STYLE

not so basic outfit

September 9, 2018

Lately I’ve been wearing a lot of neutrals.. actually who am I kidding, I always wear neutrals! With the exception of some bold pieces in my closet, everything is pretty much black, white or a neutral shade.

With Fall around the corner, I know for a fact I’m going to be speaking neutrals with every outfit I put together. I love wearing black with everything and honestly there’s something devilishly pleasing about wearing white during the fall/winter. With the exception of a few other colors, white and black are going to be the main shades in my color palette.

So the dilemma we’re probably often faced with is.. how do I wear basics without looking basic? How do you wear black and white without looking like a waitress, right? Honestly, it takes trial and error and figuring out what works for you, but there are a few tricks I’ve learned that might help. If you’re interested, read on…

Choose a color

First off, you want to choose the main color/color palette you want to work with. In both of these outfits I wore the same black pants. I knew I didn’t want to wear all black, but I did want to choose neutral colors. You can probably tell both are laid back but completely different types of outfits. I wanted to show how different the outfits can look depending on the colors you throw in. One is strictly black and white while the other one is borderline not neutral with the design on the t-shirt. Point is, I started with the black pants and worked my way to the other parts of the outfit.

Decide what mood you’re going for

Before you even pick the color of you want to start with, decide what mood you’re in and what you want your outfit to look like. Are you going for laid back or a little dressed up? Maybe a little in between? I’d say my black and white outfit can be dressed up with nude heels, but I wanted to take a notch back and wore nude loafers instead. Again.. the mood! I wasn’t in the mood for heels but I wanted a something a little dressy so I accessorized with the pretty white earrings.. which brings me to my next point…

Accessorize with a purpose

I can’t tell you how important this is. This will make or break your outfit. You don’t want to over accessorize (ever), but specially not with a neutral outfit. You want the attention to be in the way you put together the different shades, so go with accessories that are the same shade/color, or pick one area to focus on. In the blazer outfit, I stacked a few gold necklaces and decided that was the area of focus. I didn’t wear earrings, rings or a watch. Simple accessories always win with neutrals!