Oversized coats and wide legged trousers: What you'll be wearing this winter

Will you wear wide-leg trousers this winter? Oversize coats? Think about plaids or tartan? Trifle with black leather or stick with old favourites? Here comes the new season bringing with it new ideas and challenging shapes and, whether likeable, wearable, sustainable or whatever, current trends have to be considered because that’s what buyers believe we will want.

What was acceptable and desirable 10 or 20 years ago can look dated today and what looks out of place today will gradually look unremarkable tomorrow. Anyone who went through the 1980s with its power shoulders and big hair would shudder at the thought of weathering that again. But that look reflected the times when more and more women were going out to work and literally shouldering new responsibilities.

Fashion keeps on referencing the past, and horror stories abound about new takes on the 90s, but styling can make everything look modern – different hair, shoes, or make-up can be transformative.

The two sizes too big coats and the airy trousers that flapped all over the catwalks have fashion victims already sporting these disproportionate shapes but they speak volumes – literally – about easygoing comfort and leisure which, along with sporting references, are all very much contemporary fashion preoccupations; protective wear for uncertain times.

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Taking fashion to extremes

Some take it to extremes like the notion of wearing several coats rather than one, a ridiculous idea, but one bold colour makes a look stand out more. As for plaid and tartan, accessories such as shoes or bags are a way of accommodating the trend without going overboard though checks in a lower, calmer register are less visually overpowering.

Leopard print, however, remains the big winner this season knocking the spots off every other trend. The key to its enduring appeal is not just its familiar rosette pattern, but the fact that those neutral feline colours – brown, cream, black – are so compatible with any wardrobe, but also look great splashed with solid colours like red, green or yellow.

Alternatively, the Art Deco geometric print trousers in pink, white and black shown here is a fresh new way – worn with a black or a pink jacket – to enliven autumnal spirits while arming an existing black jacket with shoulder jewellery glams it up anew with a limited budget in mind.

• Photography: Emily Quinn – emilyquinn.com; Styling: Carmel Ann Daly – dalystyling.com; Hair and make-up: Liz McDonald @Raven using Sleek make-up; model: Amelia from notanotheragency.com