The (in)famous leather-front peplum top from NAS has been waiting patiently in my closet for me to figure out how to wear it in casual outfits. It looks nice on its own with a skirt for a dressy occasion, but I want to make it work for more than just that! It's too nice a piece to sit unused for so much of the year.

So today while I have the house to myself and nothing much to do except laundry and rest up for my race tomorrow morning, I decided to haul out a bunch of tops and see what works. Some of the more successful pairings are in the photos.

#1-2 is with a very old cobalt button-front shirt from Express. Must be 12 years old but it's still going strong.
#3-4 burgundy silk blouse -- this one felt the best
#5-6 grey and black polka dot tee. I wasn't expecting it to work, but I like it for a casual look!
#7 is the tee without anything at the neck, just so you can see the neckline.

A few notes:

-Solid color tops were much more successful than printed ones for the most part -- I tried a patterned Equipment blouse, houndstooth, and another print, and they just didn't look right. Too busy or something, and the necklines fought.
-The neckline begs to be filled with something other than just a collar flopping inside of it. So as you can see, I tried scarves and buttoned up shirts.
-I preferred the looks that were lower contrast with the black vest -- the rich jewel tone tops worked best.

Please pardon no makeup and messy hair. I didn't bother styling the lower half -- I'm thinking bootcut jeans and booties, perhaps? Can't be anything too low-rise, since the peplum top is not long, but that's not much of a problem for me considering how short-torsoed I am. Skirts are a no-brainer, but I'm trying to make this work with jeans too if possible since I wear them so much.

Oh, and I realized after I'm putting these up here that I did a terrible job arranging the scarf in #3. So ignore the knot, just check out the pattern and color if you can.

Thoughts, opinions? Which work best for you? Ideas welcome!