How to Wear a Shacket with "Stylish Monday"

On the second Monday of every month a group of style bloggers and I pick a theme, style an outfit based on that theme, and then do a link up together where you can join too!  This month's theme is "shackets".   We are all sharing variations of the shacket trend.

A "Shacket" is an over-sized shirt that is worn as a Jacket.  

"Shackets" first came on the scene last fall, but they are still super popular this season too!  I didn't buy one last fall, because I don't like anything over-sized on me.  I always feel over-sized clothing just makes me look bigger than I really am.  I also tend to not like plaid on me, I just can't shake that "lumberjack" feeling when I wear plaid.  However, I found this shacket on Amazon, and I ended up falling in love!

A true shacket is over-sized and the top of the sleeve usually drops below the shoulder.  But like all trends, shackets have evolved so you can pick a style that is more appealing to you.  The shacket I found on Amazon is only over-sized in the length, but not so much in the width.  I picked my usual size, a size medium, and it fits perfectly with plenty of room to wear something thicker than a tee underneath if I wanted to.

The usual rule of thumb when wearing something baggy or over-sized on top is to wear something form-fitting on the bottom.   Because of the nice, long length of my shacket, I can wear it with leggings or skinny jeans as my butt will be well-covered.  Here I have a pair of jeggings on, but I can't wait to try this shacket with a pair of black leggings too.

Another great feature of this shacket is that is QUILTED on the inside...yes, you heard me right....quilted! You don't see quilted shackets too often.  I forgot to take pictures of the quilted feature, but you can check out photos on AMAZON here!  And did I mention how SOFT it is!  Many bloggers complain that their shackets are stiff, not this one!  I could sleep in it, it's that soft!

To complete my look, I wore a beige tank under the shacket, and carried a tan saddle bag.

For footwear I chose these beige booties.

I decided to wear some fancy earrings to add a little pizzaz to the look, otherwise I'd look more like I was gardening for the day than out about town.  I didn't wear any jewelry other than earrings because I didn't think a necklace would be noticed that much, and with the long sleeves of the shacket, either would a bracelet.  So fancy earrings it was!

I have to be honest and say I was going to just buy a shacket for this blog post so I could play in the monthly challenge and then just return it.  But I ended up loving it so much, I decided to keep it!  It really is a great addition to my wardrobe, and you know what, even when shackets go out of style, this will be perfect for my country lifestyle!

And now lets see what the rest of the ladies in the group are wearing and be sure to link up with us below!

Shelbee

Shelbee - Shelbee on the Edge - When shackets started trending last fall, I wanted to try out the trend without spending too much money. So I hit the thrift shops and found this olive green corduroy shirt jacket that is quickly becoming an autumn wardrobe staple

Nina

Nina - Sharing a Journey -Is the shacket trend for you? Learn what it is,how to get the look for yourself, and a few styling tips to make the shacket your own. 

Lucy

Lucy - Lucy Bertoldi.com  October’s sombre vibes has me styling up this sheer, black ‘shacket’ which I love wearing over tanks or sleeveless outfits; like this tulle dress for example. It’s perfectly light, chic and edgy- whether it’s worn as a shirt, or jacket. 

Julie

Julie - Fashion Trends and Friends and Instagram FashionTandF -  

I’m loving the shacket trend especially since I’m always cold!  Shackets come in so many colors, lengths and styles there’s bound to be one you’ll like!  It’s the perfect layering item for fall and winter.  I love my newest one with pink and pockets! You don’t have to spend a lot on trends to give it a try!

Nicole

Nicole - High Latitude Style - While shackets are an Alaskan favorite, I have owned only two shackets so far. The first shacket was the classic Buffalo plaid skirt in red with black. I used to wear it for snow shoveling in late spring and early winter (late September, first week of October). The second one was a DIY patching project. I had bought the piece as a shirt, but it was too stiff to be worn as such. Therefore, I patched it to turn it into a shacket. I still wear it in late spring and early fall as cover-up when a cotton cardigan would be too cold and a jacket would be still too warm. Given that in Alaska the transition seasons are very short (2-4 weeks), I don’t get much wear out of my shacket.

And Me!

Amy - Amy’s Creative Pursuits -  I never thought I would like shackets because I don’t like the over-sized look on my body type, but this cute one from Amazon is over-sized in length,and not so much in width, so it gives a more fitted, polished look.

So what about you? Have you tried the shacket trend yet? Is this a trend you would be willing to try?

Have a Great Day! Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

One Flannel Shirt, Two Different Styles

If you've been reading my last few fashion posts HERE and HERE  you would know that I have been struggling with styling a new flannel shirt that I bought so that I don't look frumpy.  Flannel is something I love on everyone else, but not myself.  I'm really trying to embrace this trend, but it's been a difficult process.  

Let's start at the very beginning of the story.  I  saw this fun flannel shirt from the Juniors Department at J.C. Penney.  It has plaid on the outside with gingham on the inside, snaps instead of buttons, and tab sleeves.  When the sleeves are rolled up, you see the gingham.  Now, I don't normally shop in the Juniors Department but I couldn't find any flannel shirts in the Misses or Women's Departments.  So I grabbed a size medium (when I'd normally wear a small in a women's department) and headed to the fitting room.  The shirt fit perfectly on my body, but the sleeves, when rolled up using the tabs, were uncomfortably tight.  "Oh, no, now what do I do?" I thought.  "The tab sleeves are my favorite part of the shirt, I want the gingham print to show when I wear the shirt".  So I tried a size Large.  Still too tight.  Then I tried a size Extra Large.  Again, still to tight.  I finally went all the way up to a size XXL before I found a shirt that wasn't too tight in the arms.  Well now of course the body of the shirt is way too large, but the sleeves fit!  Gees, do they expect girls to have rail thin arms but large bodies?  I was so frustrated.  I wondered if it was a defect in the design of the shirt, or if I just had a really weird body with fat arms and a small torso.

Well, I loved the shirt so much I bought it anyway.  Looking back, I shouldn't have.  I have that problem a lot.  I tend to buy things that don't fit perfectly because I love something else about it or it's a great deal.  Then I got it home, and I tried to style it, but no matter what I did because of the large size of the shirt I felt it made me look fat and frumpy.  

Well, I have a hard time returning anything, plus I already cut all the tags off (why do I do that?), so I just decided to keep the shirt to wear around the house or camping.  I normally wear my husbands old flannel shirts around the house which are even bigger than this one, so it was nice to have my own flannel shirt that was a slightly better fit.  The sleeves definitely won't get in the way of household chores like they do when I wear hubbies' shirts.

Then, my husband and I decided to go on a fall hike on a brisk cold day.  The temps would only be in the thirties when we left in the morning with a high of 54 during the day.  I thought "Now this will be the perfect event to wear my new flannel shirt". 

So this is how I styled my new flannel shirt for a fall hike on a cold day.

Because of the fluctuating temperatures I really layered up.  I have a dark blue sleeveless shirt underneath with the flannel shirt on top.  I then added a white puffer vest and scarf for extra warmth.  I went against my usual philosophy of wearing a polished darker denim on my bottom half (see Friday's Fashion Post) to balance the casualness of the top half, because I wanted to wear comfortable, loose jeans for hiking.  These are boyfriend jeans by a.n.a. so they are not tight to my skin making hiking a little easier.

Because we were hiking some pretty steep and rugged trails this day I wore Merrell Hiking Boots.  I got these boots at 70% off (along with a ton of other shoes that day) because a Hush Puppies store had a "Going Out of Business" sale.  Normally, I could never afford these shoes.  I remember when I tried them on in the store, I couldn't believe the sturdiness, the cushion, and the support.  I said to my husband "So this is what the feet of rich people feel like".

My white puffer vest is old (Sears).  I love it because it has detachable grey jersey hood.  Even though it seems like an odd choice of a bag, I chose to use this cross body bag to hold my water, phone, Chapstick, and snacks for hiking.  A back-pack purse is my usual bag for days like this, but I had so many layers on it didn't fit comfortably over my shoulders.

By mid-day I no longer needed the vest or scarf so I left them in the car before we started our second trail for the day.

Looking at these pictures, I think I definitely prefer wear something over the flannel shirt vs. wearing the flannel alone.  Without something on top, it's just to much "plaid" for my taste.  Also, I think I actually look heavier without the puffer vest...which is really weird because you'd think it would be the opposite.  But the vest provides structure and shape, whereas just the flannel shirt alone left loose makes me look wider.

While hiking I noticed two other women with flannel shirts.  One had hers tied at the waist with a white top underneath.  Another woman left hers open with a black top underneath.  It was too chilly for me to leave my shirt open, although I think it looks better that way.

And now, as promised, here are a few pictures of the flannel fashion post I scrapped.  I tried to style the shirt with dark colors underneath, cute boots and bag and jewelry, but I still thought it just looked frumpy.

I came to the conclusion that this would never be an outfit I would be comfortable wearing shopping, out to eat, or other public 'city' social occasions.  But I do like it for outdoor activities like hiking.

I bought these cute suede fringe booties at JCP last year.  I can't wear them much in the winter because we get so much snow here in Wisconsin, so I try and get as much use out of them as possible in the fall.

I chose this unique copper necklace (old) to pick up the golden brown color in the shirt.

The burgundy bag brings in another color other than blue or brown yet it still coordinates well.  I added a beaded blue and brown bracelet to my wrist to try and dress up the outfit a bit more.

And here is a close up of the gingham print I described earlier.  The inside of this shirt is covered in this print, along with the sleeves.  It really is a nice unique feature...if only the sleeves fit my arms properly then I could have purchased my usual size instead of sizing up!

So what do you think?  I still hope to keep working with this shirt to create a style that is more sophisticated so I feel comfortable wearing it for 'city' events.  But in the meantime, I'd love to hear your thoughts and ideas of how to style it.  Or do you think it looks just fine left loose, un-tucked, and oversized?  Do you think I should only wear it out in the country for outdoorsy activities, or is it appropriate for city wear too?  I'd love to hear from you!

Have a  Great Day!  Amy

Arizona Long-Sleeve Classic Plaid Shirt - HERE,  Suede Fringe Booties (old, similar HERE,), a.n.a Rolled Boyfriend Crop Jeans HERE, White Puffer Vest (old, similar HERE ), Merrell Moab Mid Waterproof Hiking Boot HERE. 

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE.
SaveSave

How To Wear A Flannel Shirt Stylishly

In last Friday's fashion post HERE, I talked about a new flannel shirt I tried to style for a fashion post but ended up scrapping the post because the pictures were so bad.  Some of you wanted to see those pictures anyway, and I promise, I will show at least one photo from that shoot.  I still plan on doing another fashion shoot with that flannel shirt if I can ever figure out how to style it to my satisfaction.  Who would think styling a flannel shirt would be so difficult?  But it is.  At least for me.

I'm going to be honest here, and even go against my usual philosophy of age doesn't matter, body type is what really counts, and say that if your young and thin you can pretty much wear anything and look terrific, especially a flannel shirt.  But when extra weight or increasing age is a factor, a flannel shirt can make a woman look frumpy fast if not styled appropriately.  And that was my dilemma with last week's post, the flannel made me look very frumpy and not stylish at all.

That being said, I still think it is possible for older women of all body types to wear flannel without looking like they are headed to the barn to milk cows.  It just has to be styled appropriately and you have to find the right flannel shirt.  The flannel shirt I'm wearing below is one I bought years ago from Modcloth .  I'm very happy with it and have worn it numerous times in these posts:  HERE,  HERE, HERE, and HERE.

So why does this flannel shirt work and other ones I have tried have not?  For one, it's very structured.  It tapers in at the waist, giving my body more definition.  It is also pleated at the shoulder keeping the shoulders more narrow and fitted but allowing fullness for the bust.  And it is a tunic, not a button down, which is more feminine.

 So how do you style a flannel shirt stylishly so you don't look like your headed to the barn?  Great fitting, polished pants, statement shoes, and accessories.

I chose a straight leg dark denim for my lower half.  I avoided anything with distressing, or a light wash for I wanted a more polished look on my lower half to balance the casual look of my top half.  I rolled the cuffs up on my jeans so my cute booties would really be noticed.

 My jeans I got from Stitch Fix.  They are by Liverpool.  Stitch Fix has the best jeans!  I don't know how they do it, but every pair of jeans I ever got from Stitch Fix I have loved.  They are always comfortable and fit perfectly!  But they are also expensive, so beware!

My off-white cut out booties I bought several seasons ago from Francesca's.  They are such a statement piece.  I get compliments on them every time I wear them.

I chose these shoes because they dress up the outfit and also because they are very walkable.  If you really want your flannel shirt outfit to look more stylish, wear heels with your jeans!  In my case, I couldn't because I was walking a lot this day and I needed to be comfortable.

Adding jewelry when wearing a flannel shirt is so important to keep from looking too casual.  Jewelry also adds a touch of dressiness to any outfit.  In this case, I chose a simple red and silver necklace (old) because it fit the exposed neckline area the best and the colors coordinated well with my outfit.

I also wore a multi-strand beaded bracelet (old) and rings.  I carried my new burgundy bag from Nicole Miller.  The color went beautifully with my outfit, and the structure and details of the classy bag brought the flannel shirt outfit up a notch.

Flannel Shirt:  Mine is no longer available but other options HERE and HERE,  Nicole Miller Kira Satchel: HERE, White Booties: Mine is no longer available but HERE is another option.

So what do you think?  Do I wear my flannel shirt stylishly or do I still look I'm ready to milk cows? How do you style flannel shirts to avoid the frumpy look?  I'd love to hear from you!

Have a Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE.