Life in Colour - 17: What I’m Loving (and Not Loving) in Stores Right Now

Episode Date: July 24, 2025

In this episode, I’m sharing what I’ve been seeing in stores this season — the colours, styles, and trends that are popping up everywhere. From all the different shades of burgundy to the rise of knit pants, there’s a lot to take in right now. Some pieces feel exciting, others a little puzzling — and I’m breaking it down to help you figure out what might work for you. I’m also chatting about why stores are already rolling out sales before winter’s even properly started — and what that means if you’re still building your cold-weather wardrobe. Whether you’re planning a shopping trip or just want to stay in the loop, this episode is a fun look at what’s out there right now — with some helpful tips to shop with more clarity and confidence. Want to learn more about seasonal colour analysis? Get my free Find My Colours Guide. A step by step starter guide to discovering your colourpalette @ https://www.lovingcolour.au/findmycolours Or want to know your perfect colour palette now? Purchase a Virtual Colour Analysis with me to find out exactly which colours light you up! Go to https://www.lovingcolour.au/colouranalysis Follow along on Instagram: https://instagram.com/lovingcolour__

Welcome to Life in Color, the podcast where we dive into the real, raw and wonderfully colorful aspects of life. I'm your host, Ashley, and I'm here to explore the ins and outs of seasonal color analysis, navigating motherhood, thriving in your 40s and beyond, and embracing health and wellness with a healthy dose of humor. Join me as we uncover the secrets behind finding your perfect palette, share stories of the joys and challenges of being a mom. And from practical tips to heartfelt conversations, life in color is your space to laugh, learn and live life unapologetically in all of its colorful hues. So grab your favorite drink, settle in, and let's add some color to this adventure that we call

Life. Welcome to Life in Color. Hello, this week we're talking all about what's going on in stores. So I'm going to talk about things that I'm liking in stores and I'm going to talk about things that I'm not liking in stores. Now, obviously I am based in Australia and it's winter, the weather season of winter here. But it'd be really interesting. And if you live overseas, send me a message and let me.

know if you feel that this is what's happening in your area as well, whether that be you're in the northern hemisphere and it's obviously much, much warmer than what it is down here at the moment. But I'm finding it a little bit frustrating, if I'm honest, with what's going on in the fashion scene at the moment. So that is what we are going to be covering today. Let's start with what I'm liking. Let's always start with the positive, I think. So here are the things or items, things that I'm seeing in stores, whether that be online. So this covers, yeah, online and it covers in stores as well. I'm really, really loving that there are knit pants. But when I say knit pants, I'm not talking about the really sort of clingy ones, which I just happen to be wearing more clingy ones at the

moment because they're like my lounge pants. I'm talking more about these knitted pants that have that structure to them. So when you pick them up, they don't crush, but they're not thin. They have a really nice weight to them. And so when you put them on, they drape really beautifully. And when you are wearing them, they don't cling. So they don't show every lump and bump and nickeline and all that kind of thing. They're really, really lovely. And they can be dressed up to be really smart in a work setting, depending on what obviously you pair it with and where you work. But they absolutely can be worn in a work setting because the fabric, like I mentioned, it isn't that super clingy. It is knit. but it has a structure to it.

So it is much thicker and stiffer than what you would find with a traditional kind of knit. And I'm loving that. But you can also then dress them down, put them with a pair of sneakers, put them with a hoodie or a cardigan, something like that, and you can dress it down. And they're coming out in a variety of colours. Now, they are the more neutral colours, generally what I'm seeing. So I've seen them in black, charcoal. I've seen a lot of them like, you know, with the stripe down the side.

And then my daughter got a beautiful pair of those actually with the stripe down the side the other day. She's a deep autumn and she got a black pair and it has like a cream stripe down the side. Really, really beautiful. I've seen them in charcoal, hopefully I haven't said that already. And I'm seeing them in navy. Now I have seen them a couple of times in a light grey and I've seen them in a chocolate. Really, really lovely neutral colours. A lot of seasons can wear them.

Obviously there are more cool tones in that group of neutrals that I've mentioned. I haven't seen a huge amount. You might get some tans and caramels actually if you search for them. I haven't seen them in stores here, but I'm sure that they are around. It just depends on whether they're that more clingy kind of knit or that structured one. And I haven't really seen them in, say, like a khaki kind of colour. But I have definitely seen them in a navy, which obviously summers and winters can wear. Black winters can wear chocolates, definitely depending on the tone of chocolate.

majority of seasons can wear a chocolate. It just depends on whether it's warm or cool. So really, really enjoying the knits that are knit pants that are in stores at the moment. I think that is a fabulous alternative to wearing jeans. If you don't necessarily want to wear tailor pants, then you can wear these. Another thing about them is that they're warm, which is just so nice. I love that you have slightly thicker, warmer fabric pants that you can wear because a little bit of a side note or a, you know, what's to come. I do have a note about some of that to do within the negatives as well. So I'm pleased that a little bit we have something that we can go towards that's not always

wearing like jeans. Another thing that I'm really enjoying at the moment is the zip sweaters. Now, I think they've been around, but I mean, they've always been around, but they definitely seem to be a little bit more around this year, last year, this year. I really, really like them. They have that extra wide collar. generally on them and you can adjust to where you want it to be. So you can make it more of like almost a roll neck if you want to by putting the zip

right the way up or you can have it right the way down and then you have this really wide collar now. It doesn't look like a sailor's collar. It just looks like a really nice collar because it's the zip. The zip generally gives them that knit fabric a little bit of structure so that the collar sits up a little bit so it's not necessarily completely flat. So again it gives a little bit of dimension, a little bit of height and interest to the knit. I've seen these in so many different colors. They're really, really lovely. And I think they also

come in like, you know, rather than a knit, they come in like that sweatshirt as well. So like country road do those quite a bit. I'm really, really enjoying those. Another thing that I'm enjoying seeing, which again, a little bit, this will be a little bit of a negative. They sort of have positives and negatives almost to each of these is that the colour burgundy has been far and wide the colour of the season. Now, I love burgundy. I can't wear it or not easily. I have to be very, very careful with it, A, so it doesn't wash me out because I'm a light summer, but also a lot of them are quite dark and intense. And so therefore, they're too much for me, but there are so many of you out there that are in seasons that can wear them. But what I'm loving is there are so many

different variations, tints and shades and tones of burgundy. You have some that look more rust-based. You have, which is, you know, you've got that sort of reddy kind of orange in there. You have some that definitely have an orange undertone to them, others that have that red undertone to them. So it makes it more like a claret kind of wine kind of colour. Then you have some that have a really rich, dark purple undertone. So deep autumns, deep winters is what you're thinking to do with that particular colour. And that's a beautiful colour. I really, really love it. and that one is probably one of the most predominant ones that's out there. And then I have seen a couple, and I'll call it like a mulberry,

where you've taken that one sort of from deep winter, for example, that's got quite a bit of purple in it. It's quite dark and intense. And then they've mixed a little bit of maybe white into it. And so it's lightened. And they're the ones that are soft summer, a cool summer, and a light summer could potentially wear. Now, it's because they've lightened it

and lift it so it's nowhere near as heavy, intense and dark. That kind of burgundy, like mulberry, is quite hard to find. I haven't seen it around a huge amount. I did see a long sleeve top in it the other day at Glacons, but other than that, the majority of them are quite deep, dark and intense. But there's been a fabulous variety in that particular shade. So it's been really nice to see that retailers have tried a number of different colors and they're all not following exactly the same thing in terms of that one color, even though they're all doing it. But, you know, that happens every season when there's like a color of the season. So really, really enjoying the fact that burgundy is having its moment and chocolate is definitely

having its moment too and probably not necessarily as much. But it, it, and those two colors go together beautifully. Some of the things I'm not liking in stores. The lack of variety in color in accessories, I actually, do I dare say my list on what I don't like is a bit more than what I do like at the moment. And I'm not trying to be like a negative Nancy or anything like that. It's just I feel like that when I'm trying or when I'm shopping, I should say, for clients and for my members, before I feel like I would search for something and quite

quickly I could find it. And it's not that I can't find it now. It's maybe taking me a little longer and also I'm getting frustrated by the lack of colours that are available in certain things. So accessories is definitely one. When you're looking at accessories, they really stuck to the neutrals. Now, this also could be, I'm more than willing to acknowledge that the economic environment at the moment is tricky and it's challenging and there are so many businesses going bust, especially small businesses. And I know personally what it is like to run a clothing store and to be feeling like we need to do a new collection, but we have no money. I have been there. I have done that. I know what it feels like. And it is just awful. There's no other word for it. It's just awful.

And so you have to make really tough decisions about what you're going to do. And sometimes that is literally going back to basics. And I completely get it. Really, really get it. But I feel like across the board, even some of the bigger brands that do have the cash flow in order to do it, they're just playing it safe. And so with belts, let's use that as an example, because we've been talking about this in my membership quite a bit, there are no colours around. And it's really disappointing because colour, using a belt to add colour to your outfit is such a fantastic way.

And at the moment, you are finding tans, creams, you know, blacks. not really any navies. It's mainly those. That's it. And I think not everyone wants to wear that, for one, because some, you know, style personalities, they don't want to go for the neutrals. And everyone generally has one of those in their wardrobe. You know, I have a 10 one in mine, but you want to add a bit of fun and variety to your outfit. And that's where sometimes you want to add some color, but you don't, you want to wear a classic outfit. You want to wear the denim jeans and the white shirt and then. and put a blazer on top, like a navy blazer.

But you'd like to add a pop of color, whether that be your shoes, whether that be your earrings or belt. And I just kind of find at the moment with accessories, they're really playing it safe. Now, scarves in the southern hemisphere, I feel, played quite a big role in the winter months, but I feel like they used to have a moment where, you know, there was a show here called, I think I've referenced this before,

a show called Offspring. And Nina Proudman used to wear the most amazing scarves on that show. in summer. They're a really lightweight, really, really floaty, really beautiful. You can't find them now. Like a client and I have been searching high and low for one for her and she's finally found one, but she must have been looking for about nine months. Her and I have been looking for one. And when I say looking for one, it's even, you know, whenever I've been out, I have sent her messages in our membership group saying, you know, hey, I've just seen this. I'm in a news agency. These are the ones that I think might suit you. This is what I've seen.

let me know if you'd like me to grab it for you. And luckily she managed to find one when she was up in Queensland. But it shouldn't be like that. You should be able to find the lightweight scarves as well as the thicker ones for winter any time of you because that's a style choice. It's an accessory. And I feel like accessories, they don't get used as much purely because maybe stores don't offer them as much as what they used to.

And I find that that's really frustrating. And bags, yes, like talking about the Burgundy, have seen some burgundy bags, but you don't see a huge amount of color. And I think it's really disappointing because people like that. And there are people who wear neutrals more because that's what they enjoy wearing and it suits them. And to add color, they use it. They use their accessories. They use bags, they use shoes, scarves, all that kind of thing. That's where they add their color. You know, sometimes it can literally just be tying a scarf around the handle of the handbag and that's their color. And it's frustrating to see that you just can't find them and, you know, not tooting my own

horn, but I'm pretty good at finding things online. If someone needs something, I'm really good at finding it for them. So if I'm struggling sometimes, I can feel how hard it would be for all of you when you're looking for something. And I know all the different places to look and I know how to search online. It can be really frustrating. So I feel like there's a gap for that. And I don't want it to just be in the summer months maybe when more color starts to come out, like the brighter colors. I think it should be an ongoing thing. So I am still searching for accessories round up for my members purely because it's

been taking me a long time to actually find anything. So that's where I recommend looking overseas and looking at all different places, like random places to try. Like I was talking about a news agency, you know, the news agency's ones that do gifts, that you can find these things that you're looking for. and it can be like some chunky earrings or it can be like a really nice necklace in a colour. I feel like necklaces and jewelry has become quite almost metallic recently. And I love my metallics. I love silver. I wear it every single day. But sometimes you just want

that pop of colour too. So that's what I'm finding with accessories. The next thing is whilst I'm so happy to see some more sturdier knit pants come in that have that more structure, I'm getting really frustrated and disappointed to see that there are so many linen pants and lightweight rayon pants in stores when it's too cold to wear them. Now, I do feel the cold and I'll be the first to admit that yes, you can wear absolutely, you can wear a pair of tights underneath those pants. Absolutely you can. However, I still think that retailers should be, you know, looking at what people actually need and what they want to wear. And in the winter months, you know, I've been wanting, as you know, some coloured pants and I've

got two now, so I'm really excited about that. But they're the only coloured pants I could find in my colour palette that weren't a rayon kind of pant. I wanted them to be a bit thicker. And so they're corduroy. And I got them from Billabong. And I'm so grateful that I did find them. And I worked from home.

but I have clients who they don't want cord pants, but they would like some colored pants, but all they can find, same as me, a linen pants and maybe they don't like wearing linen. Or they're the really light round pants. Like you don't see those heavier kind of fabrics. And you certainly don't see more tailored pants necessarily in different colors. They stick to the neutrals. And not everyone wants to wear the neutrals. So again, it's that kind of thing.

Not a huge amount of color variety, but also they're just really, really lightweight. And I love linen pants. You know, I'll wear them all the time in spring and summer, but they have a place in that particular weather season because, you know, they're cool. That's what people wear linen for because it's a lovely, cool, breathable fabric. I don't want to wear linen in winter when it's 14 degrees is the top of temperature for the day and it's freezing cold. So I feel like there's a bit of.

a gap in the market for that at the moment. And there's skirts, well, apart from knit skirts, they're not really around a huge amount either. So you feel that you're sort of, if you work from home, you feel like jeans becomes then your only choice that you can wear. And if you're in the office, I can understand why people end up wearing the neutrals and blacks, because that's sort of their only choice in pants that they can wear when they're wanting to wear something a little bit thicker, a bit heavier and something that's warmer. So it'd be interesting to see whether hopefully over time that might evolve. But yeah, I find that a little bit irritating.

Last but not least. Now, again, I think this is economic environment and I totally understand that. The end of season sales started at the end of May. We had not even entered into the winter months yet. and I know that that's really frustrating for a lot of people that I've spoken to because, you know, there are certain parts of Australia, New Zealand as well, obviously, in particular, that they get really cold and they stay really cold for a really long time. When you have end of season sales starting at the end of May, they're not bringing necessarily

new collections in. You know, I was in Country Road on the 2nd of June and the middle of the store, I kid you not, The middle of the store was all sale items. I don't remember seeing that in June in a country road. I remember normally seeing new collections coming in, obviously not all the time, but they have a steady flow of newer items coming in, or they've got the store set up for winter. A lot of the sale items were summer.

And so what I'm finding is they're doing maybe fewer drops. And again, obviously that could be because they don't have the cash flow because people aren't buying as much. But there just wasn't anything. And then you've got people who are wanting, say they live, I've got a member who lives in country Victoria. It stays cold there for a really, really long time. And so when she's then trying to find something,

we tried to find, I think it was a coat last year. It must have been beginning middle of July. We were trying to find her a coat. They were all sold out. And it was because either they'd done a small, run maybe on sizes and that's definitely happening this year. The collections are getting much, much smaller. Stores are selling out much faster the sizes that they have done because obviously

I totally get it because you're testing to see whether a style will sell, but then it's not being replenished. And people are missing out because maybe they've waited a couple of weeks and whereas before you could go back and buy it, now it's completely sold out. But when you have those end of seasons starting before the seasons even actually started, I think there's becoming a bit of a disconnect between the cycle for what fashion actually has. And I, you know, again, I manufactured. I know how far in advance you have to do this and how often how far in advance you have to plan. It's just you then, what I'm feeling or

what I'm seeing is that there's like you're out of, there's no synchronicity between what the consumers actually need and then what the brands are actually supplying. It just feels like it's out of alignment at the moment, and I'm really hoping it will come back into alignment, but you could start, at this right, you could start to see if they wanted to, they don't want to do any more winter things. You know, last year, I think we started to see some spring things coming in in July. Well, you've still got August to go in winter, and September is mostly cold for the majority of Australia, apart from obviously Queensland, starting to get a little bit warmer. So how are people supposed to, for what they need, especially if they're doing investment items

and they're wanting to do something, you know, they get to the middle of the July and it's like, oh, I'm freezing. I need a couple more nits to get me through the rest of July and August. And they're not available. So it makes it really tricky for all of you to shop like that. And I totally understand. So when I go to the mall, I know that there's, you know, I was there on a Monday and it wasn't hugely busy.

So it's interesting. That's what I'm finding of what's. going on in stores at the moment. And if you see something that you love, I highly recommend, if you really, really love it, whether that be an investment piece or whether it be something that you know you're going to wear again and again and again and again and you'll love it, buy it when you see it. Because waiting for sales at the moment, there are sales everywhere, but if this particular item necessarily isn't on sale, you really run the risk of it selling out before you get a chance to actually purchase it. That happened again to another one of my members.

she saw something that she wanted to wear to her daughter's wedding. So it was a really important outfit. And it had sold out. And that was in the space of about two or three weeks that she'd started looking at it. And it was a higher price point. It was a fabulous outfit that she had found. And it was just so disappointing. She couldn't believe that it had already gone.

And it just shows that they, it's not that there's necessarily a high demand for it. It's because I really strongly believe that they're doing smaller runs because they don't have the amount of money. to maybe invest in it or they're wanting, again, to test that line. Really interesting to see what's going on at the moment. And I feel for retailers, it is cutthroat out there at the moment. And it's really, really hard. But yes, I know that may sound a little bit negative and a little bit opinionated. But that's just what I'm feeling at the moment.

And I thought I would share that's what we're discussing in the colour collective, which is my membership, because people are finding it tricky. And these are the kinds of conversations that we have. And so then they'll say to me, I'm really searching for this and I can't find it anywhere. Can you help? And that's what I do. I then spend quite a bit of time searching and trawling and going to my local mall,

trying to see if I can find exactly what they're after in their size before it's sold out because it's just proving a little bit challenging at the moment. So yeah, that's what's in stores at the moment. I'm not seeing, apart from obviously colors with burgundy, I'm not seeing necessarily a huge like trends this year. there seems to be more sort of last year than what there are this year. And you know me, I don't follow trends, but I do like to tell my clients about them because I'm all for trying trends if that's what you want to do and you think it will suit you or even if you don't know if it

will suit you, then try it and see and you never know you might love it. So I'm all for that. I just am not for trying a trend for the sake of it to stay relevant, to stay modern. No, that's never going to work. Like never. So make sure you're staying true to who you are when you're getting dressed every day. Thanks so much for joining me this week. If you have any opinions and insights into what we've been talking about today, send me a message to Ashley at LovingColor. Or hop onto Instagram at LovingColor double underscore and send me a message. I always love having a chat about all things. Style, beauty, fashion, makeup, style. Oh, I said style twice. That's perimenopause brain kicking in. But I always love to have a chat. And if you would like to continue your style journey

and have a color analysis with me, then head to lovingcolor.aU and you can book in for a color analysis or a one-to-one start reset with me. All of the details are over on my website. So take care. Have a great week and I will catch you next week with a new episode. Bye.