I'm Preppy and I Know It

 

 

E here, another lovely day in Seattle. I hope that your new year has gotten off to a good start, mine definitely has. I recently went on quite the massive thrift haul, check back soon for the details on that adventure. Today I went for a preppy chic look. Over the past couple of years I have gone through several style reinventions and phases, but I have always been drawn to the preppy look. The funny thing about this outfit is that the sweater/button down combo that I'm wearing is actually one piece.

 

 

 I typically stay away from built-in one piece combos because I find them to look tacky. However, in this case I don't think that you can even tell that the sweater and undershirt are sewn together. Either way, I think that the sweater really adds to the overall look of the outfit, so much so that it reminds of my private school days! I worked really hard to make sure that this outfit looked polished-preppy, and not school-girl preppy. In order to pull off the polished-preppy look without it looking like a uniform, its important not to get carried away with making the pieces too matchy-matchy that they appear looking uniform.

 

 

 

Here, I took some pieces from my latest haul (my Coach loafers) and paired them with some great pieces that I already had in my closet. The key to perfecting the polished-preppy look is to stick with items that you are comfortable wearing. After all, I don't know about you, but polo shirt dresses are just not my thing. Whenever I put together an outfit that has preppy qualities to it, I try not to overdo it by making the outfit as casual chic as possible. If the preppy look is not your style, than just stick to basic style staples from the preppy look-book to enhance your closet (i.e. - trench coats, loafers, cardigans, etc.)

 

 

Thrifted items; two piece sweater: Forever 21 $3.99 (Value Village,) trench coat: Banana Republic $10 (Value Village,) loafers: Coach $7.99 (Value Village.) Non thrifted items; jeans: JCPenny's $25, scarf (not pictured) Nordstrom - B.P. department $10.

 

 

Don't get me wrong I definitely keep up with what's currently trending, but ultimately, I will always prefer the classic look because its simply timeless. However as I have said before, you don't need to spend a lot of money to look and feel like a million bucks. Each look that I create is practically 85% thrifted, everything else that I am wearing I've spent a bit more of money on to get longer use value out of. Well that's all for now, as I mentioned earlier I will post the details of my latest thrift haul soon. I guarantee that you will want to read all about it once you see what coveted designer brands I snatched up! Also, I will provide some great shopping and styling tips to help you achieve maximum results on your next thrifting adventure. Ta-tah for now!

-E