Fashion Math for a great outfit in 2026

Blog

Forum

Finds

Fashion Math for a great outfit in 2026

Star (Lise)

Veteran

Hello Fabbers

Saw an article today that I found interesting and maybe helpful.

The premise behind a great outfit in 2026 has three components.
- A statement piece
- A grounding piece
- An intentional styling

Maybe our fashionista forum members know this already? This seems like quite an uncomplicated formula and the outfit examples were really appealing, simple yet elegant and very current looking.
Eg: A long dramatic statement coat with simple grounding jeans and fashiony shoes, like loafers or mary janes.

Or a statement plaid skirt with simple grounding sweater and fashiony scarf, styled in a modern way.

Do you get the idea?
Does anyone else see this as useful? Love to hear thoughts on this. I don't ever watch influencers so maybe this is old news.

9 hours ago

Dressing

16 replies

Latest reply was from AndiB

LJP

Veteran

Intentional styling is a vague term …….

9 hours ago

Star (Lise)

Veteran

LJP I agree. One has to have knowledge of what is trendy in order to do the 'intentional styling' of a piece. Be it the way a scarf is tied, or which shoes are current, or which bags are current, or which earrings, or necklace type. It seems to mostly apply to accessories, including some toppers. The premise is definitely not for those who are not interested or not aware of what is considered current. Perhaps the term 'one trendy piece' should replace 'one intentionally styled piece'. But then, for example, a scarf is not trendy per say, unless you wearing it in a 2026 way.

8 hours ago

Star (Lise)

Veteran

I am rethinking my above mentioned comment. The intentional styling does not have to be in the form of an accessory. I realise now this is something ANGIE and SUS do all the time with their trendy bottoms. That is the intentional styling part of their outfits.

7 hours ago

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Star and LJP, I asked Chatgpt to define "intentional styling". This is what the bot thinks:

"In the fashion and personal style world, “intentional styling” means getting dressed with purpose rather than by default. It’s about making conscious, thoughtful choices so your clothes support who you are, how you live, and how you want to show up — instead of just wearing whatever happens to be clean or trendy"

Sooooooo:

It's the practice of dressing thoughtfully and purposefully so your clothes support your life, reflect your identity, and make you feel like your best self.

6 hours ago

Star (Lise)

Veteran

Ooh I like that ANGIE. Thanks for the clarification! So I can add a Tomgirl piece as my intentional piece?

5 hours ago

Sal

Veteran

I always like a statement piece with quieter other pieces - so it would work for me. I will see if I can do this today!!

5 hours ago

Star (Lise)

Veteran

Oh fab Sal! Do show us if you can.

5 hours ago

LJP

Veteran

Oh I know what it means . That wasn’t my point ;).

5 hours ago

Star (Lise)

Veteran

LJP your point was only six words so It was rather difficult to fathom, if you feel like engaging would love to hear your perspective :).

5 hours ago

L'Abeille

Veteran

I saw the original article too and thought it interesting. However, in about 4 of the maybe 7 examples, the Statement Item was a long coat, and in 1 more, the Grounding Piece was a long coat. Since all my winter outfits involve a long coat, does that mean I'm halfway there already?

4 hours ago

Star (Lise)

Veteran

L'ABEILLE I too noticed a long coat could be considered a statement or a grounding piece. Winter dressing? Maybe depends on the coat. I think you are halfway there at least.

4 hours ago

Jenni NZ

Veteran

I don’t know Lise, I feel like I always dress “intentionally” except for the odd day just lolling about at home, which admittedly there have been more of since my “retirement”- still not sure if I have fully retired but enjoying the break currently. Even then I still put on earrings to leave the house generally, even if only going to the supermarket. Maybe not if going to the beach, but it has been such a grotty January weather- wise here with lots of rain that I haven’t been to the beach. The odd lovely day I have been busy with other stuff.
I do do a statement piece quite often, frequently shoes, and a grounding piece might be either top or bottoms in summer. I think I style these intentionally most of the time. I am not trendy according to many, due to my preference for slim pants nearly all the time. However I look at stores and online and read YLF so think I am reasonably aware of trends.

3 hours ago

Jaime

(website)

Veteran

Would you link the original article? Curious minds want to see pictures. Anyway, the general principle of pairing a more statement item with something quieter and more standard looking seems pretty basic to styling. But fab outfits can be made with just essentials or just/mostly statements. I think some level of intentionality is key to all great outfits regardless of the statement to essential ratio.

38 minutes ago

Jenni NZ

Veteran

Yes I would like to see the article too! I looked for it online but without more clues there were too many choices!

35 minutes ago

cat2

Veteran

I think I did one interesting thing at a time for work. But now I am making up for lost time by unleashing my love of color, texture, and shine.

28 minutes ago

AndiB

Veteran

I dunno, it made a lot of sense to me at least the way I interpreted it. That’s kinda the way I dress. For example, today I wore a leopard turtleneck (statement) with grounding (but on trend) denim bottoms and then intentionally layered a black cardigan, top two buttons buttoned intentionally with layered necklaces (could be statement but today the leopard was). I think so many of us dress intentionally here, right? We put thought and care into how we put together outfits. I added vagabond square toe (probably statement ) booties. I thought I looked fab. It was definitely intentional!

16 minutes ago

Category