Finals are almost over. Not only will you have more free time in general, you will have time to make yourself look nice, too! Let’s be honest, looking decent out in public takes energy and time. Finals cost you more than just mental health and time, they cost your looks too. And now that exam season is over, the days of your limited wardrobe – featuring sweats, leggings, your comfy hoodie accentuated with your messy bun and dark circles – are finally over! It may also be on your New Year’s resolutions list to care more about your looks, too. You can’t look like an off-duty model at all times, but things certainly turn out nicer when you’re looking your best. Would Barbara Palvin have been discovered at an airport if she looked like I did during finals? Would Cara Delevigne have gotten much media attention if her street fashion was not so fresh?
Magda doubts it.”Haha, you wish.”
Plus, I’m a firm believer of “You look good, you feel good.”You can call me vain, materialistic, fake, a mere plastic girl getting played by the big fashion corporations in this capitalistic world, and tell me it’s a waste of time trying to coordinate my outfits all the time… But if we’re being honest, we all love getting compliments like “You look so nice today!” three times a day – because you lookin’ slay. The problem is, many collegiettes are confused as to how to achieve such a look. Us collegiettes, oftentimes, have a ton of clothes, but nothing to wear. Trying to decide on what to wear will often have you trying out more than fifty different combinations of items. Or maybe you walk out that door, confident in what you’re wearing, but alas, you walk by a mirror and think, ‘what the hell was I thinking?’ Now, I’m not an expert stylist or the fashion police – I am in no way close to mastering the intricate art of “fashion,” but if we’re talking about simple ways to “look decent,” I like to think I spend an adequate amount of time trying my best. Here, I put together a list of simple tips based on experiences with friends, how I feel on my good days, what I have picked up from magazines, and even my mom!
So here it is: 5 Ways To Rock Your Outfits.
1. Decide the night before how you want to look.
My biggest struggle when putting together an outfit is that I get so caught up trying to look my best that the amount of available options frustrates me. But aside from my closet, I already struggle enough getting out of my bed, and I will end up not having enough time and just putting on my everyday jeans, and a sweater. To prevent this from happening, I find deciding how you want to look the next day before going to bed to be very helpful. You may coordinate your whole outfit, or you may simply decide to “look cute” tomorrow. You can also decide on the concept you want: city-chic, instagram-#ootd-worthy cute, goth, minimalistic, romantic, etc. Are you an Alexander Wang, Jil Sander kind of person? Are you a Zara/Banana Republic/Club Monaco girl? Gothic like COMME des Garcons or Y-3? An Adidas Originals/Nike person? Are you a drop-dead queen of romanticism ranging from Chloe to Oscar de la Renta?Whatever you are, your decision to look a certain way will save you a lot of time in the morning, and leave room for a few possible alterations. And maybe some time to check yourself out.
2. Decide on the silhouette you want.
I get it. You really want to wear your favourite ugly (but actually cute) sweater and you want to seek the comfort that your sweatpants offer too. Or maybe you really want to wear that tight mini skirt you got the other day, and the only color it will match is your tight t-shirt. Maybe these items individually are all nice, but the key here is the coordination of those items, and picking and choosing what you keep. The perfect outfit is all about the balance of how all the different items come together. Look at the overall silhouette that your outfit creates for you. Are you looking too frail in all-tight clothing? Can you find your original body silhouette in those big, loose items? The key is to find balance. Match that tight mini skirt with your favourite sweater. Wear your tight turtle neck shirt with a wide, A-line skirt. You can play with it all you want, and when you play it right, you can bet you will be looking oh-so-fine.
3. Decide on one article of clothing that you want to wear today.
If you decide on one or two items that you absolutely want to rock, it will be easier to coordinate your outfit around those key items, than to pull your outfit from your entire wardrobe. Maybe you want to rock the new skirt you got, or maybe you got an idea from your favourite magazine to reinvent your old pair of jeans. Whatever the item is, once you’re set on it, you can save a lot of time trying to balance out the rest of your outfit.
4. Decide on the colour palette.
Another key thing about balance and coordination is the colour palette. Regardless of how amazing your silhouette is, or how gorgeous each item is, an outfit can be disastrous if you’re wearing the wrong colours. We know maybe green and red should only be tolerated during holiday seasons. Colours that are awkwardly two or three steps away from each other on the colour palette can look weird, too. I find that neutral colours are always the safest and the most tidy, like the pictures below.
Maybe add one or two pop colours in your outfit to accentuate, but don’t go too crazy and try to embody the seven colours of the rainbow at once. There are certain colours that will look good on you, and some that will make you look more aged, your skin tone shabby, etc. Finding those colours is a whole different story – is your tone warm or cold? What colour are your eyes, hair, and skin? Taking all this analysis and incorporating it in your colour palette, obviously, will get you the best results. I suggest you expriement in stores and read a few articles (like this) to find your colours, because practice makes perfect! Soon, you will become the master of mix-and match.
5. Don’t be greedy
As I mentioned numerous times, the key to it all is to find balance. And in finding balance, simplicity never fails. Staying simple and not getting greedy is tough when you are torn between your five favourite sweaters, three best pairs of jeans, and four different skirts. You also have three different styles of makeup you want to try out, and your best friend just showed you a fancy hair styling method. But remember that simple is always fresh, crisp, leisurely, affordable yet affluent – because less is more!
Too many times, I will see a magazine suggest I go shopping to fetch those “it” items, to look like the models on the streets of Paris, Milan, New York, and London.But you know what, I’m not the millionaire daughter of a successful entrepreneur, an expensive socialite, or an off-duty model who has a hundred times more disposable cash than the average college student. So these tips, you will find, are practical and essential: they won’t have you looking like you just got off of a ready-to-wear fashion show, but they certainly will score you self-confidence, and maybe even a few compliments.
Now go slay, slay, slay collegiettes!
Images obtained from:
http://aavesayz.tumblr.com/post/103450704560/naimabarcelona-laura-dittri…