A look from TopShop
I remember my grandmother, who is one of the most stylish ladies I have ever met, telling me about all the fashion rules that I should know, in order to make the right combinations and always to be considered among the well dressed crowd.
There were a few, but the ones that I always remembered were:
- Don’t wear black tights with white shoes
- Never pair stripes with stripes or other patterns
- Have your bag match your shoes
At circa 2007, all these rules have been broken. We see black tights paired with white shoes, stripes and patterns are happily paired together, and bags don’t match shoes necessarily. However, there are some tricks to make these former fashion faux-pas to fashion statements:
Black tights with white shoes: If you are 25 or younger go for it. It is an age to experiment and wear extreme fashion, however, keep things simple by wearing greys, crèmes, black or similar shades to avoid the carnival effect. If you are 25 and older, go for the combination of dark tights and lighter shoes, but not too light. This season, I particularly like the combination of charcoal grey or midnight blue with dark red pumps.
Stripes on stripes or patterns: you can do this, if you mix and patch stripes of similar colors or complimentary ones. For example you can pair a horizontally blue & white striped boat-neck T (or red or yellow) with a pair of blue trousers with a slight white vertical stripe. Avoid polka dots, paisley designs and anything too busy when you go for this look. You’ll make everyone nauseous.
Your bag doesn’t have to match your shoes anymore. Well yeah, but that doesn’t mean that anything goes. You shouldn’t mix seasons, i.e. thong sandals with tweed bag, or purpose of accessory i.e. evening bag with your favorite sneakers and try to keep colors complimentary. If you are not sure what colors are complimentary, check out this link.
Try these tricks and even my stylish grandma will be pleasantly surprised.
Johnston & Murphy blutcher boots
