How to style what you already own
This month, we are deep into planning for LAYERED our second annual sustainable fashion show at W Seattle on April 22nd (Earth Day!). LAYERED is based on the idea that the most sustainable outfit is something you already own, and we’re restyling/reimagining hundreds of items that were just sitting in closets from all over the area. And before we go live with it, I wanted to share some of the ideas from behind the scenes.
FIRST STEP TO SHOPPING YOUR CLOSET: Remove anything that doesn’t fit! Whenever we help someone restyle their closet and imagine new outfits combos, we have to be honest about one thing: you can’t wear something that doesn’t fit you. And it’s pointless to build an outfit around a skirt or pants or a shirt that you can’t wear. Letting go of something you’ll never wear allows it to have a second life.
Darcy’s Styling tips:
(MODEL 1) Pair a high touch item with a low touch item. A lot of the items I see collecting dust in closets are special items, something that a client bought for a specific reason, like an event or a trip, and that reason just hasn’t presented itself again. My first idea is always to reimagine that piece for something more basic. 9 times out of 10, the solution is to pair it with their favorite jeans or black pants or a jacket they wear all the time.
(MODEL 2) Something Old, Something New and Something Borrowed. So many of the new trends in stores right now are inspired by the early 2000s (Fun fact: anything 20 years old is considered Vintage)…and I KNOW that so many people have the originals in their closets! The trick is to style that item in a modern way, with something newer. And don’t forget your partner’s side of the closet!
(MODEL 3) Think outside the box. The most fun part about styling the LAYERED show is converting items from one thing to something else. We’re taking tights and converting them to tops, we’re taking an oversized men’s dress shirt and fastening it into a fitted blouse, we even reimagined some skinny jeans. Pinterest and TikTok are great resources for ideas.
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