STYLE LESSONS: WINTER FILMS

Set in New York in 1981, crime drama A Most Violent Year is a twisted retelling of the American dream featuring some stylish performances and strong 80s outerwear. The film captures the Big Apple at its most lawless as it follows immigrants Abel Morales (Oscar Isaac) and his wife Anna (Jessica Chastain) as they fight against a backdrop of crime and corruption to protect their own.

With its cool 80s aesthetic masterminded by Giorgio Armani, this film offers sartorial insight in almost every frame, but the most important takeaway from this criminally stylish movie is the perennial power of a camel overcoat. Morales proves that this classic piece is a smart investment that will always work in winter.

Once you’ve seen it, it’s hard to get Jack Nicholson’s menacing grin in cult classic The Shining out of your head, but easier to overlook is the strong array of winter-wear on show. The snowy, mountainous setting of Stanley Kubrick’s chilling horror means there’s a plethora of 70s-style coats, knits and checked shirts to help coax you out of your boring cold-weather kit.

While murderous father Jack Torrance’s green fisherman’s knit is pretty iconic, it’s his burgundy corduroy jacket that’s the sartorial standout here. Layered over a tee and a thick plaid shirt, it’s the perfect way to stay warm and keep your colour palette on-point. Invest in velvety cord or suede textures for a more interesting outer shell.

No one battles evil (or the elements) with as much steez as James Bond. Back to save the world as 007 for a fourth time, Daniel Craig’s winter wardrobe is a cool combination of classic cable knits, navy coats and techy black ski-wear. This time around, the agent’s efforts to defeat Spectre see him fly a snow plane through the French Alps and also present a perfect example of how to look smart in the mountains.

Bond’s high-functioning kit is refined, sophisticated and unfussy. He teams a simple black padded jacket with a pair of navy wool trousers, grey socks and all-black boots to prove après-ski style isn’t all about novelty knits and clashing colours.

The winter style lessons to be learnt from Jake Gyllenhaal are arguably infinite, but his greatest on-screen sartorial turn comes in environmental-crisis epic The Day After Tomorrow. Sam Hall (Gyllenhaal) starts the film in some solid seasonal staples, but it’s when a storm hits and he finds himself in the midst of an apocalyptic ice-age that his cold-weather gear really gets good.

Forced to fight for survival, Hall dons about as many layers as humanly possible and – happy accident or not – he lands on a seriously strong look. He and his crew battle the elements in oversized coats, hoodies and other makeshift styles that wouldn’t be out of place at a Yeezy show. It’s this kind of unconventional approach to proportions and layering that that has made combining a hoodie and overcoat one of winter’s key styling moves.