The Christmas jumpers have been out in their droves in Manchester this week - have you got yours yet? If not, fashion editor Rachel Pugh shared her top picks from all the top retailers, which you can find here.
Personally I have two Christmas jumpers I wear on rotaton - the first being a Wham sweatshirt I bought secondhand on Depop after regretting not buying it in Primark three years earlier, and one from Boohoo that I've had for more than five years now. To jazz it up and give it some fresh life, last year I sewed myself a detachable collar to add to it.
Everyone has wrapped up warm for the markets this week as winter arrived in Manchester. Hats, gloves, scarves and big coats are well and truly the new in-trend purely through necessity. But we found several shoppers who had managed to stay cosy while still looking fabulously stylish.
READ MORE: This £5 Christmas card comes with two free drinks at Manchester bar saving £15
This week I chatted to best friends Megan and Alice - who shared their thoughts on UGGs being back in style - as well as wardrobe-swapping sisters Finley and Kes, for the latest edition of Steal Their Style. Not forgetting Ewa, who was sporting a festive knit, and Miriam, who styled her entire look around a decade-old hat from M&S.
Here are the six most fashionable shoppers stopped in Manchester this week, and how you can Steal Their Style.
Ewa Allen
Ewa Allen was getting into the festive spirit at Manchester Christmas Markets wearing a green festive knit from Tesco’s F&F range. The 38-year-old, originally from Poland, has lived in Manchester for 12 years, and purchased the jumper last week in time for Christmas Jumper Day.
She paired the knit with a pink velvet pleated skirt from M&S, as well as a coat that was £69 from TK Maxx and some M&S boots.
She added: “My glasses are new from Pop Specs in the Trafford Centre - they’re really good prescription sunglasses.
“I like Gucci style with their prints and colours. I like to look at their website and what styles they have and take inspiration from that, mixing current and vintage styles. For now I just own Gucci lipsticks, though.”
Miriam Baxter
Visiting the Christmas markets with her sister, Miriam, from Leyland, based her entire outfit around a hat she purchased from Marks and Spencer a decade ago. She said: “My friend chose it for me at the time and said I had to have it, and I’m glad she did because I’ve loved it for ten years now.”
The 35-year-old styled the look with a pink coat from Pull and Bear and a Joanie jumper, Matalan jeans and some boots, as well as a Ness green and pink scarf to tie both colours together.
Miriam said: “I love to keep my clothes and love them for a long time. I would never throw something away and if I fall out of love with something I’ll give it to charity. I try not to follow trends and only buy clothes that I really love and then wear it over and over. If you buy trendy stuff you find yourself spending for the sake of it.”
Megan Currie
Megan was visiting the markets with her friend Alice wearing a pink jumper and scarf combo, wrapped up warm for the frosty morning. Visiting from Teesside, Megan, 26, wore an outfit entirely from H&M and Zara - her two favourite brands.
She styled boots with a teddy-style coat from H&M, while her shorts, jumper and scarf were all from Zara, as well as some ‘really old’ gloves, adding: “You need a pair in this weather’.
Megan added: “This coat tends to come back every year, I saw it on Instagram at the time and had to have it.
“I look to my friends a lot for inspiration, I have one who I’ll text ‘find me an outfit’ and they always do. I love H&M and Zara and they’re both really nice quality for the money. I like all year round clothes, we don't have loads of money so I like to wear it over and over.”
Alice Turner
Alice and Megan were both out at the markets to celebrate Alice’s birthday, on Tuesday, where she’ll be turning 27. Also from Teesside, Alice wore UGG ultra minis with UGG gloves, Zara jeans and a H&M jumper, adding on a £70 coat from Zara.
UGGs have well and truly come back into style, following a surge in popularity in the late noughties. Alice said: “I got these last year, I had UGGs the first time around 11 years ago. I used to work at TJ Hughes and got 25 per cent off at the time. I didn’t expect them to come back into fashion and I’d be embarrassed to wear them just to walk the dog but they’ve soon come back around.
“I love Instagram and follow a lot of bloggers, I watch a lot from Perrie Sian as she does hauls from Zara and other stores I love.”
Finley Cross and Kes Malone
Sisters Finley and Kes, from North Wales, love to wardrobe swap clothes - but donned very different outfits for the Christmas markets.
Younger sister Finley, aged 22, opted for a celestial look inspired by her love of astrology. She said: “My coat is from Superdry and was £120, the top is from a charity shop, the other top from a friend and my skirt was £17 at Tesco. The bag and scarf are also charity shop finds.”
When it comes to style inspiration, as well as raiding Kes’s wardrobe, she also loves the actress Florence Pugh, commenting: “I liked her style in Don’t Worry Darling. I like to put my own spin on her style, making it more vintage, eclectic and hippy.”
Meanwhile, older sister Kes, 23, wore only charity shop finds, the most expensive of which was her coat, which cost £5.
She said: “I go to the charity shop too often, probably once a week. I share a lot of clothes with Finley - we used to have very different styles but now we quite like a lot of the same stuff,” admitting that her scarf was pinched from her sister’s wardrobe today.
She added: “The skirt was FatFace and cost £3.50 in the charity shop, my top was £2 and my boots, from Buffalo, were a Christmas present.”
Kes loves to look for clothes at car boots, too, telling me: “Car boots are also great for finding cheap clothes, but you have to take note of the labels. You meet some lovely people doing that too.
“My icon at the moment is Julia Fox, Kanye’s ex - I love her, her makeup is insane.”
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