I’ve come to terms with the fact that I am never going to own the newest hot designer ready to wear. I don’t have that kind of money. Sure I could save up and buy one or two covetable pieces per season but meh, I’m just not a saver. I’d rather wait until the trends trickle down to affordable shops. So while I’m not shopping the runway, I still like to look for inspiration. Peer closely at the styling and you can often come up with no purchase required tweaks that will make last year’s pieces look fresh.
Here are my favorite looks from Spring 2010’s Ready to Wear collections and the wearable in real life ideas I drew from them…
Dress down a conservative dress with sleek flip flops
Give hard to wear nudes a jolt with bright pink and orange
Get 70s chic with a center part, huge sunglasses, and a rich brown jacket (leather hot pants not required)
Extend the life of big winter boots by pairing them with your uber girlie dresses
Another way to keep those dresses from being too pretty, wrap them up with a leather belt
Toughen up a twee top with your old beat up jeans and leather accessories
Khaki and stripes, the classic win
Get a little Mod with a boxy print top and skinny jeans
Grab some ribbon from the craft store to give last years sandals a whole new look
Girl up menswear oxfords by replacing the laces with ribbon
Speaking of menswear, it never looked so cute
Another way to give old sandals new life, popping on opaque colorful socks
Not so Little House when worn with those trusty oxfords
Add some edge to a dressy pencil skirt with an over sized white button up
Keep it simple and allow Spring’s It colors to shine.
Pick one piece of cobalt, turquoise, lavender, citron, orange, marigold, or hot pink and pair with the white, nude, khaki, grey, and black already in your closet.
And finally, don’t forget to break out the white button up and blazer
The Little House dress with the oxfords reminds me of Amy Grant circa 1991. : )
Lol, it does! I love a floral dress but it’s hard to find one that doesn’t make you look like you’re headed to church or to teach Kindergarten
Mm mm mmm! I like the post and LOVE the first of the leather belted dresses!
GREAT post! So much inspiration right there: bam! Thanks, Shannon!
very cute ideas- I have a hard time with runway because they ususally have so many ideas at once, so this is definetly helping!
these are great selections- would LOVE to see a post on how you recreate these looks with your everyday wardrobe.
Alayni- I plan to try! I feel like I have nothing in my closet for spring though…I think I need to make a shopping list
It can be SO tedious going through all the shows. Nobody does separates anymore. It’s just one mini dress after another
Your picks are ALL excellent! I can’t wait for spring! I recently bought a lace pencil skirt on clearance at the Banana Republic Factory, and I LOVE the fit! I will be wearing it with my big white shirt I bought 2 years ago from Gap’s 1969 line. And of course I am already wearing my Rodarte (for Target) striped boatneck Breton, and it will go right into the spring with my khaki pieces. I am looking for some nice brown leather brogues that are not too flat nor too pointy—the ones on the model with the floral dress would be perfect!
I love the idea of using girly ribbons for laces in mannish oxfords. I have several pairs and, while I love them, they tend to feel a little too manly.