There is something so sleek and chic about the color black. It slims down the body and makes you look badass without much effort. After the past couple of months of seeing so much color around me, I always relish when the weather gets cooler and my closet becomes more and more desaturated. While all black or almost all black ensembles can give off an Addams family vibe (unless that’s your aesthetic), there are ways to play around with monochromes and make it look incredibly chic and effortless. In this lookbook, I created three very different looks that play on the monochrome style that you can rock this fall.
My first look is perfect for the chillier mornings that are bound to come in a few weeks. This jacket is a new favorite of mine that I picked up from Buffalo Exchange. Dark florals are one of my favorite patterns to work with. I’ve always felt that florals were way too showy for my tastes but the muted, cameo-like patterns on this dark, military inspired jacket is just minimal enough for me. The problem I tend to have with long hemmed jackets is that my body tends to get lost in all of the fabric. Luckily, this jacket comes with a drawstring around the waist that I can work with and rolling up the sleeves helps break up the black in the outfit. A playful skeletal shirt from Buffalo Exchange, Express pants and my Adidas rounds out this look.
My next outfit centers heavily around this black button up from H&M. I recently went shopping at their store in Tyler mall and was surprised to find a full streetwear collection to work with. A lot of their pieces would work really well with a monochrome theme and play with long silhouettes. When tied around the waist, I can create an elongated look that is really light and airy. I see a lot of dancers tying shirts around the waist and I think that it’s a great casual look to sport; and because the hem is a lot longer than most typical button ups, it adds a lot of interest to the outfit. For the top, I went with my trusty HUF jersey that I bought at Crossroads Trading Co. and Adidas and finished off the look with a studded hat from Crossroads.
Finally, my last look is the perfect outfit for a night out on the town. I got this as an investment piece from Express. Since I’m graduating in a few weeks, I need a reliable suit that not only works for conservative job interviews, but is also versatile enough to work in almost any situation that requires me to dress up.
Now, I should put a disclaimer that this outfit is a bit on the pricy side which is why I call it an investment piece. Even though I bought it on sale at an outlet location, the total cost of the suit, shoes and tailoring put me back a few hundred dollars. However, compared to bargain suits that I’ve bought in the past, this suit is far superior in terms of fit, comfort and durability. My past suits have all fallen apart after a year of use and I continuously had to buy and tailor new suits which became much more expensive than it was worth.
I’ve bought a couple of other pieces from Express in the past and committed to saving up for a new suit through them once I realized how long they lasted and how n well they maintained over the years. To finish off the look and add some fun to the outfit, I wore a quirky black and gold animal print shirt from Forever 21. It’s a bold print that blends nicely into the sleek look of the suit and since it’s a short sleeve, I stay relatively cool underneath the jacket.
In terms of accessories, I kept it simple with my trusty Aldo watch and bracelets. A pack of about five or six bracelets cost me about $15, which I thought was a steal. My shades were from a collaboration that I did with ZeroUV recently and the necklaces were from Forever 21 and Crossroads Trading Co. While the days get continually darker and the weather chillier and chillier, these monochromatic looks will hopefully bring some edge to match the (hopefully) cooling weather.
