Style Tips - Crop It Or Drop It

One of you reached out recently with a question about styling jackets/coats with floor length items like skirts or long dresses. If you would rather listen to this style chat vs. reading it, I have a saved highlight here. To preface this post, everything I’m about to say are just ideas to help you feel more confident when you get dressed. They’re adaptable concepts to fit to your needs and preferences and never rules that can’t be broken.❤️

I have found that outerwear feeling “just right” has a lot to do with proportions and where the lines fall on my silhouette. When I wear an outfit, where every item ends draws a horizontal line across my figure, the more items, the more lines, and the more lines means the more my figure is “chopped up”.

I try to be strategic and about where I place those horizontal lines so that my outfit feels the most seamless, balanced and intentional looking. (example above: there my sweater ends at my waist, and the hems of my jacket and skirt are all horizontal lines across my body.)

The above picture isn’t necessarily an example of what “not to do” but rather an example of an outfit you might put on and not feel happy with. We all know the feeling of looking in the mirror and feeling like something is “off” but unable to quite put your finger on it. If that has happened to you in this context, next are a few tips you can try out!

“Crop it or drop it” was coined by another influencer but it’s such a great way to remember this style tool! If something doesn’t feel right after the addition of a third layer it might be because of where the lines are being drawn across your figure. A.K.A misrepresenting your proportions.

Try this: I have found that by either bringing the hem of a jacket UP to mimic the line of my top or dropping it DOWN to mimic the line from the hem of my skirt/dress, the outfit FLOWS!

Here are all 3 examples side-by-side, and again there is no right or wrong way to do it.

Note: I have also found that horizontal lines that fall within several inches of each other, tend to blend into one and feel the most seamless, which is why the crop it or drop it idea works every time!

I hope it was helpful, let me know if I should share more style chat blog posts! Xx Aimee