Sometimes in academia our professors grow concerned that we are inhabiting ivory towers too soon and provide us with “workshops” to attend. These one-time sessions are meant to be practical, more collaborative spaces for us to share ideas or learn skills. When Weardrobe sent us two items to style from Urban Outfitters it presented the perfect opportunity for us to have a style workshop with each other.
As you may have noticed, our day to day style does not fit the paradigmatic Urban Outfitters “look.” Still, we have each found items there that we love or covet and were excited to have the chance to play around with the two pieces that were sent to us: a teal dolman top and a urban renewal studded jersey necklace.
We convened at A.’s house, with S. and E. each toting a bag full of accessories, shoes, and separates…
First up was this teal dolman top. While we all loved the color of the shirt we were intially skeptical of the shape. So, unsurprisingly, we did what we always do: we belted. A. tried it out first and decided to dress the top up by pairing it with black and heels. She balanced out the volume of the top with a slim black skirt and added a black shiny woven belt for shape. We especially liked how belting created fun pleats in the back, an interesting detail that also elevated the outfit as a whole. She finished the look off with her fabulous blue-green Seychelles cone heels from Solestruck.
E. ran into trouble right away when we realized that the dolman’s uneven hemline did not actually cover her bump. Unwilling to bare the bump to the world, E. decided to try it on backwards! The resulting scoop-back revealed a bit of back and shoulder blades instead, a far more sexy and appropriate choice. E. snagged S.’s yellow patent belt (that she had long coveted) to create a color combination that is signature E.
Like E. and A., S. first reached for a skirt to complement this top, but found the results to be less than flattering. Instead, A.’s cuffed skinnies and E.’s T-strap wedges made for much better proportions in this fun and casual take. Not to be left out of all the belting fun, she finished the look using her grandmother’s scarf to add a personal touch and a bohemian flair.
A. received this unlabeled item in the mail and was confused as to what kind of accessory this actually was: was it a belt? was it a net? Even after learning that it was an Urban Renewal studded jersey necklace she was not convinced this was the way to wear it and in fact tried it as a belt. She was quite surprised how much she liked the result when she gave in and wore it as a necklace paired with a sequin-embellished tee. A. rarely sports studs or sparkles but found in combining the two she could both tap into her inner faah-bulousness and actually look quite polished at the same time.
E. was just playing around when she put the necklace on over a simple black cami, but we all quickly realized that, when pinned to the straps, the piece could function quite well as a collar of sorts. It transformed a basic tank into a totally different top with a unique flair. She kept the necklace-turned-neckpiece as the focus of the outfit with a monochrome palette of gray jersey and pleated black flats.
With A’s help, S. pinned the jersey strands together, creating a more scarf-like effect. To fully showcase the layers of jersey, she borrowed one of A.’s scoopneck tees. The bold red and black color combination made this a classic S. ensemble, with a bit of a European flair.
Much like an academic workshop allows you to benefit from your colleagues’ feedback and constributions, this style workshop pushed us to be creative with items of clothing we might not have picked for ourselves. Thanks, Weardrobe and Urban Outfitters, for providing the material for our first style workshop!
I love how many different ways these pieces could be worn! Discovering versatility is wonderful. I think my favorite is that necklace worn as a collar to a black tank top – brilliant!
Fantastic post!
The necklace as a collar is brilliant!!!
You ladies certainly looked like you had a fab time creating during your workshop! Great ideas by the way! I hope another workshop happens again soon!
You guys ROCK! UO should hire you! (& GAP, & American Apparel, etc.). You know how to make regular clothes, that we all wear, look FAB! Please keep up the great work, a BIG fan.
What a great experiment! It’s great to see how each of you makes the items your own. I especially like the various stylings of that necklace. I would have passed it by in the store too, but each of you really style it well.
You are very lucky to be able to borrow each other’s clothes and wear them so well! I wish I had friends who were the same approximate size/shape as I am that I could swap clothes with, but most of my friends have quite different sizes & body shapes from me.
What a great post! Love the different way you styled things.
^ways, I mean. :)
I love all the different takes on each item! I especially like the necklace pinned to the black cami – great idea.
Love it! I just ordered up a Necklush from Etsy and now have a bunch more ideas of how to wear it.
That teal dolman top is very pretty, but I love the different ways in which each of you used the jersey necklace. Very creative!
The necklace so reminds me of necklush on etsy. Love it!
I love the collar idea for the necklace. Now I want one……..