15. Outfit Layouts
Hello,
Writing from a lovely sunny balcony in Portugal and very tired it must be said from a weekend wedding but love you guys so here I am with a little something for you today….:-)
Outfit Layouts….
Sometimes I call these ‘Outfit Play-Outs’ - the laying out of outfits on your bed, created by playing with your clothes, accessories and shoes to give you complete looks, which you can refer to whenever you need (and are particularly useful for packing).
You’ve seen me do it before in this post and is something I will likely use a lot here.
I choose one item to start with and use my shoes and accessories to build different outfits based around the same item. In a world where it’s too easy to jump straight too ‘I have nothing to wear’ whenever we have something to go to, this process helps to focus on whatwe have first, will make you feel good about how you see items building into outfits and it reminds you of all the options you’ve actually already got.
I generally try on the ‘main’ item first (usually the bottom half item) and create one outfit by trying on. That way I get the measure of it’s shape and what works and feels good. Then I essentially repeat the same outfit formula using different tops, accessories and shoes.
Of course there are items, that only have one way to wear, but that’s ok too, your still building the outfit and being clear what feels good.
So, today I thought I would share my Holiday Outfit-Layouts to give you a visual.
First item are the French Connection ‘Arlo’ trousers I have. I tried them on with this first Primark stripe top and then repeated the outfit formula (knowing it felt good because I tried). I will make a note on each item in the outfit below the piccy, and links where I can but most items I’ve had a couple of summers, (which is why I love this process - it’s about what you have first and foremost).
More on that plus the 8 biggest reasons I love this process!
Layout 1
Layout 2
Layout 3
There are just soooo many benefits to Outfit Layouts.
Here are my top 8!
Feeling a Creative Energy
Getting your clothes out of your wardrobe to play with opens up a creative energy around what you own. It helps you to see things with a fresh perspective and an open mind. Looking at the clothes in your wardrobe and having a simple process to creating some outfits, actually really helps to see things in a fresh light and to feel a feeling of play and openness that doesn’t happen if you are packing or planning last minute.
They work so well Seasonally too
Doing Layouts regularly helps prep for a new season. I will do some when I am back home for Autumn to remind me of what I have, what I love and with a year passed since last Autumn, it’s a chance to see what’s changed for me? How do I feel? What do I want to wear? What still feels good to me?
It shows how our style is about the right accessories & shoes as much as our clothes
Layouts remind me (as a personal stylist) just how important all ‘the little bits’ that aren’t clothes, really contribute to how an outfit feels. Sometimes, we focus too much on needing ‘more’ clothes but in most cases, what we need is to put more thought into the little things that change the feeling of the clothes we have.
It teaches you about your style and where it’s at
Styling your clothes in this way (without trying everything on) gives you a chance to see what you gravitate towards building for yourself. It also helps you to see gaps, but most importantly it helps you to see what you instinctively do with your clothes. Ask yourself, how do the outfits you are creating feel? Do they feel more casual? More refined? More Girlie? You are learning about yourself and your style in the process. Sometimes you will feel the direction you are taking feels good but it can also show you that something needs to shift - maybe you feel bored, your outfits don’t feel ‘you’ at all or a miriad of other feelings that can come up.
You have outfits ready to dive into
Saving your outfits in a folder in your phone then just makes life so much easier. Especially for holidays but generally, if you are going through a process of learning about your style, it helps make getting dressed easier and allows you to not have to worry too much or think your starting from scratch when choosing what to wear as you have your outfits saved to just pull out and choose from. Your own real-life clueless wardrobe on your phone!
Create categories for the Win
When you get into it, you can create different categories, making day to day life easier and giving you focus for buying.
Autumn/ Winter.
Christmas.
Spring/ Summer.
Weekend Outfits.
Date Outfits.
Your colour palette intuition starts here
Being aware of how much colour you use, is there a particular colour direction (warm or cool/ deep tones or light/ bright or soft) that features? With mine, you can see I love neutrals more than much colour but I do like to find interesting (sometimes colourful accessories to play with and create something a little different). I gravitate towards deep cool neutrals (greys/ black/ white/ navy) over warm neutrals, but I do enjoy both. My skin tone is cool so it makes sense to me that I do feel good in this colour direction but I am aware what is left of field is that I do love and gravitate towards gold jewellery. With cool skin tone, I know this is interesting as silver technically suits me better but I just feel more myself in gold and that’s what I go with.
Shopping and your style habits can be identified
Doing Outfit Lay-Outs, shines a light on what’s going on. If you are aware or feel you would like to make a change for yourself and your style, outfit layouts will bring this into sharper focus. Do you have 12 stripey tops but not a single pair of trousers you love to match them with? Do you gravitate towards ‘dressy’ items but when it comes to creating Autumn outfits, you feel you’ve nothing to wear at the weekends or maybe you just have none of the right shoes, which in many cases is the key part to finishing your outfits. Accept where you are at and see it as what it can be - a new beginning.
Here are some more….
I won’t show every iteration but the first one I am showing you my cream Massimo Dutti Linen Trousers and the outfit layouts I created with them before I came away, and following that some individual outfit layouts with one single item (dresses or jumpsuits can fall into this category more).
Plus I even have my lovely clients sending me piccys of theirs! Piccys below.
My lovely client Ali’s Holiday Outfit Snapshot
Ali has a wedding hence the beautiful dresses, all from her existing wardrobe.
Hope you enjoyed this post. A little in outfit shot! If you’d like to see more (I’m sick of seeing me!), let me know in the comments below x
As always, please do share my page or this post with friends and family who you think might enjoy it. I really appreciate the support and for you all being here with me.
Speak soon,
Julie x
Love the article Jules. Am in between apple and hourglass shape; would these trousers suit 😣
Sorry yes the trousers you have featured here, similar to the French connection ones. I would much rather shop online but no clue of what shape suits me best