How to achieve effortless style

Timeless elegance. Monochrome minimalism. And effortless style. These are the founding principles of The Piebald Boutique, and for good reason! I hear so many women feeling overwhelmed by how to find pieces to suit their style — or how to find their sense of style all together! The Boutique (which opens its doors next week – yay!) is here to help.

But first, let me let you into my little secret … but please, keep this to yourself! When I’m getting dressed or designing a room in my home, I don’t want anyone knowing how long I spend curating looks. (It would probably shock you … and we wouldn’t want that!) I’m always looking to achieve timeless elegance oh-so effortlessly … as if I’ve just woken up like this. (Truth: I most certainly haven’t!)

So, now you know my aim … when I’m shopping for new items for my wardrobe or home, my strategy is to start with the basics and build from there. I look for elegant pieces that are going to stand the test of time – aka ‘timeless elegance’. Black and white are versatile, core colours which I find I can integrate seamlessly into my existing wardrobe and rooms – this is why I’m looking for minimalist and monochrome pieces. And, as I’ve said, I want my overall look to be stylish but not forced – let’s hear it for ‘effortless style’.

I’ve designed the Boutique to help you to do the same. We stock carefully curated pieces to help you to build your capsule collections for your wardrobe and home. The idea is, when you have your core collection, you can add on from there, and, as the pieces in the Boutique are all timeless, elegant and monochrome, they’re easy enough to add into your existing wardrobes and homes. (They’re also so gorgeous, you can trust us when we say you’ll want them in your homes!)

I look for nods to current trends in the pieces (think a puff sleeve, a cut-out or speckled stone) but they will always have a timeless quality to them — we want our items to last! Just take a look at the colour white which trending this upcoming spring/summer season because of its timeless quality…

White fashion

White fashion ... it’s classic. It’s versatile. And it’s seasonless. These are three of the three reasons why the Pantone Color Institute listed this colour under the Spring/Summer 2022 Core Classics on the fashion colour trend report at London Fashion Week.

Specifically, it’s the shade of white alyssum that’s trending … it’s thought to express longevity.

The Institute says, ‘Clean and clarifying, white alyssum cuts through the chaos, addressing our desire for easy and effortless simplicity.’

With our spring/summer season coming up here in South Africa, it’s a good time to stock up on white pieces for our wardrobes. And The Piebald Boutique won’t disappoint on this front.

Little Black Dress

Something that’s a timeless classic and which you can integrate into your wardrobe with current trends is the little black dress – or LBD. It’s one of my faves as it’s so versatile, I know it’ll carry me from making deals in the boardroom to winning hearts at dinner parties. In fact, it was the theme of my 21st birthday party. Coco Chanel would have approved … I’m sure of it!

Back in 1926, Vogue described a simple black dress with narrow long sleeves as ‘Chanel’s Ford’, saying it would become ‘a sort of uniform for all women of taste’. Of course, the publication was bang on the money ... an LBD is still the most timelessly elegant choice.