I did some playing around with outfits this morning…trying to find something to wear…and thought it might be fun to share what I came up with. There were mostly ‘misses’ and a couple of ‘hits,’ but I’ll show them all so you can see the pieces that look the best on me, and compare them with the things that may be okay, but aren’t “the best.”
Here goes:
I really wanted to be able to wear a tee-shirt, or something under this dress, but as you can see, it just doesn’t look as great with the green tee underneath as it does alone. I KNOW I look best with a lower neckline – not crew – and showing a little skin up top, but I am a little subconscious about my upper arms, so don’t tend to go sleeveless very often. Anyway, I’m not a fan of the dress with the tee-shirt underneath (and I did try a dark brown tee underneath as week, and it doesn’t work either), so I’ll stick with sleeveless, or with a cropped sweater on top.
Same thing with this dress! I wanted to make it a little more casual so I could wear it out running errands, and thought I could do that by putting a tee underneath. But as you can see, it totally ruins the neckline…and the neckline of this dress is one of the things that is really flattering on me.
I was just kind of playing with these outfits…the black skirt is from Anthropologie (last year) and while I do wear it for super-casual outfits, I don’t think it’s the most flattering length on me. Generally, I try to stick with the rule NOT to let my skirt hit at the widest part of my leg (that’s also true for pants by the way…NO CAPRIS!!!!) but rules are sometimes broken, so I ended up with this skirt, and the next one, which is by A Common Thread – also from last year. I like the green/black outfit the best, I think it balances my top and bottom pretty well, although my bottom half looks wider and stumpier than it should/could with a different skirt or outfit.
Now…compare all of these with my favorite outfits EVER:
Yes, the jacket is one common thread here – it does wonders to define my waist, which is crucial to my looking my BEST. Also, the skirt/dress hits just below my knee; the most flattering length for me. I don’t think a-line is necessarily better than pencil-style skirts either. I love them both on me, but tend to own more pencil skirts (denim) than others.
Learn from my dos/don’ts to analyze your own closet. Take pictures and look at them all together if you’re having trouble putting together the perfect outfits and filling your closet with things you love; make a note of your BEST outfits. Compare skirt lengths and styles, jackets, tee-shirt necklines, and more to see what looks THE BEST on you and try to stick with those. Again, fashion is about having fun, so it’s okay to break the rules sometimes, they’re just guidelines to help you buy your key pieces.
Check the Reviews section for more information about the pieces you see here.
