Style SOS Part 3: Help Me to Wear the Block Coloured Skirt That I Love
Last Monday I did a talk for a small group of ladies about how to enjoy their wardrobe and feel confident in their clothes.
We explored their own personal style, talked about body shapes and discussed ideas about how to improve their current wardrobes. As part of the session I’d asked them to bring some clothes with them that they loved but didn’t know how to wear.
The final item I was asked about was a colour block skirt purchased from Next in the January sales which still had it’s tag on as the owner was unsure what to wear with it. Sales are one of the most common reasons in which an unworn item has been purchased ‘because it was a bargain!’ Hopefully these ideas will mean that it will now become a well worn bargain!
1. Add Contrast
The image on the left is the actual skirt owned. Looking at the way in which the retailer has styled the item can often be a good source of inspiration, although you obviously want to inject your own spin on it too so you don’t look like the catalogue! Using a contrasting coloured top from those that appear in the skirt is a great way to create a fresh look.
To find colours that would work, either do a Pinterest search, for example ‘cobalt blue colour scheme’. Mustard, Coral or Jade Green would contrast well with the skirt.
2. Use Patterns
Pick up the colours of the skirt in a print or pattern, it can often be easier than finding a block colour that will work with it. On the right a simple breton stripe top in navy and white pairs brilliantly with the navy stripe in the skirt and would just as well with the block pattern in the skirt above.
A plain t-shirt with a slogan with blue in it would work just as well.
3. Alter It
As a bit of an out there idea, but I suggested that to change the entire look of the dress and to reduce the heaviness of the velvet and sleeves so it didn’t feel to ‘Christmassy’, that the sleeves be shortened or removed.
Along with shortening the hem of a full length evening dress, changing the sleeves is a relatively easy job that can change the entire look of the piece to create a different dress.
I hope that has given you some ideas about how you can re-wear some pieces in your own wardrobe, do let me know what you try. If you have a piece that you love, fits and just don’t know how to wear it check out my Wardrobe Clinic which is a small group session where I will share ideas.
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