so we started thinking about how we could recreate the look ourselves and on a budget. Increasingly, in the quest to become more sustainable, unique and to express ourselves and our individual style, many of us are attempting to customise and make our own clothes.

Why not be inspired by the Sonia Rykiel pull-over and with a little influence from the great Tracy Emin, customise a plain high-street jumper using scrap materials for a bang-on-trend look.

Not ones to plagiarise, we’d advise coming up with a phrase of your own and recreate the look using on-trend pieces of leather, velvet or faux suede to embroider on the letters. Pick up a thin plain wool jumper from H&M or Topshop and utilise your creativity to create a one-off item that no one else will have. Whilst you're at it, why not sew some shoulder pads in there too. Eco, fashionable and stylish and at a fraction of the price. Voila!