My No. 1 Style Tip

In its simplest terms, the sandwich rule is about balancing colour in your outfits, though you can use it to balance silhouettes as well (more on that later). The idea is to have a colour on the top and bottom and sandwich another colour in the middle, or you can also use the sandwich rule to break up a look that's all one colour, like this white mini dress. This helps to make your ensemble look more elevated and stylish and it avoids the top or bottom of your outfit looking too 'heavy', with all the dark colours in one spot.

Above, I started with my white Ted Baker dress and tan shoes from Dune, plus an orange bag for a pop of colour. The colours felt very separate from each other at first so I added my Loewe belt to cinch in my waist and a pair of tortoiseshell sunglasses. When applying the sandwich rule, I try to always stick to no more than 3 colours as I feel this elevates the look.

You could argue there's actually 4 colours in this next look because of the straw bag and the hair clip I'm wearing, but I don't tend to count beige because it's so close to my skin colour (I am VERY pale!). I wanted to wear white trainers on this day as I was going to be doing a lot of walking, but the rest of the outfit was quite dark. I therefore added my straw tote bag from M&S (I've linked this year's version which is very similar) to bring the white of the trainers further up in the outfit so it didn't look so unbalanced. The straw material has the added bonus of immediately making quite a dark outfit look much more summery.

There's a few more colours going on in this outfit that I wore to read books beside the Prinsengracht in Amsterdam last year. I always like to take a statement coat with me when travelling to European cities in winter, because it's often the only part of your outfit people will see, and of course it's likely to be a very bulky coat.

To avoid looking like Joey wearing all of Chandler's clothes, layer your coat over a more lightweight outfit like a long-sleeved dress and tights, rather than a chunky jumper and jeans. It wasn't too cold in Amsterdam when I went, so I wore these sheer polka dot tights (similar linked). If you're worried about being too cold, there are a few things you can do:

1. Wear two (or more!) pairs of opaque tights. Black or brown are great colours. (Affordable option)
2. Wear cashmere tights. (Investment option)
3. Wear fleece-lined tights. (Affordable option)

But of course shoes are important on city breaks and during cold, possibly wet, months in Europe. The best solution for me is always boots, and of course I remember the sandwich rule: chunky coat on top, slimmer dress/tights in the middle, chunky boots on the bottom. It's all about bringing the look together with that balance.

You might be thinking, 'Great, now I have to buy a red top to go with my red stilettos'. Firstly, you sound fabulous. Secondly, don't rush to the shops just yet - you might just have something in your arsenal already that will work.

I love my Burberry scarf and whenever I've scrolled Pinterest for ways to style it, gorgeous women in red jumper dresses always stand out. There is a small amount of red in the scarf and these outfits pick it up beautifully. For a while I considered buying a red jumper so I could emulate this look.

However, I don't really wear red. It's a bit showy for me and I don't like making style-over-substance purchases. I thought, 'How can I take inspo from these outfits using what I already have?' Lo and behold, my makeup drawer had the answer: red lippy. (I use Red Wishes by Charlotte Tilbury.)

All us girls who love the Parisian look have a red lipstick in our collection. Even if we're not into red, we know that a pop of red on the lips can work wonders! If you have an item in your wardrobe that you love but is a bit of an anomaly in terms of its colour, have a hunt through your makeup to see if you can accentuate it there. I bet most of you have an eyeshadow palette with colours you don't normally use.