# Your Casual Clothes Are Ruining Your Style (yes, really) **Channel:** Libby **Source:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sA81oeS7otM **Transcript page:** https://www.withtranscript.ai/video/sA81oeS7otM ## Chapters - 0:00 — Why Generic Style Advice Fails - 2:26 — Building a Personal Color Palette - 5:02 — Upgrading Basics and Necklines - 8:02 — Using Texture for Stylish Variety ## Transcript **[0:00]:** Have you noticed when you want to improve your casual outfits, you get the same generic style advice? Buy capsule wardrobe pieces, black and white neutrals, or it's all about heels and too many layers. None of which actually helps you build a more stylish casual wardrobe. If you are like me, you enjoy simple outfits and you lead a casual lifestyle most of the time, but you still want to look put together when you're working from home or just running errands. That was my exact problem. **[0:27]:** My casual outfits finally got better when I stopped following generic advice and followed some basic guidelines that helped me style my casual lifestyle. So today I'm showing you how I build my stylish yet casual wardrobe so that I always look put together, even in my casual clothes. I think you're going to like this. Let's talk about the first one. The problem I had with generic style advice in the past or even capsule wardrobe methods is they try to apply a one size fits all approach to your wardrobe. But that doesn't really work. When it comes to color, we all have different characteristics of our skin, our features are different, and we even have unique personality quirks that come out with different colors. For me, being recommended black and white neutrals always made my skin look really dull and washed out. Plus, when I didn't really have the right guidance around what colors to buy, I would end up with a wardrobe of one off mismatched pieces. **[1:16]:** One top worked with one very specific pair of bottoms, or a skirt that only worked with a certain pair of shoes or a certain jacket. Nothing coordinated. So it constantly felt like I was navigating a maze when I was trying to get dressed. That actually prevented me from improving my casual style for a long time. Because I was so stressed trying to pair items together, I would defaul back to wearing activewear all the time, or my stay at home clothes that were kind of old, maybe stained, and definitely didn't make me feel very good. After doing that for way longer than I care to admit, I decided to build my own approach. **[1:47]:** I built a wardrobe around mini outfit sets. And in order to build the outfit sets, I created something for myself I call the palette method. The roots of this method is all around color harmony. I want to be able to reach into my wardrobe and pull out any top, skirt, dress, jacket, pants, and always have some combination of outfit that is color balanced and coordinated without necessarily needing to buy from the same brand, in the same fabric or material, or in the same identical color. Anytime I add a piece to my wardrobe, I'm automatically contributing to my outfit sets. Very rarely now am I left stranded with those one off pieces that I have no idea how to wear. **[2:26]:** To build this approach, I started first by understanding my color season. From there, I chose six colors within my specific season. Three of those colors being neutrals, three being the non neutral colors. I wanted a fail proof way to pick and combine colors that were going to automatically flatter my skin and where the colors work with each other. That is the benefit of using the color season as the starting point in my palette method. Color seasons already take into consideration skin tone and contrast. It's very hard to choose the wrong color. But I also didn't want to stay with just the broad category of the color season that is still quite overwhelming. 10, 20 or 30 different colors that you could possibly pick and buy from. To me still felt like navigating a bit of a maze. For me, it worked better to have fewer colors to make decisions from. **[3:13]:** And that way I'm constantly adding to my wardrobe with intention. Starting with the three different neutrals, I chose one that is lighter than my skin tone, one that's similar to my skin tone, and the final neutral being darker than my skin tone. I like that approach because I get a little bit more contrast and tonal variation when I'm mixing and matching my outfit sets, then choosing the three non neutral colors. **[3:34]:** This requires slightly more experimentation. I picked colors based out of my color season and the colors that I was naturally drawn to. I did try some of these on in stor store and I had some pieces delivered home so I could make sure that they really did flatter my skin. I would recommend you do the same if this is something that you're interested in. You could also look to the color of your hair, skin pigment in your cheeks and your lips to pick up on some of the colors there. Sometimes the pigments that are already in your skin will give you indication of what colors are going to look good on you and then that's it. When I'm shopping, I'm always picking based on my palette. It's important to note that I apply the palette method to every part of my wardrobe. If I've got one of my outfit sets on that is nicely color balanced, and then I go to grab a jacket, jacket, bag, or shoes, and I only have colors outside of my palette, it is going to make my outfit look less stylish because the colors are going to be mismatched here and there. **[4:24]:** I might buy a few things outside of my palette, but most of the time they will still be in my color season or a sister season, so something that is lighter or darker, but I'm never really buying anything that is a completely different season to me. Honestly, this method has kind of changed my life. Most things coordinate. It's so much easier. I'm not buying into trends and I'm not buying colors that don't make sense for me. If you know what your color season is or you happen to have a handful of colors that you personally love on your skin, put those in the comments and maybe put something about your skin tone and complexion so that as others are scrolling through the comments they can pick up on some tips and tricks and maybe apply it to their own life while you're here. **[5:02]:** Friends, if you are enjoying this video so far, then be sure to like and subscribe so I know that it's resonating with you the next part in building a better casual wardrobe is what I call basic swaps. I found that the basics recommended by others are actually far too basic. I know that sounds silly, but hear me out. Want my casual outfits to have some personality and flair to them. That doesn't mean they need to be excessive, uncomfortable or impractical. **[5:26]:** I just want my clothes to be able to bring the best version of me out. But I also don't want to wake up every day and feel like I need to spend two hours putting my outfit together when it should be casual, low effort, and take no more than 10 minutes to put together. Instead of buying the plainest version of every basic piece, I started deliberately choosing basics that had a little bit of style already built into them. A basic T shirt with some ruching on the side, perhaps an asymmetrical hem. A singlet or tank style top with a cowl or draped neckline. **[5:56]:** A long sleeve with a twist detail. A tank top with an interesting design element. Pleats are always something I love and add so much style to something basic. And these aren't statement pieces either. They're still basics. **[6:10]:** It's really just applying the same amount of effort that you would to wear a basic T shirt and pair of jeans, but just switching up the pieces. Same level of comfort, but suddenly it's much more intentional and much more upgraded. Stylish. I get to have a lot more fun with my outfits as well and not wait for those special occasions to wear nice, interesting pieces. Moving on to necklines I briefly mentioned this in the Point Before. **[6:34]:** For many years I wore the wrong necklines for my body shape. It made even my casual outfits look less stylish. That is because when clothing doesn't suit your proportions, it makes the whole outfit and your body look off balance. That, unfortunately, just makes you look less stylish. It's not your fault. It's just how our eye works when we are reading an outfit and interpreting information. But just because an outfit is casual doesn't mean it shouldn't be flattering for your body shape. In fact, I think it's even more important because there's less to hide behind and there's less styling involved. I am an inverted triangle body shape. If I wear a boxy T shirt with a high neckline, it emphasizes the narrowness of my hips, which, in contrast, make my shoulders look much more broad than they actually are. **[7:16]:** But if I simply switch to a dropped or a draped neckline, something scooped or curved, these styles create a more narrow, flattering, and balanced look compared to my hips. The simple switch in a neckline suddenly makes the same basic so much more upgraded and stylish. I really do try to buy my most ideal necklines. I want to say 90 to 95% of the time, but there are some instances where I will still purchase necklines that are less than ideal. But I just try to make that a smaller portion of my wardrobe. When I was building out my wardrobe, I focused mostly on the tops and prioritized the necklines. Your top is the closest thing to your eyes, so when you look into a mirror, it's the first thing you're going to see on yourself. So if you want to start looking for more flattering cuts, perhaps start with the tops and the necklines. **[8:00]:** I found this to be very helpful for myself. **[8:02]:** Moving into the last part. **[8:03]:** This is about texture. This is really where I transformed my casual wardrobe to look a lot more stylish. Before I understood textures or invested in textured pieces, I felt like my wardrobe looked very generic. I didn't really know what my style was, and I felt like I looked like a cookie cutter image of every other woman buying capsule wardrobe pieces. In the sea of generic style advice, it just wasn't ideal. I feel like I didn't have a sense of style style that I really resonated with. This is where texture enters the picture. Texture is how you describe the look and feel of something leathery, velvety, silky, waffly, and so on. Texture creates contrast and visual interest. These terms get thrown around a lot. Contrast is what draws your eye to a part of the outfit because it stands out. Visual interest is what holds that attention there. **[8:50]:** It's interesting enough for your eyes to hang out and Explore. When you combine both in an outfit, even when it's casual, you get the experience of someone walking up to you and saying, whoa, I love your outfit. Where is it from? **[9:02]:** By wearing different textures together, you can wear fewer pieces and look just as stylish. You can also build a wardrobe of fewer clothes and have more flexibility. There are two ways I like to think about incorporating textures into my life and my wardrobe. Firstly, when it comes to buying textures for every 2 or 3 non textured items in my wardrobe, then I want to have one textured piece. That way, the largest portion of my wardrobe are those foundational basic pieces. **[9:30]:** Those basic swaps are what help you build really good outfits. It means when you do want to layer, you have enough choice and you still have enough flexibility to have those mini outfit sets. So then adding a nice curated selection of textured pieces means you can start to mix and match in amongst your other basic items. So when you open your wardrobe, you always have something different and dynamic to work with. What's nice about this approach is it actually extends your wardrobe. Textured pieces can really help you create a more well rounded wardrobe. You can take a simple outfit, add some textures in there, and suddenly you've got a much more versatile outfit. Ready for date night, a movie night, for dinner, for something more formal or dressy. Then when it comes to actually wearing textures, I like to balance something textured with something non textured. **[10:15]:** It's just about balancing the different textures so there's nothing too overwhelming for the eye to look at. I've really found that combining all of this means that I have so much less fatigue around getting dressed. I'm no longer copying someone else's style, following trends, or trying to apply advice to a lifestyle that I don't lead. If you have any other little ways that you have improved your casual sty style, put those in the comments below. I hope you enjoyed this video. If you did, be sure to like and subscribe. So I know that it resonated with you and as always, I appreciate you so much. Thank you for joining me. Take care of yourself, be very kind to yourself and I will see you very soon in another video. Bye.