The clocks have gone forward but with temperatures plunging to mid-January levels, it feels as if our wardrobes have gone backwards. As April begins, there is snow on the ground in parts of Britain – and I can’t be the only person refusing to pull on the same black tights and thick coats I wore through Christmas and New Year. The gloriously warm false spring of last week brought out all the floral print dresses and pastel jackets that have been in hiding since September – and moved our collective fashion appetite forward a season. 

The key, then, to getting through this last patch of winter, is clever styling – swapping scarves for jumpers and black hosiery for power trousers – and remembering that more daylight means more colour than you’d wear in the dreary depths of February. 

Instead of rueing the loss of sunshine, make the most of the last weeks of chic layers, cosy puffers and toasty knits before we welcome real spring with open arms. Here, three ways to get through Winter 2.0.

The puffer with a suit

Mix one part winter with two parts spring when you combine a sherbet coloured power suit with a thick winter puffer. The beauty of this look is that you’ll be wonderfully warm while also nodding to the balmy days to come, thanks to those cheerful ice-cream shades. The mauve suit Maye Musk, 73, is wearing here is the sort of clever purchase that will see you through until October – wear it with a thin knit underneath once the temperature rises and swap that for a T-shirt by May or a blouse if you’re planning to wear it to the office. Black ankle boots, too, can easily be replaced with ballet flats, trainers or Birkenstocks. As for right now: if you have a jazzy puffer like this one, use it to add to the look – although the navy or black duvet coat you’ve been wearing all winter can certainly come out for one last encore.