Hello and welcome to What to Wear this Week: Part 2 (part 1 found here). I assume that if you are a reader here you like to think about clothes and fashion BUT I highly doubt that any of us feel as though we have tons of time on our hands. Enter: 4 ideas for helping you get dressed when you are feeling uninspired/stuck.
Nothing I’m proposing here is ground-breaking or original to me but rather a simplified collection of ideas for you to peruse for use.
IDEA ONE: MONOCHROMATIC
Here’s what you are going to do today: go into your closet and pick one of your favorite items to wear (maybe it’s your favorite pair of jeans, maybe it’s a blazer you love, maybe it’s a simple t-shirt). Now find items to complete the outfit in; (a) that same color or (b) a similar tone.
If your brain immediately went here and you are writing off this idea because you don’t own cherry red pants and top, my I present some more (attainable) suggestions;
IDEA TWO: PLAY WITH YOUR BUTTONS
Remember last time when I charged you with grabbing your trusty button down to play with layering; go get that same button down for this one too (see, we are using what we already have!). If you can’t stand it, go get a button down cardigan instead. Now scroll the below ideas for how you can button your shirt in different ways to create different effects. I did my very best to find an image of Amy Smilovic’s button down hack and couldn’t but she will take the very bottom buttons and button it behind her back so her shirt creates a shrug; VERY cool. If you grab a cardigan try buttoning it up backward.
IDEA THREE: A NEW PROPORTION COMBINATION
I recently wrote about how Hannah Louise Poston made a YouTube video about the different proportion combinations;
Oversized Top + Oversized Bottom
Oversized Top + Slim Bottom
Slim Top + Slim Bottom
Slim Top + Oversized Bottom
So your assignment this week is to pick the combination above that you turn to the least. In our modern time of oversized everything I have to really convince myself to wear slim top + slim bottom; BUT when I went to my closet with that intention, I was surprised at how much fun I had putting an outfit together. Especially because slim + slim doesn’t mean you have to dress like a Kardashian.
Similarly, I think we are often told that the best combination is opposite top/bottom (i.e. Oversized Top + Slim Bottom OR Slim Top + Oversized Bottom) so maybe it’s your time to play with both your pieces being oversized. Just try for a fresh silhouette with this one.
IDEA FOUR: CREATE HIGH-CONTRAST
I admit that I have logged off of TikTok for the time being so you won’t see any video links from there for now but I had bookmarked this one that I saw a few weeks ago as a great idea for bringing a fresh idea to your wardrobe. oklaurizzle does a great job of explaining the concept of high-contrast outfits but the idea is combining pieces that you normally wouldn’t. This feels similar to a vibe-sandwich because the best way to create contrast (as you’ll see in the video) is sporty with girlie, but I pulled my favorite inspirational pictures I found I was most drawn to button down shirts layered with track pants so maybe start there? Or tell me how you like to create contrast!
One side affect that I’m hoping will take root after my NO SPEND is being happy with the clothes I already have. However, I love shopping so I thought I’d use my newsletter to become a more thoughtful shopper. Certainly putting together a rundown of what I bought in a month is one way to be accountable to not buying randomly.
So here’s what I purchased in February;
Love the ideas on switching up proportions!
Find me in a playful button, high contrast vibe sandwich... coming to a Substack girl-dinner near you 🫶
Oooh I love the track pant/button up combos! I went with all oversized today and I’m kinda liking it. Good tips!