Gone are the days when blending into trees and leaves was the height of autumn fashion with its burgundy and oxblood tones. The ever eccentric world of fashion now welcomes cobalt blue into our winter wardrobes! Now, we know random bursts of colour in a winter wardrobe can be quite alarming, particularly for those who automatically reach for the grey woolly jumper as soon as the clocks go back, and hide under big black coats until the rain stops in March, but the trends are saying… go for it! Personally, I associate cobalt blue with fun summers and cocktails – usually to accentuate the tan I have tried to achieve during the rainy summer that Leeds usually seems to inflict on us – therefore seeing the colour used blocked on clothes for autumn, and even coats (Celine – we salute you!) was rather unusual, but it works! For once we can brighten up the dark nights and grey days with a cheerful colour, one that makes us get up and go, and makes a nice change from the greys and browns which merely remind us of the lack of sun we are about to have over the approaching months.

It’s great what you can actually do with cobalt once you get over the initial shock of it, which came with the idea of an oversized, blue woolly coat. The catwalks were draped in cobalt dresses, jumpers, coats and trousers, all proving that blue can look warm and wintery. Designers have finally proved that blue can look smart and sophisticated but also cosy and chilled. That lonely woolly jumper in the back of your wardrobe would look great with a skinny pair of cobalt blue jeans, or you can even tone down the vividness of the blue by choosing Cobalt accessories instead of clothing. My personal favourite is teaming cobalt blue with a burnt orange bag or boots. Advance  warning though, this is a colour to be worn in small doses – it’s unlikely everyone will look great in top-to-toe blue. Hey, if Katy Perry can dye her hair cobalt blue and magnificently pull it off, then surely we can seamlessly slot a flash of it in our wardrobes.