Gang, at the close of our Cropped Flares Week last November, I had hinted at a closet clean-out I had completed with my dear friend, Linzi. You might also remember her from our recent LOFT shoot.
Linz is a mom to two crazy boys, has a penchant for comfort shoes, rocks bright colors like nobody’s business, is overly competitive at board games, (“it’s called SORRY for a reason, SUCKERS”), and loves me despite all my crazy. She’s amazing and funny and warm and I feel beyond lucky to call her a friend.
But everyone has their sartorial quirks, and Linzi’s is a heavyyyy reliance on Danskos, as well as an unrelenting aversion to skinny jeans. Sooo….ok. Ok fine. We can do this.
Question One: How Do I Wear All Of My Tunic Tops?
Linz had a closet full of tunic-length tops, mostly from Boden. Wearing them over leggings felt tired, and she was gearing up to get rid of them all. So we started messing with one of my favorite proportion rules, The Long-Short.
The principle is simple: long, tunic-length tops look good with cropped pants.
Strange but true.
Luckily, Linzi has a ton of cropped jeans – her go-to denim style is actually a pair of cropped straight-leg jeans – so we quickly went to work coming up with long-short combinations. Since the cropped jean always looks best with a liiitle bit of a heel, I forced her to try them with her “fancy” pair of comfort shoes. [snort]
Similar Boden Tunic Top |Madewell Cali Demi Boot | Fly London Bootie
Madewell Cali Demi Boot | Fly London Bootie
Boden Long Sleeve Tee | Vince Cape (Similar) | Madewell Cali Demi Boot | Fly London Bootie
J. Crew V-Neck Cardigan | Lucky Brand Jeans DIY’d | Fly London Bootie
This pairing can even be dressed up for date night…..
Similar Boden Tunic |Madewell Cali Demi Boot
Question Two – Ok Fine, But I Still Want To Wear My Flat Boots Sometimes…
Linz admitted that her “fancy heeled booties” from above (OMG eyeroll) are, in fact, crazy comfortable and could be considered “appropriate playground shoes” #smallwins but she was wondering if her flat boots might look cute with her favorite denim.
YES.
Especially because they’re a mid-calf boot, which, when zipped over her jeans, mimic the long-short proportions:
Question Three – How Else Can We Style Cropped Jeans?
Moving past the tunic-length tops and the Long-Short rule….how else to get the proportions right? Oh-and-hey-lets-not-forget: The Danskos. Can we pull these all together in a way that flatters?
Enter: the half-tuck.
The half-tuck is required because it helps elongate the legs, which is especially important when dealing with cropped jeans.
Here’s an example, without the half-tuck (and truthfully it’s fine, this top is actually a little bit longer than most so it does work….)
Boden Long Sleeve Tee | Madewell Cali Demi Boot| Dansko Bootie
And with the half-tuck….
Madewell Cali Demi Boot | Dansko Bootie
Look at that. The half-tuck looks good even when we bring back the Long-Short with a coat.
Another option to elongate the leg is a cropped top. Now, before you go all huffing and eyerolling…..try layering a cropped top over something fitted. For Linzi this will always and forever be stripes.
Madewell Sweater-Vest | Boden Long Sleeve Tee | Madewell Cali Demi Boot | Dansko Bootie
Question Four – Sooooo…These Belted High-Rise Flare Jeans?
Linzi was getting foiled by the belt. And the fact that there’s so much material in a high-rise flare, especially ones as flowy as these. So the question was simple: Keep or return….and if the answer is keep, how best to style?
I vote keep – her flares (by Pilcro) are stunning. Linzi’s exact pair is gone, but Anthro just came out with the same pair in a lighter wash.
Anyway, check out what they do for a striped tee (and half-tucking saves the cool belt if you hate having your entire waist/bum showing):
Boden Short Sleeve Tee | Pilcro Palazzo Jean
Shop Linzi’s Favorites
The items below are either pieces that Linzi actually owns, or pieces based on Linzi’s style. Enjoy!
Love you, Linz!!
xo,
S
Everything looks sooo good! Great job! I wish you lived next door to me S.!
Love this! I have a similar style, body shape and own those danskos! Love how you kept her true to her style but with some fresh pieces. Make this a series!
I am totally jealous of Linzi and I wish you could come help me clean out my closet! Also, you don’t like those black dansko booties? They are so cute!
I like them too! I have arthritis in my feet (hereditary, not age-related) so “comfort shoes” (what a horrible phrase) are required! We can’t all wear strappy heels, & it’s not our fault, LOL! Danskos saved me for years & years. It would be great to see MORE info/ideas about how to wear some of the newer Dansko styles & still look stylish & cute.
I totally love her Danskos!! Just….not ALL THE TIME FOR EVERYTHING AND EVERMORE. Ya know? Also, writing with friends in mind is horrifyingly fun and brings out my inner shit. I can’t help but tease. 🙂
Aaaannnd now we all want you to travel to our homes to do the same, Shana! Anyway, my big question which is totally irrelevant to all the outfits- what product does Linzi use on her curls? I have similar texture and am always looking for product recs 🙂
Yes! Talk to me please about her effortless waves!
She uses that annoyingly expensive Oribe Surfcomber mousse. It’s worth every penny, tho. Post-chemo, when my hair was wavy, I swore by that stuff too. Like……I could let my hair AIR DRY with this stuff and it would still look amazing. http://amzn.to/2l02GxV
I second the request to make this a series!
I would looooove to see more of these closet cleanout posts! Linzi – you are adorable.
I loved this post! I’m a size 8/10 and while I love the clothes you blog about they don’t always work for my body type, this look seems much more flattering for me. Thanks!
What Sarah said!
I’d love to see her Dansko bootie outfit with a narrow roll on her jeans, just enough to see the ankle a bit. In my job (childcare) I often feel the need to dress modestly, for all kinds of reasons, but I love flaunting a super sexy ankle. ☺️
I agree – more posts like these, please! Love that you took what she already had and worked with it. : )
I’ve been forced into wearing comfort shoes due to annoying foot problems over the past year and it definitely affects what sorts of outfits I can wear. There are a few semi-cute shoe options, but not many. This post gave me a few new outfit ideas – thanks!
Annoying foot problems here too, so stuck with comfort shoes. PSA, Wolky makes some pretty decent ones, better options if you go through their European site, free shipping to the US. More comfortable than Dansko, at least for my feet. I actually get compliments on my Wolky boots from people who can wear fashionable shoes. This was a great post Shana, I have some similar tastes to Linzi, I too love a cropped straight leg and am afraid of skinny jeans, though I do think they look good with a short dress, so they would would probably work with a tunic too. More posts like this please! Thanks for sharing with us Linzi
THIS. THIS, is the kind of post I like to see from TME. Less shopping, more working with what you have. Different body types. Comfortable shoes. Real problems with expert fixes. More please!
What she said: less shopping, more working with what you have! I know it’s probably not as much of a money maker but hey you’ve still got shopping links in this post.
Love this post! Linzi you’re adorable! So ready for straight leg jeans again. I’m built like you, Shana can you just make her your model for everything that’s not you-and-Cam-sized, lol? Linzi, I used to wear Lucky’s all the time and Ioved them, but two babies later they’re fitting…differently…in different sizes. Do yours cover the bum but still ride low? I can’t bear even medium rise, they cut me weird. Thanks for being brave, this post is great!
Wonderful, creative post. Thank you, Linzi, and thank you, Shana! Strong work!
And as a side note, I really like that I can sense the love between you two dear friends. I picked up on it in the LOFT post you did recently — and it really comes across here! 🙂
Awwww…thanks, Chick. You are right on – there’s a TON of love. xoxo
Love this! Linzi, you are adorable! Love your hair and great smile! Shana, please make this a series. Do you have more beautiful brave friends to clean out their closets? I know all of us want you to come to our house.