Freeze: Five Ways to Winterproof Your Office Look

Just when we thought it was all over....

I woke up this morning to a surprise covering of snow, making Sunday morning seem rather like a movie set. It snowed heavily here in January, and I thought we were pretty much over the worst, but apparently I was wrong.

I've been thinking a lot about the satorial dilemmas snow causes. You have the choice of staying warm and forsaking any kind of style in favour of comfort or toughing it out.

Now, I know that for any fashion-lover, 'beauty is pain' and all that nonsense. But when I'm dragging my ass to work on a freezing Monday morning, that all seems to go out the window for me and I end up looking as though my style icon is the Michelin man!

I've found it particularly hard to combine the categories of 'warm', 'stylish' and 'work-appropriate'. It just seems like an impossible task.

I've been scouring the web, magazines, and my favourite style blogs for some hints about how to create an outfit which ticks all of those boxes, but advice has been thin on the ground.

But somehow, I managed to find some inspiration in the least likely of places - The Daily Mail. If you are not familiar with this publication, it's an English newspaper frequently mocked for its 'little England' views on things (Royals are a big yes, immigrants a big no, etc).

So it's not the first place you'd think decent styling would be found, unless you have a particular passion for Boden. In which case, please leave this blog. NOW.

However, I was pleasantly surprised by the above images. Ok, some of them are a little 'older'
than me or the model, but there's a lot of plus points going on there.

The outfits look smart and professional, and I am a massive fan of the nudes-and-navy palette they've used. I especially love the first outfit, with the nipped-in blazer and 7/8ths trousers.

For each outfit, they show how you can change up the accessories to make it warm enough to actually go outdoors in, then presto change-o, you slip on a pair of heels and you've got an office outfit. It just goes to show how fashion inspiration can come from the unlikeliest of sources.