Grey Area: Menswear's solution to trans-seasonal dressing

You'd be a foolish man to fold away your winter woollens just yet

Always mix your chosen greys with both texture and pattern

If you're a dedicated follower of fashion, it can sometimes be a thorny issue when you're trying to figure out what to wear at this time of year.

While there's certainly a few more months of winter to endure, both stores and online retailers have already started to tease us with what they've bought for spring. And as tempting as these buys may look, you'd be a foolish man indeed to fold away your winter woollens and start buying shorts and T-shirts just yet.

Even so, making the odd purchase now that will resonate with the oncoming season isn't as hard as it looks.

Take the colour grey for example; considered boring by many, its various shades - from charcoal to dove - prove that its a remarkable trans-seasonal hue that fits in flawlessly with this sartorially tricky period.

But don't confuse desaturating your colour palette as playing it safe; you're not having a 1990's minimalist moment and you should always mix your chosen greys with both texture and pattern.

Admittedly, it isn't the most fashion forward of colours so is never going to be as thrilling as, say, wearing an eye-catching splash of pink. But that misses the point of grey entirely, which is that it will very rarely, if ever, let you down.

Whether it's an overcoat form New Look, a pair of shoes from ASOS or a shirt from Prada, it'll carry you through these next few months until the time is right to buy that new pair of shorts.