Contemporary Western Style

A new outfit from Paulien Riemis of Polienne, whom we introduced to YLF in April 2014.

Paulien is mixing several F/W 2018 trends in this eclectic contemporary take on Western style. She’s tucked a white blouse with tie closure into high-waisted cropped jeans with fringed hem that echoes the detailing on the top. Her ornate belt is another clever nod to rodeo and Western styling. As are the striking snakeskin ankle boots in zippy red and black. The eye-catching elongating coat in black and white gingham picks up the colours in our blogger’s outfit, and adds strong geometric interest. As the finishing touch, Paulien chose a transparent bag with on-trend round handle in a burgundy tortoise shell that works brilliantly with her red boots.

Paulien Riemis - 1

Paulien Riemis - 2

Fab Finds: Shoes, Pullovers & Capes

2018 Fall collections are in full swing, and it’s another fabulous season. Silhouettes are quite simple despite the strong Maximal trend. The freedom and power lies with the wearer to create their own maximal mash-up by combining a myriad of colours, textures, patterns, layers, silhouettes, accessories and irregular juxtapositions. 

1. Hispanitas Guinivere Bootie

Hispanitas footwear is is a family-owned company with a factory in Spain. The quality of the brand is amazing, and these fun booties are no exception. The ornamental bug is darling, the cracked patent unique, the pointy toe dressy, and the comfort level sublime. The angled block heel brings back ‘90s flashbacks. They fit a range of foot shapes.

2. Hispanitas Calani Pump

These dainty and girly pumps look better on the foot than in the photo. The asymmetrical bow is interesting and rather luxe. Extremely comfortable, and a trendier take on a classic with the substantial block heel. They are well made and work on a variety of foot shapes.

3. Hispanitas Lanita, Larkin and Larissa Shoes

These Hispanitas share the same mixed-media heel across three styles. Hard-edged, interesting, professional, and casually dressy. They have practical non-slip rubber soles. Extremely comfy, well made, and works on both lower and higher volume feet. If you like black heeled footwear and want a change of pace, try these.

4. Karen Millen Oversized Check Cape

Every Karen Millen item I’ve owned has been excellent quality. Some are in their ninth year and still going strong. I haven’t seen this cape in person, but I stand by the brand’s commitment to create a quality piece. It’s uniquely belted at the waist and comes in a pattern that is easy to remix with other patterns. A good silhouette to wear over bell-sleeved tops. Works both as an outerwear and an indoor jacket. Best on those who like to define their waists.

5. Topshop Rib Sweater

Fitted ribbed pullovers remind me of the ‘90s, and are on trend. These pullovers are chunkier than they look, so consider yourself warned. Fitted, and fabulous over high-waisted bottoms. Soft and comfortable. The vertical rib effect is streamlining. The chunky knit is moderately forgiving of muffin top. The knit is slightly marled and looks defective at first, but is uniform and deliberate. The sleeves are long but can be easily cuffed. The neckline works best on a longer neck. Runs a size small. I have the tomato red, and look forward to wearing it with multiple pairs of high-waisted jeans.

6. Marc Fisher Charly Western Bootie

Well made, a trendy classic and dramatic on the foot. Quite comfortable if you can manage the heel height. They look amazing under bootcuts, dramatic flares, and have a high longevity factor. Read the rave reviews.

7. Jeffrey Campbell Luminate Bright Heel Bootie

These are moderately well made and quite comfortable, although a little harder than I’d like. Suited to a narrow and low-volume foot, so pass if your feet are in any way high volume. The patterns and luminate heel are fun and unexpected, adding punch to your outfit. The patterns are versatile pattern mixers too.

8. Boden Party Shoes

I haven’t seen the styles in person yet, but generally Boden footwear is great quality and reasonably comfortable to very comfortable. Their party shoes this season look like designer styles at a fraction of the price. I especially appreciate the non-black options like navy, burgundy, gold, mustard, forest green, red and animal print. Fun to see festive flats too. They don’t come in wide widths, but tend to fit low to regular volume feet. Some styles run slightly wider.

Boden
Eloise Flats
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Boden
Eloise Mid Heels
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Boden
Phoebe Mid Heels
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Boden
Classic Sneakers
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3
Boden
Cordelia Heels
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Boden
Cordelia Heels
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Boden
Eloise Mid Heels
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Boden
Cordelia Flats
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Boden
Astell Heeled Boots
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Boden
Tredegar Ankle Boots
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Boden
Julia Heels
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Boden
Julia Heels
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Boden
Eloise Flats
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Boden
Frances Heels
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Boden
Cordelia Flats
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Boden
Phoebe Mid Heels
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Boden
Cordelia Flats
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Boden
Astell Heeled Boots
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Boden
Cordelia Heels
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9. Topshop Popper Crew Sweater

An excellent and affordable body-con pullover that’s fabulous with flared skirts, culottes, or tucked into roomier high-rise bottoms like paper-bag waists. Super soft fabric, and alluring forearm detailing that is easy to layer under a jacket or coat. It’s TIGHT, so you have to be okay with showcasing the contour of your figure. It runs two sizes small. The US4 fits like a US0. I got this in black to combine with a flared midi skirt. It’s laundered quite well too.

10. Zara Cape Coat With Scarf

Zara
Cape Coat With Scarf
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A gorgeous cape for Team Earth Tones with height and/or broad shoulders. Not good on shorter arms unless you have the sleeves hemmed. The attached scarf is dramatic and excellent on a longer neck, but can be removed to work on a shorter neck. Fabulous over chunky knitwear or tops with exuberant and voluminous sleeves. You must maintain a roomy fit to create an architectural vibe. Fabulous in motion.

Outfit Formula: Casual Maxi Cardi

Most of my clients wear long cardigans with a lot of enthusiasm. They enjoy the comfort, ease, relaxed vibe, and forgiving fit over the shoulders, bust and midsection. Long cardigans are especially good for a work-at-home lifestyle, or as a topper to keep at the office for when it’s chilly. 

The maxi cardigan is extra long and dramatic, and that’s the showpiece for this outfit formula. If it’s a little too long for your taste, substitute the maxi for a shorter version that is just above the knee.

Here are four easy outfit ideas that look fresh. Choose any colour palette and feel free to throw in patterns.

1. Draped & Booted

Combine a pair of slim-fit jeans or pants with a draped knit or woven top that’s worn over the jeans. Top it off with a maxi cardi and scrunch the sleeves for structure. Finish off the outfit with booties, pumps, oxfords or loafers.

Eloquii Lightweight Duster

2. ‘90s Fabness

I’m not a ‘90s gal, but I do like the subtle allure of this combination, and that the boots are flat. Combine a soft and flowy midi dress with a maxi cardi. Scrunch the sleeves for structure. Finish off the look with a pair of tailored and high-shaft tough boots. This is a fab way to insulate a dress, and dress down a dress. Add hosiery for warmth.

Treasure and Bond Belted Long Cardigan

3. Wide Crops & Waisted

Combine a fluid or fitted top with a pair of wide crops (culottes will do just fine). Tuck or semi-tuck the top for structure. Wear a shorter top if tucking is not your thing. Top it off with a maxi cardigan and a pair of shoes that work with the outfit. The white sneakers here effectively pick up the white of the tee and bookend the model’s blonde hair.

Belstaff Sherdley Cardigan

4. Bootcuts Your Way

Combine a pair of bootcuts or wider flares with a fitted or fluid top. Wear the top your way — tucked or untucked — and create a high or low contrast with the bootcuts. Wear flats or heels but make sure the length of the flares are perfect (as you see here). Top the lot off with a maxi cardigan. Finish off the look with jewellery, eyewear and watch as desired.

Mango Faux Fur Knit Cardigan

I will sit this one out because I’m not a cardigan gal, and especially not a long cardi gal. They make my narrow shoulders look even narrower, and further lengthen my very long neck. As a result I don’t feel fab in a cardigan, unless you take me back to the ‘80s when I wore long cardigans with gigantic shoulder pads and loved it. I will enjoy this look on YOU.

Roundups

Simpler Items

This week's list of top picks list is about basic pieces.

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Assorted Items

Items for Summer, both in and out of air conditioning.

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Casual Summer Vibes

This week's top picks are good for a casual Summer vibe.

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Summery Earth Tones

These items are for those who like to wear casual earth tones in warm and hot weather.

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Hints of Spring

Some tried-and-tested winning items to refresh your style for Spring.

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Dressier Items

An assortment of dressier top picks might be just what the doctor ordered.

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Fall & Winter Footwear for Midi Skirts and Dresses

There were questions on the forum recently about what type of footwear to wear with midi skirts and dresses for Fall and Winter. There are many, many options across flats and heels and the footwear you choose will depend on how dressy you want to look, and how much you want to elongate your leg line. The higher the heels, the longer the leg line. Personally, I choose flat and very low heels (up to an inch and a half in height).

Here’s my current collection of Fall and Winter midi skirts and dresses. The voluminous olive COS dress is a little longer on me, but not knee-covering. It’s not a true midi because of the short front, but the sides and back are longer so I treat it like a midi. The red floral dresses are knee-covering.

Here’s my assortment of Fall & Winter footwear that I wear with the above skirts and dresses. I sport sheer black hose, nude-for-me-hose and black micro fishnets with the footwear. Sometimes I wear socks with the tall boots instead of hose. There are high-shaft booties with a sleek ankle fit. Western shooties that are extremely tailored on the foot. Refined oxfords, ankle strap pumps, and classic ink blue tailored knee-high boots. TAILORED footwear is my preference. Coincidentally, all shoes have a low heel.

If you don’t get very cold feet like I do, you can wear some of the more open footwear styles I wore with warm-weather midis all Summer long. Leave off the hosiery and socks. Here are my Summer midi dresses and skirts with the shoes that I wore with them. Pointy-toe ballet flats, classic sandals, loafers, mules and white sneakers. All of the shoes here are flat.

I don’t like to wear boots that gape at the ankle or calf with midis. The fit MUST be sleek. I wear a lot of light-coloured footwear because it bookends my blonde hair and looks crisp. I also enjoy some darks, metallics and brights to change things up. Or wearing white footwear with sheer black hose to create a graphic contrast. It works well when the midis are dark, which all my Fall and Winter midis are.

I’d love to get more midis because my outfit happiness factor is through the roof when I wear them. Hands down they are my favourite item to wear in 2018 across the seasons. White jeans and fun pants are a close second.

Eloquii Hankerchief Hem Rib Midi Skirt

Eloquii Tie Neck Midi Dress

Trend: A Nod to the Wild West

I mentioned in my trend report that Western wear is getting its fashion moment. A nod to the Wild West also made my seasonal must-haves list for Fall and Winter 2018. It’s a Trendy Classic, iconic, timeless, and always in style. But because it’s fashionable at the moment, you’ll see larger and deeper assortments at retail. 

Western wear is generally an earth-toned and neutral palette, but these days pink cowboy boots are not uncommon. When I think of Western wear, cowboy boots and all sorts of variations of them are top of mind. But there’s also ornate cowboy belts, felt and straw cowboy hats, fringed anything, suede and shearling jackets, shearling vests, sheepskin, pony and cow print, plaid barn jackets, moccasins, bootcut jeans, ponchos, ruanas, tiered skirts, ruffled blouses, studded bags, saddle bags, prairie dresses, denim jackets, denim shirts, bandanas and checked shirts.

Shopbop
Tibi Felix Boots
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Zappos
MARC FISHER LTD Baily
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Zappos
Diba True Cuddle Bun
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Hobbs
Exotics Dress
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Shopbop
R13 Cowboy Dress
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You can interpret the trend as fully as you like, especially when you live in an area of the US where Western wear is a stylish staple. Others might prefer to add hints of Western wear to their outfits. Or remix Western items with their avant-garde, hard-edged, Preppy, Modern Retro, Punk or Sporty styles.

My clients run the gamut. Some adore Western wear, and are never without a pair of cowboy boots and bootcuts. Some like fringe, suede and denim shirts, while others are into denim jackets, ponchos, ruanas, weathered brown leather and ruffled plaid blouses. And some don’t fancy the vibe at all.

Personally, I like the irregular juxtaposition of adding a Western element to a polished, pretty, crisp, dressy and very un-rugged outfit. That’s my ‘80s gene coming through, which is why I bought a pair of optical white Western shooties at the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale this year. I LOVE these shoes, and they’ve become unexpected wardrobe workhorses. I thought I’d wear them from time to time, but instead want to wear them all the time. They’re very comfortable, and add a fresh 2018 component to my outfits. 

For example, I’ve been wearing the new white Western shooties with a few Fall midi dresses, a ruffled midi skirt, and a pair of high-waisted black skinnies. For toppers, I’ve worn my old Smythe equestrian blazer and new cape coat over the floral midi dress. I’ve worn the navy polka blazer, denim jacket and old navy Theory blazer with the navy ruffled skirt and a form-fitting top. I’ve worn the black high-rise skinnies with a tucked striped top and cape coat. In every outfit, I sported high-contrast sheer black hosiery or socks with the white Western shooties, and finished off the look with a light blue bag and white pearls. The white pearls and my blonde hair effectively bookend the white footwear. I’m enjoying the new-to-me vibe VERY much. The happiness factor is high, and here are the exact items from my wardrobe used to create the outfits.

Over to you. Will you add a nod to the Wild West to your style? If so, how do you wear the trend?