Casual Style: Off Duty Edition
Casual Style
Every now and then, not often, but, occasionally, I dress casual. It’s usually on Sundays when I’m running errands or spending quality time with Mr. Dexter at the local park but it does happen. And with the rise in athleisure dressing (you know you have a pair of Stan Smith Adidas saved in your ASOS shopping cart right now, admit it), you see a lot more casual looks on style blogs. But to be honest, the cold snap was finally gone and I was just eager to break out my new bomber jacket.
Speaking of bomber jackets, I highly recommend getting one if casual style is definitely your thing. They are extremely versatile. I’m wearing mine with jeans and a t-shirt but I would even wear it with a striped midi t-shirt dress and slip-on sneakers. The possibilities are endless! Also, bomber jackets come in a great variety of styles, fabrics, and colors but choose colors that you’re going to get a lot of wear out of – I have this black one and an olive one (another great neutral that is unappreciated in my opinion). Finally, graphic bomber jackets a la The Pink Ladies from Grease are very much in vogue now too so express yourself!
Isn’t this tshirt hilarious? I knew instantly when I saw it that I had to have it. I’ll admit that I can be a little bougie at times but hey, at least I own it. You all know that I’m a huge fan of graphic tees (the vintage The Beatles tee from my Signature Style in Brooklyn is one of my all-time favorites) because they’re such a great way to express yourself. I tend to gravitate towards the ones with puns, vintage rock tees, or tees that are clever plays on words but you can pretty much find tees that perfectly sum up your #currentmood almost anywhere. Forever 21 tends to have the most at any given time and at great price points from my shopping experiences. The other thing that I love to do with graphic tees is dress them up or down. In my opinion, a graphic tee is merely a tshirt with a slogan or a picture and I style them like I would any other tshirt. I wear them with blazers and jeans to the office on casual Fridays or with pencil skirts, a statement necklace, and heels to brunch.
Yup, I’m wearing my DSTLD ripped black skinnies again. Why?? Because they’re awesome! Everyone should have a pair of ripped/distressed jeans in their wardrobe. I usually link the items in my posts so that you can purchase them but I checked the DSTLD site and this exact style is currently sold out. I don’t know if they’re going to re-stock either because the site didn’t say. I have blue, black, grey, and white ripped jeans in both skinny and boyfriend cuts. They add that edgy look and feel to your outfits that I personally love. I didn’t want to wear blue jeans here (but that doesn’t mean you can’t or shouldn’t) because I wanted to wear all black to make the shirt the primary focus. To complete the relaxed and casual feel, I cuffed the hem twice. Cuffing the hems of your jeans has many benefits: rolling them once can add a little polish to your look when you’re dressing up your jeans, rolling them twice can make your look more casual in feel, and in both instances it makes your legs look longer and your jeans look more expensive than they actually are. Have I told you guys how much I love cuffing my hems? I LOVE cuffing my hems! There. I said it.
Casual Accessories
It’s been a bit chilly in NYC lately so beanies are a must. I’ve always worn beanies, even when I lived in California, but I wore them for more superficial reasons such as a bad hair day. I have beanies in multiple styles and colors. I’m really partial to the ones that you can scrunch up a little bit because they have that “lazy yet put together” look to me. This grey one gets a LOT of wear – my hairstylist will back me up on this one. To complete my look, I did my 10 minute makeup (foundation, blush, mascara, and nude lip gloss), threw on my sunnies, and headed out the door.
I was torn between wearing my wedge sneakers and my espadrilles with this look. I think either one would have looked great here but I’m glad that I opted for the espadrilles. I was also trying to really push myself to wear flats that day. I have a love/hate relationship with espadrilles. I love the style but I have narrow feet and sometimes there’s too much room on the sides of the shoe when I try them on. Side gaps are not cute. These Chanel ones have had the best fit out of all of the espadrilles that I’ve wanted to buy. They’re also super comfortable. This is my second pair (I have a two toned leather pair that you can see in one of my Instagram posts) and they were worth every penny. They are tough to get your hands on so if you want to snag a pair, make nice with the sales associates in the shoe department at Saks Fifth Avenue and they’ll keep you in the loop about incoming inventory and allow you to pre-order pairs. They use their Instagram feed to let you know about ALL the shoes (they’re especially great if you’re looking for Loubies too) that they currently have in their stores and they’re extremely helpful with sizing if you’re unsure or don’t have a location near you to try them on beforehand. If you want to know which SA’s I follow on Instagram and also subscribe to their email lists for handbag inventory and sales notifications, send me an email or leave a comment. I’ve ordered from them on numerous occasions and they can be trusted.
I hope that you enjoyed my post that gave you a glimpse into my “off-duty” casual style. Now if you’ll excuse me, I must be getting Mr. Dexter to the vet. This should be fun.
Have a great day, lovelies!
xoxo, CCB
Photography: Kristin Tully
Hair: Slique Hair Studio
Outfit Details: Forever 21 beanie (old), Celine sunglasses, ASOS bomber jacket (here), Tees in the Trap “A Lil’ Bougie” tee (here), DSTLD ripped mid rise skinny jeans (currently sold out but these are great too), Chanel espadrilles
