Drab to fab styling
One of the many things I love about fashion is the vast array of styles available, and the ability to transform pieces to suit your specific preferences. Style is so subjective, what one likes another does not. I honestly love that, otherwise, we would all be wearing the exact same thing, and how boring would that be?
I am calling this post drab to fab, I find the majority of pieces no matter how ugly or outdated, can be upstyled into something cute. Clothing is a form of self-expression and can be created into something YOU find beautiful, whatever that may be. You may like the before outfit better, and that’s good too!
Here we go! For this challenge, I started with pieces I would typically pass over, but often see women my age wear on the regular. I wanted to use pieces that most would see as outdated or unflattering. Thrift stores are full of these type of pieces. Everything I have used here was thrifted except for the hat and belt.
Well... uhh, ummm, whew. What can I say about this before outfit? I think the photos say it all. This is my personal anti-style, nothing about it makes me feel anything but frumpy. As a petite person, it swallows me up an makes me look much wider than I am, even the pieces that are my size. The cut of a piece and where it lays on you is such an important factor in dressing to enhance your features. Bagginess is no one’s fashion friend. I even wore FLAT shoes, I went all in people lol! What the outfit does have going for it is the rich colors and textures of the fabrics, that is a good starting point, even though the skirt is vintage and screams 90’s elementary teacher, it still has potential to be cute.
Accessories to the rescue here! Belting the blazer instantly gives the waistline some much needed definition. That one change gives the outfit a more tailored and updated look. Adding a scarf to the shawl neck reduces it’s bagginess. The beret and matching boots give visual interest at the top and bottom which help to draw the eye away from the skirt.
The wool blazer, sweater, and velvety feel of the maxi skirt makes it a great outfit for winter. It no longer has the frump vibe that it started with.
It’s fine as a maxi, but by simply pulling the skirt up and wearing it like a strapless dress, I now have a midi skirt, 2 skirts in one. Elastic skirts are great to do this with. This now gives the bottom half more color to work with in your choice of footwear, in this case, rust suede boots to keep the texture train going.
Speaking of footwear, I just bought these funky boots, GX by Gwen Stefani, and I had to wear them with the skirt since they matched so well. I changed the hat and belt and lost the scarf for a fun outfit that is not quite as warm. Drab to my kind of fab in just a few easy steps! I love choices and what can be created with just a few accessories.
Blessings,
Eden
