Copycat Style: October 2020

Animal Print Dress + Denim Shirt + Olive Jacket

Happy day, reader dear!

Welcome back to another installment of Copycat Style! I’ve been having a LOT of fun with these posts each month, and am pondering continuing them in 2021. Dear 2021, can you get here sooner, please? I think most of us are DONE with 2020… Let me know what you think about more Copycat Style posts, or about 2020. I’m all ears!

This month’s copycat was inspired by Bettye Rainwater of Fashion Schlub Her tagline? From Frumpy to Fabulous How can you not love that? Please take a few minutes to check out Bettye and her site. We can all use a little help with SEO! When I saw Bettye’s look posted on a Link Party, I knew instantly that I’d found my copycat for October… With a little tweaking, that is! So I pinned her to my Copycat Style board (Come follow me there!), and went hunting for some other looks sharing common elements, and the relaxed vibe…

I found some other looks loosely aligned (Copycatting isn’t about replicating, it’s about inspiration.) with Bettye’s (She’s the first!):

What elements bind all three?  Leopard. Casual vibe. Waist detail. I can work with that… I’m a professional!

What elements do I prefer from each? Give me all the leopard/animal print! AND the denim. The first and the third have three pieces; that always feels finished. And I love how the belt from the third peeks out from under the jacket. (More about that later…)

What do I not want? The warm undertones. (They’re gorgeous on warm gals, but not on me.) The shoes. The struggle is real. I’m not a slip on sandals kind of gal. Nor do I like how I look in booties with dresses… I’m too darned short! Now, booties with tights for a longer line, I’m in, but it’s still in the 80’s here; I’d roast. Finally, I do not want the bulk of a shirt tied around my middle.

What do I own to work with?

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Leopard Dress? Check! Well, not quite leopard. Mine’s more of an abstract animal print, but it’s a fave! I wear it 12 months of the year. I’ve dedicated two posts to styling it (Here’s the second!), and could probably write at least one more about how much I LOVE this dress! I do not have a lightweight/soft chambray shirt like Bettye, but will make do with my denim shirt. I keep looking for a chambray shirt, but most of them are just too oversized for my style, and I’m not a lover of shirts with collars. Present company excepted! My olive jacket is also more structured and less flowy than the two shown above. That’s just me, more structure. Less flow. Does that sound like a personality problem? Well, it is certainly is part of my personality, and therefore my personality style!

Oddly enough, I have styled that animal print dress with the denim shirt before, and with the olive jacket, but never with the two at once!

How did it turn out?

I’m happy with it! The big struggle was the shoes… Boots were too heavy for the weather. (Even the jacket was once the day got rolling, but that’s easy to rememdy. I LOVE layers!) Sandals didn’t look right either. Neither did my wine pumps. Too visually heavy. I tried my grey loafers, but the outfit looked drab. No spark. (I need color!) So these cornflower blue suede slingbacks came to the rescue.

Fake A Waist!

About the belting… I wanted some waist detail without knotting the denim shirt. (Much heavier than a chambray and doesn’t drape at all when tied!) So I went for belting to create the waist. Now, if your body shape isn’t waisted, here’s a fabulous hack to create a waist: When you belt UNDER another layer, the eye sees the little piece of the belt (as in under the jacket) and assumes that’s the waist. The eye doesn’t know how far to the sides your waist extends; it sees the little piece and is satisfied! Voila! Little waist.

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So how about you? Which of the inspo looks feels most you? Any? Do you wear leopard (or other animal prints) or run in the other direction? Do let me know if you want to see more Copycat Style posts in 2021 and how 2020 is treating you?

Stay safe and sound, sane and stylish!