Hello,  I'm a man so you might want to wait for a second opinion on the subject of womens' fashion, but here's my 2 cents worth...

I wouldn't worry at all about looking stylish enough for the school run.  The clothes you described that you have seen at home sound perfect, exactly what you'd see here.

During the winter you do need to wrap up.  The temperatures in December, January and Februray can stay around freezing but the only extra thing I think you will need (apart from a few layers, hat, scarf and gloves) in your wardrobe are a good, heavy coat and boots.  The shops wont be stocked with those things here till winter time but you'll have loads of choice then.  I'm not talking about the clothes you'd need to go on an Arctic expedition by the way, just heavy and warm stuff.  If I were you I'd just get anything I needed when i got here.  I don't things are really that expensive here compared to the amount people earn generally.

When you go indoors during the winter simply take off your heavy coat, hat, scarf and gloves and you're fine! 

I hope your move goes well.

Having lived in NZ for a bit of time, I would suggest you bring your winter coat, boots etc with you as it will be much cheaper than buying it here.  Also as you are in the winter season in NZ at the moment you will have a lot of choice. 

This winter was my first here and I wasn't properly prepared and had to wait until I went home to the UK at Christmas to buy what I needed because even if I get a relatively good wage I refuse to spend nearly twice the amount I would elsewhere for clothes/shoes etc.

No one seems to have mentioned thermals.  Not super glam perhaps but very comforting when the ‘bise’* is blowing.  Thermals are certainly cheaper in the UK than here, so presumably they’ll also be a better buy in NZ.

If you ski or plan to learn, bring ski gear too.  For children, there are several ‘nearly new’ shops and some schools organize a ‘swop’ day for skis and all the other stuff that children outgrow so quickly.

In addition to a warm winter coat, a raincoat with a detachable lining is a useful addition to your wardrobe for the in-between seasons.

Geneva has several expensive boutiques but there are other more-reasonably priced outlets too. Quality is usually  good but if style’s important, buy in France or Italy.

All good wishes, Ritchie

*The ‘bise’ is a northerly, often bitterly cold, wind that blows in three-day cycles.  You need to wrap up well when it’s about.

a snowboard :)

I'm from Australia so I guess the temperature isn't that different to NZ except perhaps a bit warmer. In Australia houses aren't generally heated very well at all so I actually found it much more comfortable in Europe INSIDE (as xutka b) said. Being so warm inside everywhere you go, I found that I started to sweat as soon as I went inside and if I didn't want to carry all my clothes everywhere I didn't wear as much as I needed to outside (does that make sense?)

I can never understand how some people can wear the same number of layers of clothes both inside (probably 20deg with heating on) and outside! (anything from around -10 to 10deg).

I almost always wore an inner layer on my legs - longjohns or even just leggins or stockings if you are a girl.

As for shopping i think the best places to buy that sort of stuff would be in nearby France or Germany where the prices and range would be much better than NZ or Switzerland (if you happen to pass through there).

Another thing is, depending on where you go, the snow can be quite deep in places so it's a good idea to get some warm, waterproof and lined snowboots.