Wearing It Weird - YouLookFab Forum

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Wearing It Weird

Jenn

(website)

Veteran

I put this Gudrun Sjoden duster vest on today as shown in the first photo and felt less than great in it. I've used this vest successfully in a lot of pattern of pattern-mixing, but I thought popping it on over a column of black should be a no-brainer. It wasn't.

Then I remembered seeing something on TikTok about making a capelet out of a vest by putting your head through the sleeve holes. And then I figured out I could turn it into a scarf by bringing the ends around my neck (I'm still wearing it this way now).

Do you ever wear any of your clothes in weird ways? Does it make you self-conscious?

Sorry about the photo quality. I didn’t bother setting up my ring light and it shows.

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Dressing

25 replies

Latest reply was from Jules

Cardiff girl

Veteran

I actually really like this as a scarf paticularly over the column of black.l am all for experimenting with clothes especially if it means they get worn more.l will wear cardigans back to front,tie shirts and scarves in all different ways,dye,chop and generally rearrange before l give up on a garment.

jussie

Veteran

Interesting! I like what you have done here. I don’t usually do this type of thing, but I think it can work to great effect.

Jenni NZ

Veteran

It looks great. But I never do anything like that. Not creative enough. I have lots of clothes to wear in usual ways so don’t think of trying unusual ways. I don’t think one black shoe and one white shoe for a blacknwhite party in 1987 counts.

Runcarla

Veteran

#3 is fabulous! Good styling hack.

I don’t think I’ve done anything more adventuresome than wear a button down flannel open over a T-shirt or make cut-offs from full length pants. Not even a cardigan worn backwards

The pleated chiffon skirt below is really long, and I’ve hiked it up to my armpits to see how it looks as a bandeau dress. It falls below my knees. If I find an appropriate belt, or even a length of black ribbon with which to define the waist, I might wear it that way!

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Anonymous

It works! No I don't think I've played with my clothes like that- or at least in a long time if I did.

LaPed

Veteran

This seems to be a whole thing on TikTok! I've been coming across a lot of tutorials for turning long pieces into short pieces, flipping things around, etc. You make it look effortless, as usual! I think that vest is great no matter what you do with it.

I haven't found any pieces in my wardrobe that work that way. I remember trying to wear a crewneck cardigan backward as a teen--it seemed so clever!--but the neck was cut a little higher in the back and I found myself constantly tugging it forward. At this point, I generally only keep the things that fit the way I want them to fit, and I have something of a sensory aversion to extra bulk/lumpiness, as well as to most asymmetry, which makes a lot of these hard for me to imagine implementing.

Tanya

Veteran

This is super creative and both "unusual" stylings look great. I haven't done anything like this in ages, last time may have been when I was in grad school. But it is fun to try thongs out of the box from time to time.

Dee

Veteran

I think you look lovely wearing it in the traditional way in photo#1, but if you weren’t happy with it, I think it’s great that you able to find another creative and fun way to wear it.
Myself, I’m not that creative when it comes to changing up how a garment functions.

LJP

Veteran

I like it as a scarf , but am having trouble visualizing the cape version and how it actually works . I’m not terribly creative so haven’t done this type of thing in decades . But it ties in to my vow to get more use out of all of my clothes , as per my recent post .

Jenn

(website)

Veteran

LJP, you just put your head through one armhole and then lift the second armhole over your head as well, so it crosses in the front. Does that make any sense at all? I wish I could find the original Reel I saw.

Dee, it's not that I never wear it the normal way. If you click on the Find, you can see lots of WIWs I've done with it. I just felt blah in today's iteration.

Firecracker (Sharan)

Veteran

All of these look great. I wouldn't have thought of putting my head through vest armholes. That's very inventive. The extent of my experience in this arena is wearing a loose, open-front cardigan from OSKA upside down, creating a shorter shrug with wide turn-back lapels. In fact I wear the cardigan more often upside-down than right side up. I also have a vest and another cardigan (AllSaints below) that are designed to wear with either side up. The AllSaints cardi can also be worn front-to-back.

by Firecracker (Sharan)

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Jaime

(website)

Veteran

Well I like all three versions! The most creative I get is wearing a short halter dress as a midi-skirt.

Stagiaire Fash

Veteran

#2 is my fave.

The strategy reminds me of girls/young women at a university in Southern Georgia where I taught a morning class. It seems temps were nearly cool enough to warrant a sweater, but not quite. They’d put their arms in the sleeves, and pull it up close to their body, but not put their head through the hole, so there was nothing on their backs. The result was a broad stripe across their chests. I have no idea of their intent was to highlight their breasts, but that sure was the effect.

Your way of wearing the vest absolutely does not have that effect & is cool. The description just reminded me of them.

Irina

Veteran

Intriguing!
I recently managed to lean to wear a sweater as a scarf with a wool coat. I’m slow, eh?

Jessikams

(website)

Veteran

Great ideas! I will totally try that in the future. Just got to remember….

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Well, I love them all! That is very clever.

Curious what you did not like about #1. Do you think you'd feel that way on another day?

I recently flipped a pullover sweater with a back zip so the zip was in the front and undid it almost all the way to turn it into a cardigan. That was fun. I've also worn sweaters as (effectively) scarves. That's about as wild as it gets in these parts, LOL.

Bijou

Veteran

I love how you have styled this as a scarf, it works beautifully. This is something that I don't do. I once bought a belt that a stylist told me also could be worn as a necklace, she had seen this done in a runway show, but I felt like I was wearing a dog leash.... not a look I was going for!

Star

Veteran

I like #3. vCarla I do wear a long maxi skirt (much like yours but in cream) as a boobtube dress with a thin belt and much prefer it that way. My DH commented how cool it looked when I wore it the first time, so it does not look weird. I wore it with a belt, gum-soled sneaks and a sleeveless denim vest.

Val

Here’s something similar that I did. The creativity was spurred by being pregnant in winter and not wanting to get a maternity coat. Digging up some very dark and blurry photos to hopefully illustrate it… . First photo shows the cardigan worn the normal way, second photo shows it worn as a skirt by turning it backwards and putting my head and shoulders through the neck opening. It didn’t provide full coverage in the back, hence the tunic underneath. I did feel self conscious but it was like “I’m pregnant. Deal with it.” And a few people kindly complimented me on my “skirt” .

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Janet

(website)

Veteran

I like it worn as a scarf!

In theory I love this approach — getting creative and bossing your clothes around. In reality I have a tougher time with doing this because there’s usually some fidgety aspect that makes conversion tricky or cumbersome. In the past I’ve occasionally worn cardigans backwards to make them into more of a pullover style, which can be tricky for the large-busted, LOL. But these days I have just one cardigan that’s probably 20 years old, that I keep because my late mom bought it for me. It actually does fit and looks ok backwards, but it’s shades of olive which aren’t the easiest for me to work with. I should wear it this week for grins.

nemosmom

Veteran

Love #2 and #3! I have seen a couple of hacks: one where you button the bottom of a cardigan to the middle button holes ( in lieu of tucking), and one where a cardigan can be worn upside down and turned into a bolero of sorts. I have not been successful at either of them!

April

Veteran

I'm better at repurposing/reimagining in the kitchen than in the closet, but this is so clever it has my mental gears turning! Nice work.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

I like them all too! Creative and clever

Do #2 and #3 stay put styled that way?

Jules

Veteran

Well I just tried it with an upcycled vintage fabric kimono I have but haven’t worn yet (it’s summer weight - and I’m a sucker for these things in theory but wasn’t doing a lot of boho last summer). It definitely has potential, I might get more wear out of mine this way. While I was experimenting I also tried Amy Smilovic’s sweater-as-scarf thing, and I like it! Thanks for posting this.

Jules

Veteran

Here’s a photo of what I mean on Amy - had been meaning to try it with my green cashmere sweater. It turns out her sweatshirt has an extra hole I guess to thread the arms? But I just let mine fall and I like the effect well enough. That said, I generally prefer to use things the way they were intended, and usually only repurpose stuff that isn’t getting use otherwise.

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