Inspiration Board: Renee - Casually Cool

This look from Renee reminds me of my pretty much perpetual fashion in high school, minus the awesome hair. In those days, I was still in the "fighting with my tresses" phase. Have I ever mentioned how much I love buns and ponytails? Their respective inventors should be kissed. Also given plaques. It's a total tribute to Renee that she's making the shacket work here. Unless you are a magical fashion goddess (and sometimes even then...), it's waaay too easy to fall into the "I'm so busy adulting/almost-adulting that I don't even care how I look" look. The tricky part here is the whole shacket concept and we're gonna talk about that because you can make this über-cool, casual look function for you, even on days when you're not feeling like the magical fashion goddess you are. First, the easy part: slim or skinny bottoms. The simplest way to make oversized or flowy on top work is with form-fitting on the bottom. It's a proportion-play that's 101 go-to. Do leggings, do vegan leather, do track-striped polished knits, do denim - it's all good, as long as it's leg-hugging. Ditto your underlayer. Body-skimming, body-kissing, body-con: it and your body are ca-lose. Like, bff close. Ok, to the trickier aspects we go! Renee's look works here for a couple of reasons. First, she's wearing an actual shacket,  with has a jacket-type styling and a little more heft/stiffness to the fabric  than a shirt. Also, it has a straight hem, instead of a shirt-tail hem (rounded at the bottom, curving upward toward the hips, making a u-shape when viewed from the front or back). If you have a shacket, feel free to employ it here. [Note: Renee's does have a bit of  drop-tail hem (longer in back than in front), but that doesn't have a relevant effect on this styling]. A straight-hemmed shirt creates a more polished, jacket-like connotation, which is something to keep in mind if you're doing this look with a shirt. The challenging part about that option is that a button-up shirt doesn't have the same polish as a jacket and leaving a basic, shirt-tail hemmed shirt open over a tank top is a really quick route to Soccer Mom territory. (No offense to Soccer Moms; I get it - life's busy, practicality rules.).  You can segue around that avenue in a couple of ways.  Go for a button-up tunic (duster and other  unexpectedly long lengths encouraged) , instead of a shirt, especially one in a more sophisticated fabric (i.e. silk or voile). Avoid stiff woven cottons. To up the chic factor, keep the color story minimal and bold: black and white, red and navy, beige and graphite.  Don't worry about the formality of a fabric like silk. It won't feel fancy when you complete the look with sneakers or flat espadrilles; it will be just enough to elevate the outfit.  Ditto with voile.  Note: with drapey fabrics and this longer length, you can also  button or partially button said tunic if you so desire.  If you're sticking with the standard-length button-up, def skip the leaving-entirely-open part. There are easier ways to do casual ;).  Try knotting the shirt in front as low as possible to create a slouchy feel (don't button the rest of it up - the deep 'v' that's created will elongate the line of your body). Or tuck it in and button only the bottom button for another variation on the same theme. Alternatively, use an oversize shirt and create your own asymmetrical hem by doing up two or three central buttons using a button-hole that's one or two holes below the one straight across from the button.  The fun thing about these knotted and partial-button options is that you don't need a super-drapey fabric, which opens up linen for consideration and all the amazing summer shades it's available in: aqua, lilac, tiger-lily, lemon.  Yum, right? :) Finish with block-heeled sandals or wedge espy's in a coordinating color or light neutral.  Lastly, amp up the stylish intent on all these variants with a polished hair style: a sleek pony, a refined bun, pretty braids. Happy casually cool styling!