Summer Style/Restyle: Vol 5
Jeans + Tee + Chanel Style Jacket
Happy day, reader dearest!
As I write this post, I’m just SO FLIPPING EXCITED! Blue Origin just launched and returned their crew safely and Wally Funk finally made her trip to outer space! She’s been waiting 60 years (or so) for that opportunity and I wept.
I wept for her and for all those women and men who are told by the gatekeepers that they are too much or not enough. Not the right gender, shape, size, color or whatever… I probably wept for me, too. That’s some digging I need to do. But that’s not what you’re here for!
It’s time for another Summer Style & Restyle! When I do a Copycat Style post, it’s simple to take someone else’s look and make it mine. But taking one of my own looks and making it mine again? That can be more of a challenge! Why? In a Copycat Style post, I start with three looks from which I can pick and choose what I like and don’t like. Starting with only one is a little more limiting (read: daunting).
Second, choosing a look that I can restyle without replicating is hard. As is looking back to find an outfit and wondering, What was wrong with me that week? You couldn’t pay me to wear that again! That is not the case with today’s restyle. I would happily put these exact same pieces on the exact same way and wear them over and over!
Last Year’s Look
I’ll be perfectly honest. This was one of my favorite outfits of 2020. (Nice to know there was something favorite about 2020, right?) Although it didn’t make my 2020 Style Review, I remember it being in the running. I was falling in love with white shoes (That affair is still going strong!) and starting to branch out into wearing tees every once in a while.
What’s Still in My Wardrobe?
Yes, everything from last year’s look is still here! The goal of this series though, is to restyle the look using what I have on hand, and the cropped grey trouser jeans (Actually faded black, shhhhhhh!) are stored away for the season. The jacket is nearby for style emergencies. Last year’s outfit relies on an outer column of color to make it’s point. This year, let’s flip the outer column for an inner. That I CAN make work!
This Year’s Ensemble
Flipping the column of color means finding white jeans to wear with my white tee. I had two to choose from, my newly cropped wide legged white jeans or my narrow side striped ones. (Featured here.) Then shoes. Sure, I could wear my white pumps, but I felt like nude sandals or tying the black jacket to another black feature felt like a good idea.
How did I finally choose to wear it? Well, I went back to crushing on white shoes and I opted for my white sandals! I also traded the bright silver teardrops hoops for my super fine hematite hoops and added a black sun brooch. How to make brooches a habit? I struggle with this all the time!
This ensemble made me super happy! I wore the jacket for a business meeting this morning and took it off when I needed to go outside in the heat. Heels help put my brain in work mode and work mode it needed to be!
How About You?
Which look do you prefer? The darker outer column or the light inner column? Hmmm. Note to Self: Might need to try a dark inner column with a light jacket later in the year. Sorry! Do you wear white jeans? I’ll confess, I was a relatively late convert to the white jean. Which shoes do you like best with 2021’s look? The blush sandals? The black slingbacks? Or the white sandals? Would you have reached for the pumps? Do you wear brooches? Or do they feel old lady to you? If you are a brooch wearer, what’s your favorite way to wear them? Do tell! Inspiration and great style is meant to be shared…
Stylishly yours,
5 Ways to Style: A Man's Shirt
10 Comments
Gill Hormann
Hi Liz, another enjoyable post. I like both looks – that jacket is awesome! I had no idea it was denim, it is very stylish! I do love to wear a brooch and have a small collection that I have just pruned down a little to only favourites. Some of my most favourite are vintage (I have a definite βthingβ for vintage jewellery!), some my motherβs and others found online or in antique shops or similar. My brooches get out and about mostly on either my white denim or dark denim jacket and I have my grandmotherβs silver and turquoise brooch on my long black winter coat, but that doesnβt get out that often!
Liz K
Thank you, Gail! I will weep when that jacket comes to the end of its days. Good on you for getting your brooches out into the light of day! I need to find a place to display them so that they are in sight and on my mind when I dress. I like my things put away and that means I’m not seeing my brooches. If you can’t see it, it won’t get worn.
Sally in St Paul
I like both outfits, but I prefer the first one because (a) I prefer pointy-toed shoes to sandals (and those white pumps are terrific) and (b) my eye likes the stair-stepping of the black + grey/faded black + white combination that results in lower value contrast than the black + white + white (I hope that makes sense).
I’m still waiting for my white jeans to find me. Brooches are a tough one for me, not because of the old lady connotations but I feel weird stabbing holes in the fabric of my clothes!
Liz K
I can see the old lady thing… I used to feel that way, too. But now that I AM that old lady, I don’t give a rat’s blank anymore! The light bottom makes the jacket look darker than it really is. It’s the amount of light with the dark that creates the feeling, especially since we are so accustomed to seeing medium to dark overall value outfits rather than light. I’ve got my fingers crossed that your white jeans find you before the end of the season! (Which is much shorter in your neck of the woods…)
Jules
Loving this yearβs model. I just discovered your blog and love the sense of fun in your posts. Thanks for the inspiration.
Liz K
Welcome, Jules! So glad you found me. Thank you for your kind comments! I like to keep it fun and light and have a good laugh at myself…
Lise
Both looks are great but I find the white jeans more summery. Pairing white jeans with black shoes is not my preferred choice. I like them with a nude shoe. Lastly, I love white jeans and have two fabulous pairs that I thrifted. I thought it would be difficult to find pristine white second hand but I scored big time. A bootcut Hugo Boss pair that is so well-made and a Calvin Klein pair that I cut to a slightly flared crop with a raw hem. They cost something like 2 Euros each and they are bright white, not see through and just fabulous.
Liz K
Congrats on finding great white jeans, Lise! I’ll always buy white (cotton) secondhand because there’s always the option of bleach. Sounds like yours are winners!
carolkarl
This is such an interesting look. I would never have thought of wearing this jacket with these combinations. Thanks for broadening my horizons.
Liz K
Thank you for commenting, Carol! Since the jacket is denim, it seemed an easy style choice. I know not everyone is comfortable wearing a dressy(-ish) jacket with jeans, but I think the mix up feels fresh. What style topper would you go for?