Fashion

Making my wardrobe work harder: styling a tan midi skirt

Sophie

I absolutely love shopping. Not the most profound of statements, I know – I’m pretty sure almost everyone likes new clothes – but I have a bit of a problem with buying things, wearing them once, then shoving them to the back of the wardrobe, never to be seen again.

What I’m trying to say is, I’m a serial impulse buyer, I‘m not good at rewearing things, and not only is this incredibly wasteful, it’s also making me poor. However, with a trip to Scandinavia booked for just five weeks away, I need to be saving money rather than throwing it at Zara. Experiences rather than things and all that (although things are nice too).

And that, my friends – are we friends? This is only my fifth blog post but I’m something of a keeno so I’m going to roll with it and say we are – brings me to the point of this post. I need to get smarter with how I use what’s in my existing wardrobe, so I challenged myself to style one item in several ways to force myself to look at the different combinations I could put together with clothes I already own.

The item in question is my pleather tan midi skirt. She’s a beauty, isn’t she? I find myself gravitating more and more towards midis as I get older (gulp) and this one was £2.89 in the M&S sale. You read that right. TWO POUNDS EIGHTY NINE. You can’t even imagine how excited I was about that. Anyway – on to the looks!

IMG_1587Casual way to style a tan midi skirt

Tee – Primark | Trainers – Carvela | Sunglasses – Primark

First things first; the simplest combo you can imagine. I’m a big fan of making a midi super casual so on went a basic white tee, my much-loved Carvela trainers and some sunnies. Sunday morning brunch ready and one look down!

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Top – Primark | Belt – Primark | Mules –  Marks & Spencer | Sunglasses – Primark | Belt – Primark

For the next look, I wanted something less casual but still fairly relaxed. I bought these delightful little mules from M&S recently and absolutely love them. Mules are everywhere at the moment and I’ve seen so many pairs I want, but I feel like I made a wise move by going for some classic black ones with a nice heel height first. This belt reminded me a bit of those chunky waist belts everyone at sixth form was wearing in 2006 (please say someone else remembers this?!) when I first saw it but the circular buckle drew me in anyway.

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Shirt – Warehouse | Shoes – New Look

I work in an office, so I thought I would go for a workwear look next. The tan colour looks so nice with white that I stuck to that again with a simple shirt – I tied it at the front because my work isn’t too strict or corporate, but you could just tuck it in if that wouldn’t be okay where you work. I think this would look so nice with one of the beautiful deconstructed or ruffled shirts that are about at the moment…but the rule was things I already owned, and I’m not a rulebreaker, so I managed to avoid buying one (for now!).

IMG_1637IMG_1646IMG_1660(Why you so moody Soph?!)
Top – Dorothy Perkins | Belt – New Look | Bag – New Look | Shoes – Zara

To wrap things up, I tried a more dressy outfit, popping on this adorable little top from Dorothy Perkins, a skinny belt, and my trusty Zara lace-up sandals – with a red lip, of course. You may notice my hair also got significantly shorter – my bad, we shot these on different days as we were a bit pressed for time and I had my sister chop quite a lot off it on the day we were going to do the last photos. Ooops. Of course, if you rewear an item but get half your hair cut off in between wears, then you will suddenly look different, so everyone will think it’s a completely new outfit! Just an idea…

And there we have it – one skirt, four ways. Congratulations if you made it all the way through this rather lengthy post! I think this is definitely going to have to be something I start doing more of (not necessarily on here, just in general) so that I make the most of everything in my wardrobe. Which look was your favourite? Anyone have any top tips for making your wardrobe work harder?

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Photos: Rob Poor

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Published by Sophie

30 thoughts on “Making my wardrobe work harder: styling a tan midi skirt”

    1. Thank you so much Rosalie, that’s such a lovely thing to say (and maybe the first time I’ve been described as classy and chic haha). Thanks for reading and commenting 🙂 xxx

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    1. Thank you lovely lady! I know, so ridiculously cheap (I thought they were joking at first)…thanks for reading 🙂 xxx

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  5. You look great in all of these, and the BARGAIN. I’m so proud of you :’) I don’t think I could pull this off, seeing as I’m super short and everything just looks horribly out of size on me hahaha.

    AND YES I REMEMBER THE CHUNKY BELT PHASE. I remember getting it in black and white and wearing them with tops AND LEGGINGS. Damn, those were the days of #fashion. I also had mules as a kid aged 7, and it had Donald Duck on them. Bring back the 90s!

    Cherie ✿ sinonym

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    1. I KNOW SUCH A BARGAIN. See, I still get very excited about it now. Thank you so much 🙂 Also so relieved that someone else remembers that, and ohhhh god I did the same with the tops and leggings – what a hilarious sight we must have been back in the day #styleicons. Thanks for reading! xxx

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  6. YAS queen, you look absolutely incredible in all of these outfits! I have exactly the same issue as you – I am such a impulse buyer and I only have two drawers to stuff it all into (sharing a wardrobe with the boyf is a s t r u g g l e) so I need to be more mindful when buying my garms. I also waste SO much money! Need to take a leaf out of your book fo’sho. Immy x

    http://www.immymay.com

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    1. You BABE – thanks so much! Arghhh I share a wardrobe with the bf too and I feel your pain, notttt enough space (just keep gradually occupying more and more of it until its an 80/20 split in your favour)! I’m sure I’ll still end up going on the odd lunchtime shopping spree, but definitely going to keep making the effort 🙂 xxx

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  7. That skirt was SUCH a bargain and you’ve just proved how versatile it is too. I love all the ways you’ve styled it and it can really be dressed up or down. I find myself gravitating more towards midis now too – I had a wardrobe clearout recently and was kinda shocked at how short some of the skirts I used to wear were – don’t know how I didn’t flash everyone constantly haha (or maybe I did and I’m to this day blissfully unaware). These are gorgeous pictures lovely and I am loving your blog!
    Amy xx
    http://www.callmeamy.co.uk

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    1. Ahhh I did the exact same thing a few months ago – dug out some old stuff and was like errr sorry this is HOW short?! So if you were flashing everyone I think we all were (does that even make it better?! Who knows). Plus, with midis, when the wind blows you don’t have to suddenly panic that your skirt is going to blow up around your waist, which is what I imagine I spent a lot of my youth doing in breezy old England. Thanks so much Amy, I’ve been reading your blog for a while and am so pleased you have read my posts 🙂 xxx

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  9. Gosh! You so synced with me in this post! Months ago I made the decision to make what I have work harder! Exactly because at some point I had many clothes I didn’t wear yet I couldn’t pay for my flight tickets. This summer I want to travel a lot and I’ve been avoiding shopping at my maximum. It’s sooo hard but I always convince myself I have enough. Clothes are nothing compared to experiences.
    We all love shopping so it’s hard to find people who are vocal about the disadvantage of always getting new stuff. Loved your mind set 😀

    You gonna enjoy my post and also my ‘suggested read: A new way to blog my style’

    See you soon ❤

    http://www.desiringsme.com/spring-outfits-camel-coat/

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    1. Thanks chick, yes I’m trying to save for travel too so not buying loads of new stuff for a while is really what I need. I will check your blog out. Thank you for reading xxx

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  14. This is such a great idea! I have a lot of items in my wardrobe that I only really wear with certain other items. Might attempt this in the future! Great outfit choices x

    cait / cait rammy

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    1. Thanks so much Cait! And I would love it if you did, I think I might do it a few more times/make it into a bit of a series just to force myself to make the most of my clothes (which I definitely don’t at the moment haha) xxx

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