Inspiration Board: Barbie - Shine By Day

The instant I saw this look from Barbie, I knew I had to make it an Inspiration Board. It typifies everything that my style heart flutter! In addition to the gorgeous pale-blue-and-blush palette,  I love the way her denim shirt dresses down the fanciness of the sequin pencil skirt and makes it day-wear appropriate. Shine for day is a thing again and the key to doing it is to find a way to offset the formality. Start with your handiest/current fave/stuck in your head piece of shine: a sequin pencil skirt, like Barbie’s, or a shimmering midi version, or a metallic pleated piece (like the one you didn’t get to wear often enough during the holidays ;)). One of the reasons I adore looks like this is that they let me get more mileage out of insanely fun pieces that I don’t want to relegate to just night-time or fancy affairs! To go 100% Barbie, add a denim shirt on top (you can totally do this with chambray or an oxford  cloth version as well!). Leave the top button or two undone (no need to give quite the shoulder show that Barbie is ;)) and add a bar or name necklace, or other piece with special meaning. Finish with blush or nude pumps. A second option for dressing down the shine is to top it with a chunky sweater. Don’t style it too primly – choose an oversize piece you can do a half-tuck or frontal-only tuck with, just enough to create a visual waist. Alternatively, do it in blouson fashion for subtle polish. Or, go with a cropped piece for a retro-chic 80’s vibe. Complete the look with fierce pointy ankle booties and a lighthearted or whimsical piece of jewelry. If you need some cool-girl-meets-athleisure vibes in your life, top your sparkly skirt with a sweatshirt: hoodie, non-hoodie, it’s all good! Like the oversized-sweater topper, this is another place where slouchy or frontal-only tucks are your friends. The crucial part of pulling this look off is your shoes: avoid formality and even fierceness. You’re looking for laidback, possibly with a hint of attitude. Keep the heel height low (some kind of heel, even just a small one, tends to work best with midi lengths, so bear that in mind if you’re using a skirt of that hem height), and lean toward chunkier heel silhouettes or materials that indicate less formality, like wood heels instead of leather-covered. A simple suede block heel bootie works perfectly. This is also the right spot to think about low combat boots or, if your weather allows, sneakers – flat ones for barely-below-knee-length and above; try a wedge version with midi’s. Forego jewels...but do feel free to add a baseball or newsboy cap! I hope this inspires you to try some shine by day! Happy styling!