Words and photographs by Rosa Fairfield
Open it up for the world to see
I've been doing this a lot lately, it's great for Autumn... Fall... whatever you want to call it. I think it also projects a fun indie vibe and it's a great way to make crop tops work for the winter. Alternatively you could make it work with a Lace Bodysuit for more coverage. This look can also be used as an alternative to wearing a cardigan, which can sometimes look too bulky or not work with the contrast in textures. Because the shirt is also a fairly light fabric it works with long skirts and leggings too, it's also good if you want to even out your curvy looking figure, this works if you use leggings.
Close down the hatches
You could of course just wear a long shirt the way it is so it looks like a dress. If you don't want to bare it all with your bare legs, this look would also work nicely with leggings or Trousers. You could even wear a skirt underneath like I did and have the very bottom poke through so it looks like a ruffle. I think it works particularly well paired with some fun glasses and black boots... you could even be super funky and work it with some cowboy boots.
Belt it up
This is a similar look... only with a belt across the waist. Wearing it free creates a straight down effect which smooths out the figure, whereas the belt gives the look curves and structure. This really is a personal taste thing, if you'd rather show off your figure or cover it up. The top also comes with a ring belt, you can do this with any shirt though. All you need is a circular ring and and tie. You can really experiment with different ways of securing it to create all kinds of different looks. Great for changing up your style.
Alternative Ideas:
Do up the middle button
Very simple but great for winter if you're wearing a crop top but want to protect your mid riff from the cold, by only doing up the middle button you can still see the clothing underneath. This would look great if you buttoned it up over a Bodycon Dress.
Buttoned up half way and the crop top peaking out the top
You can button up most of the shirt, but leave the collar section open if you want to create a layering effect, like I've done with this red crop top.
Tie it around your middle
This is one of my all time favourites... button up the shirt and the tie the ends around your waist. This is very good for long shirts and shirt dresses because you have an excess of material and it makes a statement.
Sleeves up or sleeves down or collar up or down
Making an outfit stand out is all about the small details. You can completely change the whole look of an outfit by how you wear the sleeves or collar. If you wear the collar up it can either come across as you trying to look like a cool band boy or a glamorous fashionista. The sleeves rolled up tend to look more causal, whereas down look more formal. You can also turn a long sleeved shirt into a short sleeved one by rolling over the sleeves and securing them with a clip.
Wear the shirt around your waist... or as a scarf
Okay, yep, we're getting a bit crazy now. The same way as you can just wear the long shirt as a top or a white shirt dress you could also just wear it as a skirt by buttoning up the bottom section and tying the sleeves around your waist to secure it. This would look great with a tight fitting Mini Dress. The scarf... yep, don't know where I was going with that one.
The point is that there's so many different options so get creative. A white shirt is never just a white shirt. Similarly... I mean these points aren't just for a white shirt... they could also work for say a red shirt... or even a... blue shirt. White does tend to be much more practical though, it goes with lots of stuff and you can rock the whole black and white thing.
SHOP THE LOOK
