Weekend Style | Do You Dress Up or Down? | Pattern Mixing | Checked Joggers, Graphic Tee & Patent Brogues

What’s your weekend style?  

Do you prefer to dress down after a week of dressing up for work, or do you keep up the pace with a little weekend pizzazz?

Being a Pilates teacher means I spend my working week encased in fitness clothes. Come the weekend, I like to up my style a little.  Otherwise, most of my wardrobe would languish unused and I’d never experience a change of style gear from working week to weekend.

A few years ago, I found myself falling into a weekend ‘uniform’ trap of breton top, denim shirt and jeans. Now there’s nothing inherently wrong with an outfit like that.  Perfectly serviceable; practical, comfortable, classic even in many ways. An easy, no brainer of an outfit.  And yet… and yet… as much as I love bretons, my weekend style was hardly inspirational, aspirational or creative. Not truly reflective of my style personality.  And certainly not if repeated ad nauseam.

Which it was.
Ad nauseam.
Zzzzzzzzzzz.

As one of the main driving forces for starting a blog was to jump start my style mojo, which had somewhat got buried under a deluge of lycra wearing, I’ve since made a conscious effort to dig deeper into my wardrobe and put a soupcon more effort into what I wear at the weekend.

However, I don’t want to overthink my weekend style.  Who has time for that?  I want to be relaxing, decompressing from the stresses of the week, running a few errands maybe, seeing friends.  Truly, only a soupcon more effort is required.

How do you create a dressed up weekend style without busting the brain cells or your budget?

I should stress that upping the ante does not require you to go out and buy a whole new wardrobe! It’s all very well parading new clothes – and who hasn’t done that – but let’s get real for a minute. How many of us have either the wardrobe space or the budget to be constantly buying new clothes?  The bills still have to be paid every month.  And if all you’re doing is just buying, buying, buying, you’re not making either your existing wardrobe or your money work smarter for you.

– Every once in a while it’s good to go through your wardrobe and rediscover some hidden gems that you may not have worn for a while, or simply forgotten about.  


– Try pairing a couple of items that you might not initially think of wearing together, they might just make a creative outfit.

Everything I’m wearing, bar one item, has either been seen on the blog before or has been in my wardrobe for years.

The joggers were seen back in August, when I pattern mixed them with my floral jacket.
The bag made its first appearance last winter in my chunky knit and biker boots post.
My stripey, every so French looking beret had a staring role earlier this year in my subtle pattern mixing post.

As to the old. ‘so far unseen on the blog’ favourites?  Well, the zip jacket and graphic tee have been long term wardrobe stalwarts.  Only my funky, patent leather, fringe eyelet loafers come brogues, have recently been welcomed into my wardrobe.

Putting it all together

Joggers are not only perfect for Autumn but are a great alternative to jeans.  From there, I went through my tops and tees, to see what I hadn’t worn in a while, making sure to steer clear of bretons!  I realised this graphic tee hadn’t seen the daylight for quite a while and so I heeded my own advice above about rediscovering hidden gems and popped it on.

small voice of reason chuckles and says, ‘what, you mean you actually listen sometimes to what you say?’

‘Yes, hush now, small voice of reason!’
‘I need to tell our dear readers that graphic tees are ideal opportunities for a little pattern mixing and this one in particular, injects a spot of colour to the outfit.

It was a bright, fairly warm day a couple of Saturdays ago when I wore this outfit for a relaxing day out with Tall Brown Fox but I still needed a layer and one that wasn’t a denim shirt!  I purposely avoided picking black and chose navy instead to soften the black of the joggers and because it also looks good against the purple.

Key pieces in place, it’s a far cry from my previous weekend ‘uniform’.  It’s still practical, comfortable but it’s a dressed up version of casual that expresses my personality much more, without being exaggerated.

Finishing Touches

As I wear trainers or split sole dance shoes in the studio, I usually gravitate to structured shoes at the weekend.  Besides, trainers with joggers are a little too obvious and have too many associations for me to my weekday workout gear.

My new brogue type loafers up the style factor of my weekend outfit.  A holy trinity of polished patent leather, fabulous fringe and a bonny shoe buckle!  I mean, who the heck would want to wear trainers when these are in reach???

Will these babies be worn with a skirt?  You betcha!  Outfit already planned!  But for now, they add a cool vibe to the joggers.

I really love coloured bags and they’re an easy way to bring in more colour to a darker outfit. With the green, navy and purple being all the same saturation, they work together, despite the fact that green doesn’t appear anywhere else in my outfit.

Now although I’ve foregone a breton, you’ll see stripes have still sneaked into the outfit.  Well, I can’t resist a little stripe or two!  Autumn is when I start to think about breaking out my signature headwear … drum roll please …

***   THE BERET!   ***

Yes, my beret wearing days are BACK!  First of the season and the first of many!  And in a nod to our Breton cousins across the water in France, I’m wearing a breton striped, beret.

Très chic, n’est-ce pas?

Weekend Style Footnote

There’s nothing wrong with having staples in your wardrobe, such as a cracking pair of dark wash denim jeans, a few trusty striped tops and a denim shirt that can be worn equally well with skirts or trousers; just make sure you’re not sacrificing your weekend style by wearing them on repeat.

With so many different trouser styles available nowadays, you don’t always have to plump for jeans. Crops, bistros, joggers, plain or patterned, mix it up.  Checks, tartan, florals etc… can easily slot into any existing wardrobe to be styled with existing pieces. I only bought my joggers this past Spring and although they’ve only been on the blog twice, I’ve worn them in many different ways off blog.

Bombers, zip jackets, long line cardigans, patterned shirts can all be reached for first before necessarily falling back on a denim shirt and a few graphic tees in your wardrobe are fun ways to add visual interest to any outfit, weekend or otherwise. 

 

ASOS Joggers  Floral Joggers.  New Look Burgundy Camo Joggers or on sale Leopard print joggers and Petite Floral Joggers

Oasis Zip bomber (old)

Peter Storm Graphic Tee Similar

XTI Territory Loafers.  Black Fringed Eyelet Loafers or Patent Leather Black Fringe Loafers

Seasalt Cornwall Beret bought in the sale earlier this year.  Available full price from here

After a tootling around the shops and a light lunch in a local café, Tall Brown Fox and I enjoyed some well needed Autumnal fresh air and took a stroll along the River Thames.  It seemed we weren’t the only ones who were hungry!

Feeding time!

I’m going to show all my Pilates clients this little fella!  Look how the heron is balancing perfectly on one leg!  Wish all my clients could do this as superbly as our feathered friend.  Every once in a while it wrapped its wings around its face, hiding its head from view for a quick 40 winks.

And finally, a photobombing swan or photobombing shoes.  Take your pick!

My blogging schedule has been somewhat erratic the past couple of weeks BUT swing by Friday.  It will be worth your while, I promise.  A mighty fine blog post has been brewed with a number of brilliant bloggers and it will set your style tastebuds alight!  

See you Friday.

What’s your weekend style?  How do you shift gear from weekday attire to weekend?

Linking with  Not Dressed As Lamb / Confident Twosday / Garay Treasures /  Turning Head’s Tuesday  /  Style Me Wednesday / ColorandGrace /  JerseyGirlTexanHeart  / Living In Colour / High Latitude Style   / Happiness At Midlife / JerseyGirlTexanHeart  / Eleganceandmommyhood  / A Labour of Life /   Curly Crafty Mom  / Fashion Should Be Fun /  A Pocketful Of Polkadots / Jeans And A Teacup / Nancy’s Fashion Style / Fine Whatever /