Since clothes are such an essential part of every moment in our life, we can never get enough fashion hacks for stylish women.
I have spent the last few years with the task of improving my style. On that journey, there had been specific fashion tips that have helped me more than others.
Today I want to share with you 11 of my favorite fashion hacks to elevate your style.
If you are a petite woman like myself, you should also check out my 9 Fashion Hacks For Petite Women.
Now, let’s get into it.
1. Mix up textures
Playing with different textures in your outfit can make it more interesting. While denim on denim, for example, can look harmonious, it is rather dull.
However, suppose you combine the roughness of denim with the smoothness of silk or softness of velvet. In that case, it creates an enticing contrast for the senses.
This play with textures can be especially useful to spice up monochrome outfits that otherwise might look too dull.
2. Use a belt
Belts can help your pants or skirts to stay in place when you move.
However, just because you’ve found a pair of pants that sit correctly and don’t need a belt doesn’t mean you shouldn’t wear one.
Belts are a real game-changer in outfits. It gives the style just a little additional spice. Even if it is just a very basic black belt.
Besides a basic belt, you should also consider getting more unique belts for statement purposes—perhaps one with an oversized buckle, or a chain-belt, or a thick one for your waist.
There are lots of options.
Just try it out for yourself and compare your outfits with and without a belt; I’m sure you will see a stark difference.
3. Don’t go overboard on jewelry
It can be fun to play around with jewelry. You can wear layered necklaces, an ear full of earings, hands full of rings, and whatnot.
But, you shouldn’t wear all at once.
If you wear too much jewelry combined, it can ruin your whole outfit and make you look cheap.
I’ve once heard the recommendation to stick with two body parts to wear jewelry. So you can wear necklaces and earrings, or earrings and rings, or necklaces and rings, for example.
On the one hand, I like that guideline because I do think it brings a balance to outfits.
However, I have a more loose take on it. I do think it is ok to wear earrings, rings, AND necklaces at once – and of course, you have to consider your watch as somewhat of jewelry as well.
But, I try to limit jewelry that stands out to two body parts. For me, that mostly means very basic and not too eye-catching earrings.
As always, I encourage you to try it out for yourself. This can also depend on your outfit. But it is definitely a guideline to keep in mind.
4. Use shoes to spice things up
Not just belts and accessories can be used to spice an outfit up. Many people seem to forget that shoes can also make beautiful statements and create excitement in your style.
To give you a very basic example, an all-black outfit gets a totally different vibe when you pair it with red boots.
That being said, I do recommend to first cover the basic shoe colors before you go out and spend money on more flashy items.
5. Try to stick to two colors
I always feel that if you stick to two colors and their shades in your outfit, you can hardly go wrong. It just tends to look super stylish.
Of course, there are many outfits out there with more than two colors in it. But if you want a safe choice, stick to two-three colors.
6. Decide on a color scheme
The point previously mentioned is especially easy to accomplish if you mainly purchase colors that fall under your chosen color scheme.
When purchasing clothes, I try to stick to five primary colors, more or less.
Mine are black, bordeaux, white, beige, rose/purple, and emerald green.
I’ve been doing this for a while now, and in recent months I’ve really noticed how things are falling more and more into place.
I have fewer and fewer pieces of clothing that I don’t know how to pair with other items.
And the two-color based outfits are much more effortless to put together.
7. Keep your shoes clean
I get it; cleaning your shoes is not really at the forefront of your mind unless they are covered in mud.
But you might want to consider giving your shoes a weekly or fortnightly once over.
Those grass stains on sneakers or the white sprinkles on your black boots from the salt on the streets in wintertime do indeed impact your outfit.
I feel like often times we only notice it unconsciously, but we can tell that something is not quite right with style.
So keep your shoes clean!
8. Synchronize the colors of accessories and details
Ok, so this is a very pro tip.
Your outfit will be elevated to a whole new level if all your accessories and details like zippers, buttons, and studs have the same color. So mostly that will be gold, rose gold, or silver.
In the beginning, you probably won’t be able to do it consistently. You will have jeans with a gold button and shoes with silver zippers, for example. And of course, you shouldn’t throw them out over such a tiny detail.
But now that you know about this importance of detail, you will keep it in mind when buying clothes and accessories, making the styling process later on effortless.
9. Loose goes with tight and wise versa
This has been one of the most groundbreaking yet simples tips I’ve ever learned about styling.
It tends to look more stylish to pair tight jeans or skirts with something more loose on top. Or the other way around.
So whenever you find yourself wearing an all skin-tight outfit, consider switching one part of it for something more loosely fitted and see how it looks.
The same goes for a baggy outfit. If both your top and bottom are loosely fitted, it can make you look like a sack of potatoes.
This is, of course, only a rule of thumb. There are tons of great outfits that don’t follow this rule.
However, some that do follow this rule and that I absolutely adore are, for example:
- those wide-legged, long and thin summer pants with a tight cropped top (Rachel from Friends wore an outfit like that somewhere in Season 2, for example)
- A tight business-sy pencil skirt with a flowy loose blouse tucked into it.
10. Skin on top or at the bottom
Like with the previous point, there is also a balance to be maintained with the amount of skin you show.
Sometimes less is more. And I firmly believe that is the case with looking sexy instead of trashy.
Showing a lot of skin can quickly be done by wearing revealing clothes.
Miniskirts, hot pants, and cropped or even see-through tank tops are your clothes of choice in this case.
But showing just the right amount of skin to grant a glimpse of what could be and let some delicious mysteries alive is a true art.
With a tasteful and flattering outfit, the skin of your arms, shoulders, and collar bone can look very alluring.
Of course, in the hot summertime, you might want to dress more lightly. If thin and long pants like the ones mentioned above aren’t your thing, you, of course, can go for shorts to combine with a camisole.
But you might want to consider whether it would look more stylish to wear around mid-thigh length shorts instead of hot pants that show half your arse.
11. Only buy fitting clothes
Obviously, you should only buy fitting clothes. That’s what different sizes are for, right?
Well, what I mean is genuinely fitting clothes.
For most of my life, I have been buying regular clothes in small sizes. But as a petite woman, that very often led to disappointments as shirts, jackets, or pants simply were too long.
And I can’t always just get them tailored because with some items, it’s not just about the length but the proportions in general.
I recently had another one of these bitter disappointments, and I am so done with them!
Form now on, I don’t think I will even bother with looking at the main collections of online stores. I’ll simply filter for petite sizes straight away.
I am trying to tell you here that you should know your proportions and buy fitting clothes accordingly.
Are you petite or tall? Are you plus sized or maybe very thin?
Buy clothes according to your unique proportions. I know it is easier to buy stuff of the reck. But if they don’t fit you perfectly, you’ll feel uncomfortable in them, and people will be able to tell.
Nowadays, you truly have so many options, so take advantage of them.
I hope you found these 11 fashion hacks helpful. Do you have any additional ones to share?
I’m looking forward to hearing your tips.
Sophie
