Happy Hump Day Lizteners,
As I’ve evolved my personal style over the past two years and a half, I’ve definitely become a huge advocate for a fashion item my early teenage self used to loathe. And no I’m not talking about the head-to-toe Juicy sweatsuit (that’s still a big no imo in case you were wondering), but none other fashion item than the culottes. The French-derived term means nothing other than a pair of pants. They’re usually knee- or calf-length and are cut to resemble a skirt. Now if you told me ten years ago that you’d willingly get me out of my beloved skinny jeans, I wouldn’t have bet you a million bucks on that. Well, look at me now doing a complete 180° turn when it comes to my choice of bottoms. Don’t get me wrong, I still love a good skinny jean, but there’s something oh-so-chic, super fab and may I mention comfortable about culottes. Over the past two years I’ve accumulated quite a handful of them in all different shapes, lengths and patterns. One of my most colorful ones that I’m sporting in this post is from a Luxembourgish brand called Yileste. The more I started to wear them, the more compliments I started to get on them. However, as soon as Summer time passed, I started to panic as I thought that because of their shorter cut, they wouldn’t be weather-appropriate for the colder temperatures (especially for living in NYC) so I had to come up with a solution on how to transition them from a Summer item into a Fall/Winter statement: I just put a pair of black tights under them and voilà, I manage to stay warm without sacrificing my personal style, which can be a real bummer in the Winter time especially if you have that perfect outfit already pictured in your head and you’re secretly longing for those rising temperature-looks.
As culottes are shorter than regular pants, I like to pair them with either heels like a pair of classic black/navy booties in the Winter or even just flats that match the color of your tights: This will create the illusion of longer, leaner legs. If you wear a bright pair of shoes with your culottes (especially if they’re as loud as these ones), it’ll draw your eyes to your shoes and disrupt the seamlessness of the rest of your outfit, which you’d wanna avoid if you’re striving for an elegant and fashionable look. Speaking of disruption, I’d recommend coordinating the rest of your outfit with colors that are found within your culottes. In my case, I stuck with navy, as I wanted the pants to be the centerpiece. Because culottes are wider, it’s more flattering to pair them with a tighter fitting top hence I tucked my body-con navy turtleneck into my pants. To top it all off, I’d recommend staying with a monochrome jacket or coat if your culottes have a crazy pattern. I’m obsessed with this oversized coat I got on sale at Maje during my annual Winter ‘séjour’ in Paris. It adds sophistication and a certain effortlessness to the overall look I was striving for. It also provides just the right amount of structure that compliments the culottes without stealing their show.
As far as the rest of my accessories go, I couldn’t resist but carry my Saint Laurent sac de jour in this lovely sky blue hue that complimented the navy in my statement ring. To add the finishing touch, I couldn’t help but wear my Aimee Song x Gentle Monster sunglasses (even though the sun was nowhere to be found on that particular Sunday morning) that grant this fit just the right amount of mystery and futuristic vibes.
I provided direct links to the majority of the clothes and accessories I’m wearing below in case you’re interested in ‘shopping the look’. I hope this helped all of you out who kept asking me on how to properly style culottes and hopefully alleviated the fear of giving this fashion trend a try. Just experiment guys – it’s fashion and meant to be fun!!
Have an amazing rest of your week!!
Much love,
Liz ♥
Outfit Details:
Coat: Maje
Turtleneck: Zara
Culottes: Yileste
Sunglasses: Gentle Monster
Shoes: Palomitas by Paloma Barcelo
Bag: Saint Laurent
All photos were taken by the amazing Fanny Prum (@fannyprum) ♥
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