How to Pull off the Boyfriend Shirt Look

I like to dress outside the box, and I do so whenever I get the chance. Dressing conventionally every day would be very boring for me, so I like to have an unconventional style, a style that I would see no one else wearing. The place where I experiment and play with my outfits is, believe it or not, my office. My workplace is my runway, and one of the reasons why I love my job (even though my day time job is unrelated to writing and fashion) is the fact that our company dress code is casual attire which gives us quite a lot of dressing freedom, and this is how I bring my passion for fashion into my day time job on a daily basis, which gives me one more reason to love my job.

One of the unconventional outfits that I wore to work was to wear a skirt as a top, and I did so with several of my skirts, and I combined them with a blazer and pants or jeans. Do you think anyone noticed that my top was actually not a top, but a skirt? Nope, nobody noticed. :) Another unconventional outfit of mine was to wear dresses as skirts, combined with sweaters, so the dress was not even visible as a dress under the sweater, but it created the illusion of a skirt, and I pulled it off as a skirt. I wore such an outfit at the beginning of this week, a dress combined with a sweater that passed on as a skirt. Another way to wear a dress as a skirt is to combine it with a shirt and a skinny belt. What you need to make this work is to make sure that the upper part of the dress is not visible under the shirt or the sweater, and also the dress must be made of a light material, to avoid any bulgy effect under the shirt or the sweater.

Another unconventional outfit that I wore to work was denim shorts with a long black blazer, opac burgundy tights and high heels (5 inches platforms). Shorts aren't exactly allowed in my office, but I managed to pull it off, thanks to the long blazer that balanced the whole outfit which made my shorts look like a skirt rather than actual shorts. A newer colleague of mine saw me wearing my denim shorts on that day (it was a Friday, and everybody in my company tends to wear jeans on Fridays), and surprised, she asked me: "Are we allowed to wear shorts at work?" "Nope, we're not, I'm breaking the rules today. :)". Either the HR team didn't see me on that day, or they saw me but they didn't dislike my outfit -- whatever the case, I didn't get any negative feedback regarding my outfit in the office on that Friday, somehow frivolous (and I'll be the first one to admit that) for our dress code.

My favorite unconventional outfit is the boyfriend shirt look, which involves an actual boyfriend shirt. Every now and again I feel attracted by the right side of my walk-in closet and I let myslef inspired by my husband's wardrobe; case in point, his shirts. I pulled it off twice, at work -- once I did it combined with a black pencil skirt, and another time with flared jeans.

In today's story, I will showcase the boyfriend shirt look in combination with flared jeans, and I hope it will inspire you to try it on! :)

When you want to pull off the boyfriend shirt look with an actual men's shirt, the most important thing is to keep the whole look balanced, that is keep the shirt as the only androginous element of your outfit, while the rest of it should be feminine, and that's because you want to be inspired by your boyfriend's (or husband's) wardrobe, and not look like him.

Flared jeans are a great way to achieve that balance, but also accessories are important. The way how I chose to make the whole boyfriend shirt look feminine, is to pile up necklaces (I love layered jewelry style), and to cinch my waist with a leopard belt. Also, I wore leopard platform ankle boots and a clutch. High heels are very important when pulling off an unconventional outfit, or an outfit inspired by men's wardrobe, never underestimate what a pair of high heels can do.

Have a look at the photos below, what do you think? :)

********************

Imi place sa ma imbrac neconventional. Sa port tinute conventionale in fiecare zi mi se pare plictisitor, si de multe ori aleg sa ma imbrac "outside the box" si sa port unele haine si in afara scopului lor original. Am doua fuste pe care le-am purtat ca bluze in combinatie cu sacouri si pantaloni sau blugi, si mai am si alte fuste in garderoba, mulate, care pot fi purtate ca topuri (ceea ce voi face in viitorul apropiat). Mai obisnuiesc sa port camasi pe post de bolerouri, in combinatie cu un top cu bretele si o fusta.

Un alt fel neconventional de a-mi purta hainele -- imi place sa port rochii pe post de fuste, in combinatii cu camasi sau pulovere. Chiar saptamana aceasta am purtat o rochie in combinatie cu un pulover, iar sub pulover nici nu se vedea ca este rochie, ci crea iluzia unei fuste. Un alt fel in care am ales sa port o rochie drept fusta a fost sa o combin cu o camasa si curea subtire. Secretul acestor tinute, in care rochia sa creeze iluzia unei fuste, este ca rochia trebuie sa fie mai mult sau mai putin mulata, ca partea de sus a acesteia sa nu se vada deloc pe sub pulover sau camasa, si rochia sa fie confectionata dintr-un material (relativ) subtire, pentru a evita volumul excesiv in partea de sus.

Am incercat pana acum si combinatii mai riscante. :) Am un sacou negru lung (customized, designed by me and tailored by a dressmaker), pe care l-am purtat la serviciu intr-o vineri in combinatie cu pantaloni scurti denim, ciorapi mati grena si pantofi cu toc inalt si platforme. La mine la serviciu dress code-ul este casual si lumea tinde sa poarte blugi vinerea. Numai ca pantalonii scurti nu sunt pe lista tinutelor acceptate in biroul nostru, asa ca m-am riscat. :) O colega mai noua m-a vazut si m-a intrebat surprinsa, avem voie sa purtam pantaloni scurti la birou? Si i-am zis nu, n-avem voie, I'm breaking the rules today. :) Ori cei de la Resurse Umane nu m-au vazut, ori m-au vazut si nu i-a deranjat tinuta mea, dar in ziua aia n-am primit niciun feedback negativ de la nimeni in privinta tinutei mele oarecum frivole pentru compania noastra. Si asta pentru ca sacoul era lung si imi acoperea tot ce trebuia acoperit, incat lasa la vedere doar cat o palma din pantalonii mei scurti care puteau trece drept fusta si nu pantaloni scurti, so I pulled it off. :) M-am riscat cu aceasta tinuta la birou, dar n-am regretat.

O alta tinuta "outside the box" pe care am purtat-o la serviciu  a fost fusta pencil neagra combinata cu o camasa alba a sotului meu pentru un oversized look. How did I pull it off? Cu ajutorul accesoriilor -- am combinat tinuta cu ciorapi mati albastru electric, pantofi cu toc inalt de 5 inch si platforme, layered jewerly la gat si curea leopard. Mi-a fost admirata tinuta si am primit complimente pentru ea, iar persoana respectiva nici nu si-a dat seama ca nu e camasa mea, ci o camasa barbateasca. I pulled it off again!

The boyfriend shirt look este personajul principal din articolul de astazi, si as vrea sa va arat si un alt fel in care am ales sa port camasa sotului pentru a crea acest look, si anume in combinatie cu blugi evazati.

De multe ori ma simt atrasa de partea din dreapta a dressingului meu, si ma las inspirata de garderoba sotului meu, iar the boyfriend shirt look este un exemplu perfect. Cum am ales sa accesorizez aceasta tinuta? Atunci cand te lasi inspirata de garderoba iubitului sau a sotului, este foarte important sa pastrezi tinuta balansata, si anume sa porti un singur element androgin in tinuta, camasa in exemplul de fata, iar celelalte piese din tinuta sa fie feminine. Pantofii cu toc inalt sunt foarte importanti, nu subestimati niciodata ce poate sa faca o pereche de pantofi cu toc inalt. In tinuta mea de astazi, camasa sotului a fost combinata cu blugi evazati, cu bijuterii in stil layered, curea leopard, botine leopard (platforme), si un clutch.

Ce parere aveti despre acest stil? Va simtiti atrase de garderoba iubitului/sotului? Purtati tinute inspirate de moda barbatilor? Va astept cu opinii si pareri!

Boyfriend shirt -- City of London 

Jeans -- Bongo 

Layered necklaces -- Swarovski & random 

Leopard belt -- Walmart 

Leopard ankle platform boots -- Winners 

Clutch -- Louis Vuitton
Eyewear -- Oakley

Photo credit: Victoria West