How to Style a Single Item for Multiple Fashionable Wears | Mechellet Armelin

There’s this false belief that for a person to be fashionable, they must a.) invest in fast fashion, and b.) never wear any part of an outfit more than a few times. Both beliefs are inherently false, resulting in wasted money and resources.

The rising popularity of capsule wardrobes proves this common misconception wrong, as people are fashionable and reasonable in their wardrobes every day of the week. Capsule wardrobes call for versatile clothing items. In other words, these are articles of clothing that can be used to make different combinations and styles .

It is possible to be both trendy and fashionable, especially when you’re willing to get a little creative on the matter. It’s incredible how different a sweater will look when paired with a cute pair of leggings versus a fashionable skirt, for example.

Smart Buying

Specific articles of clothing will always lend themselves to creative outfit designs . These items can easily be worn in several different ways, allowing for more stylish uses.

If one is looking to create an easily customizable wardrobe, these are the items you’re going to want to shop for. Look for infinity or convertible dresses, cozy wraps, black dresses, scarves, and accent necklaces.

These are the base pieces of an outfit. By their very nature, they can be stylized or accented in different ways, doubling or even tripling the potential outfits one can get out of them. Other base pieces might include a button-up shirt, blouse, or nice pair of jeans.

Color Theory

Whether designing a wardrobe or a single outfit, color theory always comes into play. This is especially true when trying to create a versatile wardrobe that can be worn in various ways.

When starting, it may be helpful to start with neutral colors as the base piece. It’s much easier to discreetly redesign a black shirt than it would be to wear a bright red top in three different ways without raising eyebrows. However, with time, practice, and patience, anything is possible.

Wear Layers

A straightforward way to change up how an article of clothing looks is by adding (or removing) layers. Consider a dress — it looks brilliant on its own but can also be classed up by adding blazers, cardigans, leggings, stockings, and accessories. Even just one of these items would change the way a dress looks. When playing with different combinations of all of these options, the possibilities are limitless.

This rule doesn’t just apply to dresses, but many articles of clothing. Shirts, blouses, blazers, and even tights can all change the appearance of an outfit. Consider a basic t-shirt. As with the dress, it is fine on its own but will look drastically different when combined with a turtleneck underneath or a denim jacket over the top.

Layering tends to create visually compelling elements, which will give the impression that one is wearing a bold new look. Since this is the effect we’re looking to develop, it is ideal in many scenarios.

Change It Up

Many of the items already discussed can be worn in different ways . A button-up shirt can be worn while buttoned, unbuttoned, the sleeves rolled up, tucked, untucked, etc. The options are endless. More than that, each alternative will give the impression of a different shirt.

This trick can be applied in many ways to many different items of clothing. Take a look at what is in your closet, and consider the various ways everything can be worn. After that, consider all of the different mixing and matching opportunities available.

Accessorize

They say that the accessories make the outfit — and when trying to create a different look based on the same items, that certainly is true. Accessories make for brilliant statement pieces that will draw the eye in — and away from the recycled item of clothing. It’s a clever little trick that is highly effective.

This is where items such as bold scarves and jewelry will come heavily into play. These items can do more than draw the eye, as they can change the shape of the outfit as well. A bulky scarf will quickly change the form, giving the appearance of a whole new outfit.

Finally, don’t forget to change your shoes! Wearing the same shoes with different outfits can help break the illusion we’re trying to create here. So be careful not to repeat this accessory too many times.

Originally published at https://mechelletarmelin.com on December 13, 2021.