So I was hanging out with a friend over the weekend who was trying to challenge my humble fashionista skills by picking out ugly pieces of clothing and getting me to figure out some kind of outfit using that piece.
This friend hates blazers. HATES. She’s convinced that she looks like her mother when she wears one. Her mother’s some sort of executive and wears lots of blazers, but Megan only has the standard black suit jacket for her interview suits, that’s it.
So she happened upon this yellow blazer which she thought was icky. To be honest, I don’t think it’s that bad. It’s a little dowdy on the model, sure, but that’s because the white pants give it way too much of a Reagan era look, and even the cuteness of the model can’t come back from that. The challenge, really, is finding something to really bring out the trendy, youthful edge to this otherwise tea-with-Gramma buttercream blazer. Let’s take a look.
Semantiks ‘Garden Party’ Jacket (SALE) ………. $58.90
Fab Solid Knit Cami in brown ………. $2.50
TYTE Stretch Cross Hatch Denim ………. $15
Michelle D ‘Sizzle’ Pumps (SALE) ………. $20.70
Ha, whenever I have a piece that is a larger cut of my $100 budget than I’d like, I always cheat and hit up the $15 Store. :-P I’m awful.
But chances are, you’ve got that perfect pair of dark wash, boot-cut, whiskered denim jeans lying around at home, anyway, so you’re set. Boot cut is a flattering cut for any body type, really, especially petite girls like me, and dark wash is slimming. Win-win.
A simple brown camisole underneath (you can get a softer, longer one with a lace trim at Forever21, too, if you prefer that) works nicely with the white and yellow in the jacket. You really really REALLY want to avoid coordinating black with yellow. You’ll look like a bumblebee. Don’t do it. Here, the brown’s a good pick. A nice olive green for the top and darker green shoes would also work, in a Michelle Obama way, which is infinitely superior to a Nancy Reagan way.
We all remember this ensemble, right?
Then, of course, we’ve got the jacket. I paired it with a pair of brown peep-toes that are lighter at the toe, looking almost orange, and the orange color ties in and works with the yellow in the blazer to really pull this whole look together.
The different pieces all work to give a more youthful look to this ‘garden party’ jacket. Isn’t that a horrible name, yet? Seriously? You’re calling it a garden party jacket and then putting a really young model in it? As if we young people go to garden parties!
Everyone knows we prefer sock-hops.
I like this outfit. The blazer doesn’t look dowdy? :-[ Does that mean I have dowdy tastes?