The easy way to create a look you love when a style inspires you
Recently, someone commented on one of my outfit posts asking, “Where can I get those shoes? I love them!” and I said “Thank you, I’ve actually had these shoes for several years and they are no longer available.” Another person replied saying “Why wear, and show, something that’s no longer available?”
Well, why wouldn’t I? These are my clothes. I don’t cycle through a whole new wardrobe every season. I shop my closet. I’ve built a wardrobe that I love, why would I toss it out every season and start over with something new? I’m not going to do it, and I just don’t want to. You don’t have to either.
Last week we started talking about tips to restyle an inspiration outfit. My goal is not to encourage you to go out and buy a whole new wardrobe every season or to try and buy whatever it is that I’m wearing. My goal is to teach you how to shop your closet, recognize all of the great things you have, and find new ways to wear them.
This article and the video below are taken from the Stunning Style Weekly Style Snack! Join us Wednesdays at 1pm ET on the Stunning Style Facebook page or the FREE Capsule Wardrobes for Classic Style Facebook Group.
Tips to Restyle an Inspiration Outfit
To show you how versatile an inspiration outfit can be, I’m recreating the same outfit several ways by incorporating these tips. Last week we covered the first four tips, and today we’ll cover four more.
This is an outfit from the current Fall wardrobe guide, but it’s something you can also use as inspiration going into winter. There’s a red top, a black jacket, black pants and houndstooth patterned bag and shoes with a silver layered chain and silver hoop earrings.
5. Do The Shuffle
Keeping the elements of color palette, pattern, and balance in mind, you can rearrange them to re-create an inspiration outfit.
In the first example I’ve basically flipped it upside down. I’m wearing a black top and red skirt, black boots and I’ve changed the pattern to leopard. I kept the pattern in my bag but decided to forgo it in my shoes. This is a pretty simple swap.
In the second outfit, I’ve moved the red into the pattern in my top. It’s still a houndstooth pattern, and the red is still in my top. I’m wearing dark denim and navy blue instead of black. I stayed true to the dark neutral in my bottoms and layer, I’ve just. moved the pattern into my top and combined it with the color.
6. Color Is Optional
One of the Style Snacks I’ve covered before is how to substitute for a color you may not have or want in your closet. As much as I love red, not everyone does. What if you love all the elements in this outfit except the red?
It’s as easy as spinning the color wheel and choosing your favorite! You can go with something in the same color family but different, like a different version of red, or a tertiary color that has red as a base, like purple, burgundy, oxblood or pink.
In the first outfit I chose pink and navy blue rather than red and black. I switched the pattern to stripes and put them in my top as well, and I’m wearing navy boots.
If you want, you can even substitute all the colors like I did in the second outfit. I changed the neutral colors from black to a deep dark chocolate brown and I added a second neutral in the cognac color. The only red in the outfit is in my lip and nail colors. The pattern is still in my bag, but it’s leopard instead of houndstooth.
7. Rethink The Trends
I love classic style, and I also love to incorporate the trends that work with my classic style. Leather everything is a big trend this season, and we just talked about this in the Stunning Style Society as one of our Style Steps for the fall season.
In this case, the inspiration outfit has a pair of faux leather pants in black. For the first example, I am wearing leather pants however instead of being straight leg they are cropped and wide leg. Instead of black, I’ve chosen brown and instead of red I went with a light pink. I’m wearing leopard (again) but it’s just in my shoes this time. My bag is a solid brown.
On the right, again I flipped the outfit upside down and went with an oxblood red. Instead of leather pants I chose a leather skirt. I still have the black jacket and the pattern has changed from houndstooth to a croc embossed texture on my bag. It’s a tone on tone look that isn’t as high contrast as the houndstooth bag.
8. Something Old Can Feel New
I actually own a red top just like that, I have a pair of leather jeans, I don’t have a black blazer anymore but I do have lots of black jackets. I don’t have any houndstooth bags or shoes. Did that stop me from coming up with a fresh way to wear it? Absolutely not!
What I’ve done in the first example is moved the red to my burgundy corduroy pants. I swapped the black for navy in my top and my coat, and again the pattern is leopard. That navy sweater is one of my very favorite most-worn wardrobe items, as is the coat. Taking this inspiration outfit gave me the chance to think of new ways to wear them. And that’s what inspiration outfits are all about!
In the second example I wasn’t really feeling the color or the pattern, so I went with a black dress and instead of a blazer I wore my very favorite moto jacket. I have had this dress for at least 7 years and the jacket for about 6. These are two very well loved items and I had never worn them together before. I still kept the leather element and moved it to my jacket, so I came up with a new combination for these very basic wardrobe staples that I’ve had for so long and put them together in a very fresh and new way.
Finding a new way to wear an old favorite can make it feel fresh again, and that’s as satisfying as bringing something new into your wardrobe. Or maybe even better because it saves you money, closet space, mental space, and it exercises that creative muscle, which is so satisfying.
It’s one of the benefits I hear about from members of the Society when they shop their closets for the inspiration outfits from the monthly calendars. “I’ve had this for years and never thought of wearing it this way!”
So, what do you do when you see an inspiration outfit? I used to feel the need to go out and buy the exact same items, but now I see it as an opportunity to mix things up and shop my closet.
