Hot Flash: Cold weather fashion

By Heather Merriman Saba
| 5:00 a.m. January 15, 2014

Arts + Culture

For Sarasotans, it’s not often that we experience temperatures that truly require a change in our normal, everyday fashions. But for days like Tuesday, Jan. 7, where the day’s high barely reached 50 degrees, a dress or jeans with a chiffon top just won’t cut it. Black Tie’s Heather Merriman bundled up, braved the cold and headed out to St. Armands Circle to find the scoop on the trendiest winter fashions and tips on the best ways to dress for winter weather.

THE MET

Layering — the one word The Met’s Evan Reynolds used to explain how to handle cold weather in Sarasota. Layering pieces are a must for any woman’s wardrobe — you can wear these pieces in any type of weather, and layer them up on days when necessary.

“Jackets, like this one by Marchesa Voyage (left), are great for adding layers for warmth, and easy to take off and throw over your chair if you get hot indoors,” says Reynolds.

A must-have for this season, and a necessary staple in anyone’s wardrobe, is the asymmetrical moto jacket. “If you don’t have one, you have to have to one,” says Reynolds.

The fashion experts at The Met also suggest chunky knits (their favorite are Missoni’s), cardigans (you can never have enough) and cashmere wraps for layering up on chilly days.

The one item both Evan Reynolds and Jill Linehan suggests every wardrobe have: a great black turtleneck. “You can add a vest, add a scarf, add a cardigan — it’s such a buildable item,” says Linehan.

INFLUENCE STYLE

The chilly day brought a lot of people out to St. Armands’ most popular stores in attempts to find fashionable items to shield them from the cold — “We had this great Current/Elliott coated denim jacket. We had three and we sold all of them today,” Co-owner of INfluence Sam Beebe says.

“When people come in for cold-weather items, we send them over to the Vince cashmere sweaters,” says Beebe. “It’s easy — put one under a moto jacket, it’s a quick throw on,” she says as she quickly and effortlessly puts together a great look, appropriate for cold-weather days.