Winter Arc Inspo: Becoming Confident and Gentle
By Nona Dimitrova 22/11/2024
Nona and Flo here, from Whering's editorial team 👋 We're sharing things inspiring our winter arc. The cold weather can make us want to hermit and hide from the world, but we've been finding inspiration in little things beyond social media, helping us find strength to gain confidence without losing a gentle touch.
Here's what's on our moodboards...
Fashion
With fashion seasons taking a little break in November, I have had to turn to other sources of inspiration. Recently, I’ve enjoyed being inspired by people’s energy: the attitude an outfit gives them versus the clothes themselves. I’ll save everything to a keepsake folder, not because I want to buy those items or specifically recreate that outfit, but because I like the attitude; seeing how my clothes can float through life in a similar way.
This Vogue Greece shoot. From the styling, to the shoot itself, I’m obsessed with the attitude. It’s both bitchy and ethereal. You can tell Daisy Edgar Jones feels so sure and confident in herself, and that’s exactly the vibe I’d like to bring to the function.
Neutrals with an unexpected pop of colour. I’ve had this outfit saved in my Instagram Saved for years, and I always come back to it. Not to recreate, but to look at and allow myself to be inspired.
Suede, carabiners and effortlessly slouchy silhouettes. These are all under a similar theme: effortless, floating through life, while also having very obvious and strong intentions. Clothes can totally dictate an attitude in my opinion!
"I’ve enjoyed being inspired by people’s energy: the attitude an outfit gives them versus the clothes themselves."
It's been slightly dryer this autumn in the UK, which I feel has made the leaves more beautiful than usual, as they haven't been turned into a wet pile to avoid. They've dried out, letting their colours shine. Reddy orange tones for autumn/winter aren't groundbreaking, but I love how the colours around me can transpire into colour palette inspo for winter and autumn outfits.
Words
This quote (and whole excerpt) from a Substack post by Chloe Violette made me nostalgic in all the best ways, while inspiring me to being that sunny, summer energy to the darker days too. It also inspired me to reminisce on all the places where the ghost of my summer self lives and realise how little parts of me live everywhere around me. I walk past those places with a smile now :)
"I'm inspired to reminisce on all the places where the ghost of my summer self lives and realise how little parts of me live everywhere around me."
I found this little screenshot in a long thread about how the Arctic Monkeys never use “I love you” in their lyrics but always find extremely poetic ways to describe someone’s impact on them. This one really stood out to me. I think there’s something so beautiful and human about the impact we allow others to have on us (also currently reading Ghosts by Dolly Alderton, so the first felt very on-brand), and how a small attitude change can make these brief or long encounters positively nostalgic instead of heart-wrenchingly painful.
I come back to “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love” often (I first picked it up in 2015) and this Autumn/Winter is no exception. There’s so much to be inspired by when you realise that love exists in every little thing around you, and there’s so much love left to experience. It fills me with joy, despite the book being a little bleak.
"There’s so much to be inspired by when you realise that love exists in every little thing around you, and there’s so much love left to experience."
The perfect winter read. This book has been all over social media, and it's really inspired me to cook warm and hearty meals and enjoy indulgent recipes with friends.
Activities
Escaping the city
Nona: I spent a long weekend in Edinburgh, visiting one of my best friends from school some weeks back. Don’t get me wrong, Edinburgh is by no means small, but something about getting out of the hustle of London, even just for a few days, with the only thing on your to-do list being to wander, look around, and appreciate everything you see was extremely healing and recharging to me. I’ve been putting in a lot of active effort to slow down in my day-to-day in London (give myself a moment to just stop and smell the air), but it’s easy to let the pace of the city sweep you back up without realising.
Flo: Visiting Oslo earlier this month was also a therapeutic experience. Spending time in a cabin outside the city was my favourite part. It reminded me how much I miss being outside. We tend to think of cities as hubs of creativity where everything happens, but there is so much inspiration to be found in quieter places.
Trying new things
Finding November warmth in crowds and opening myself up to spontaneous plans and music I don’t usually listen to, sober. I’m a pop girly til the day I die, but recently I’ve been extremely open to experiencing things (music, events, places) I previously thought I didn’t like. This was a club night my friends convinced me to go on 2 hours before it started. Getting more and more into techno/electronic music, and doing it sober has been so transformative for me. I get inspired by the people around me, the sounds around me, my friends’ energy. I think spontaneity is the mother of inspiration.
"I think spontaneity is the mother of inspiration."
Meeting new people
This monthly over____ground hike!! It’s such a friendly environment where everybody is open to meeting new people. The fact that you’re in nature is just a lovely bonus.
Beauty
If you know me, you know I’m a dyson blowout girly. I’ll still do it for a slightly more special occasion, but I’ve really been enjoying and appreciating slightly messy, effortless hair. I can’t quite get the Carrie volume on my pin-straight hair (and if I did, it would be a lot of effort, which kind of defeats the purpose) but the loose hanging braid has become my signature. I think it all ties in with some of the things I was saying before.
Bibliothèque by By Redo is just my favourite perfume in the whole world. It’s the only beauty product I would ever spend that much money on, and never ever consider buying a dupe. I think it’s okay to be meticulous in some areas of your life.
Once again, that mix of bitchy and ethereal attitude, mixed with cloudy effortlessness. I’m driven and confident, but also soft and gentle. I’ve been having a lot of fun experimenting with louder makeup when going out, and keeping things very soft for day-to-day or dinners. I went out to dinner and drinks wearing absolutely no makeup for the first time recently and it felt so freeing! My face is still my face :)
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