I love styling looks that make me feel confident, sexy, empowered. Most days, that tends to be high fashion and/or workwear looks. In recent months, I've been working on developing my casual style.
To be honest, styling casual looks is a challenge for me. Most of the time, I default to sporty looks, dresses, or jeans/joggers + t-shirt when I need to get up and go. I haven't tried to perfect the polished casual looks I see on Instagram.
If you're a long time reader and/or Instagram follower, you know I use the term "structured femininity" to describe my personal style because the outfits I put together tend to incorporate structure to make a social commentary on my definition of femininity. High fashion and workwear looks lend themselves to this loose framework of structured femininity, but I've never truly attempted to adapt my casual style to this guiding principle...until now. It's time to diversify my range of looks.
While exploring the new depths of my creativity, I still want to maintain my unique personal style: pattern, color, structure, layering.
As I was looking for new pieces to rent with my Rent the Runway subscription, I came across a tie dye crop top. Now, I know tie dye was a HUGE trend in 2020, but I never really got into it. I'm not sure why? Nonetheless, I was digging the cut, color, and crop of the top so I decided to add it to my next Rent the Runway shipment. I also found a light blue, faux leather two-piece set (jacket + mini skirt) - I knew it would pair with the pastel tie dye crop. *Adds to next shipment*
When my rentals arrived, I dropped everything to try on each piece. Naturally. The crop top and jacket were a WIN, but the miniskirt was wayyyy too small. I sized up two sizes, and it still didn't cover my butt. Pro Tip: If you have hips, don't waste a rental on this.
Ultimately, I paired the crop top, jacket with my vintage Bill Blass shorts, previously styled here. As far as styling, I wanted to combine colors - pastels with deep hues - to make a transitional look.
My style philosophy is that shoes have the power to set (or change) the entire tone of a look. Here, the shoes really pulled the whole casual look together. I decided to make the look colorful and casual with my Nike Cortez's. I found this pair at the Nike Outlet at Queenstown Outlets, a great spot to stop when heading back to Baltimore from OCMD.
Here's the final look:
Jacket: ALIÉTTE Faux Leather Jacket, Rent the Runway (shop similar here)
Top: Spiritual Gangster, Rent the Runway (buy similar here)
Shorts: Vintage Bill Blass
Shoes: Sold out (shop similar below)
Necklace: Two Photon Art
MY PICKS: Colorful Nike Cortez's
If you're inspired by this look, comment on this post, share on Pinterest, send to a friend, and/or recreate it with your own personal flair. Don't forget to tag me! For more style inspiration, check out my previous looks under the STYLE tab.
Keep up with my everyday looks by following me on Instagram!
Until next time,
Comments