Welcome to the Style Suite with Kéla Walker, your source for fashion and style trends for power plays in the workplace. Every Tuesday and Thursday, she’ll share tips and suggestions to help maximize your style on a budget. Whether you’re the style devil in Prada or the apprentice with limited apparel, you’ll find something in the Style Suite to suit your needs.
As the days turn from cool to cold, it’s likely that you’re pushing your dresses to the side and resorting to pants for that all over, warm coverage. As tempting as it may be, don’t let the cold weather freeze you out of wearing dresses. While they may be the last thing you want to wear in this weather, they’re still the simplest and quickest way to step out in style. Now more than ever is the time to wear a dress and play up those legs of yours in the workplace—with tights, that it is. Tights are your seasonal accessory to defeat the cold and make your winter wardrobe a little more interesting.
- Go Opaque : No more stockings. ‘Tis the season for thicker, opaque tights. Look for those that blend wool and/or cotton with Lycra and nylon. Pay attention to the “den” number in the description. Simply put, the den is the thickness of the threads used to make the tights. The higher the number, the thicker the material. I tend to go for 60 and higher in the winter.
- Play with color: Don’t get stuck in a rut. Long gone are the days when black legwear was the only color for the office. Tights come in a large spectrum of colors, complementing both your wardrobe and your workplace. Instead of donning standard black tights, try a pair in the color of the season, oxblood, to add a little oomph.
- Pattern and Prints: In addition to allowing you to don your dresses through the low temperatures, tights are also a great way to express your personality in the workplace. Just like color tights, the range of printed and patterns is greatly varied.  Depending on your work workplace you can go wild with an edgy print or keep it simple with a  tonal stripe pattern.
The point it to mix it up during the bitter cold days and continue to dress to impress, literally. Don’t sacrifice your work wardrobe and style for old man winter.
Find more fashion and style tips at KelasKloset.com and follow me on Twitter (@kelawalker).
Kéla Walker is an award-winning, Emmy-nominated producer and TV host, who has contributed lifestyle and entertainment content for outlets including NBC’s LXTV, Getty Images, YRB Magazine, Madame Noire, and RTL Germany. She also has a passion for fashion and offers the latest in fab fashion trends and consumer deals with KelasKloset.com. Her chic style and trendsetting blog has been lauded by sites including Essence.com and Huffington Post Black Voices.