Category: Daily Outfit

How to “Fake Tuck” a Sweater

sweater over dress, monochrome outfit, how to winterize a summer dress, tall boots with long skirt

When: early December // Weather: 30s // Real life: work

sweater over dress, monochrome outfit, how to winterize a summer dress, tall boots with long skirt
sweater over dress, monochrome outfit, how to winterize a summer dress, tall boots with long skirt
sweater over dress, monochrome outfit, how to winterize a summer dress, tall boots with long skirt
sweater over dress, monochrome outfit, how to winterize a summer dress, tall boots with long skirt
sweater over dress, monochrome outfit, how to winterize a summer dress, tall boots with long skirt

I’m not usually one to bring you “life hacks,” but hot damn do I have a good one so I have to share. I’m sure I’m not the first person to do this, but I did come up with it independently, so I’m pretty proud of myself.

Here was my dilemma: I like to layer sweaters over dresses, but as a vertically challenged person with a small frame, it can look frumpy, especially with a longer dress. Now if the sweater is cropped, magical optical illusions happen and I look tall and fabulous. (This is my life goal.)

But how do you make a non-cropped sweater looked cropped when you can’t tuck it in to anything? (Imagine me saying this into the camera in black and white, infomercial-style.)

Here’s what I did – I took an old pair of tights with runs in it, and cut off just the waistband. Boom. Instant belt already snugly fitted to my waist. I put that over the dress, then tucked the sweater up and under. This also works when you have a skirt that’s too thin or fitted to tuck normally.

Hey, I didn’t say it was fancy, just that it was good. It might work with a “regular” belt but you’d have to make a belt pretty tight for it to hold, which wouldn’t be very comfortable. And it wouldn’t be as cool and resourceful.

So there it is – my one and only life hack. Hope you enjoyed.

similar Dress // similar Sweater // Boots // similar Bag // Earrings

Ivory Boots

white ivory ankle boots, suede moto jacket, leopard bag

When: the Friday before Thanksgiving // Weather: 40s // Real life: work, then seeing my wife in a community theater production of Cinderella

white ivory ankle boots, suede moto jacket, leopard bag
white ivory ankle boots, suede moto jacket, leopard bag
white ivory ankle boots, suede moto jacket, leopard bag
white ivory ankle boots, suede moto jacket, leopard bag

I have so many ankle boots at this point that I have a hard time justifying acquiring more. (I said a hard time, not an impossible time.) I liked the idea of white ankle boots because I didn’t already have that color, but it’s really hard finding ones that don’t look tacky. (Again, hard, not impossible.)

After lots of searching and review-reading, I finally landed on these babies, and based on the million compliments I got, I think I made the right call. They’re more ivory than white, and the crocodile texture makes them look more expensive than they are. I don’t think they’re tacky at all, and I have pretty strict standards for tackiness.

Plus, the wide heel makes them sturdier, which is great because I simply don’t have time to nurse a sprained ankle right now.

Jeans (c/o Mott & Bow) // Boots // similar Jacket // similar Bag