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Yes, we’re wearing ties and handling business (better than the boys do, if I might add). Even if you’re borrowing yours from your significant other or thrifting a vintage tie from your favorite re-sell site, there are so many ways to really make the look your own. The stars of our lookbook are teaching us the art of making classics feel new again, pairing the ready-for-business pieces with dramatic ruffled sleeves anchored with kitten heels, ‘90s-inspired Kangol hats styled with track pants, pinstripes paired with grills, and whatever feels right. Because the best part about personal style is that there are no rules, even when you’re technically wearing a uniform. “None of this came together. Everything’s from somewhere else, but I saw the vision,” Chamille McKay explains to Refinery29. “I was like, ‘We need the layers, we need all the things, but let’s make it cute.’” And it worked.
Tiffany Siripat, meanwhile, proves even the most buttoned-up uniform has room for a little sparkle, pairing her tie and sweater vest with a rhinestone-studded shirt, which arguably could be the hero of all of our winter wardrobes.
For Vanessa Camille Ronquillo, it all started with one good shirt. “What I selected first was actually this shirt, and I love the drama it brings,” she says. Proof that sometimes breaking the rules is easier with great basics.
Reworked Suits
There is nothing that gets me more excited than a reworked suit. Whether it’s a drop-waist blazer, a wildly cool animal-print mini, or an unexpected pairing with a balloon skirt, the best tailoring right now takes everything we know about getting suited up and messes with the proportions. Picture all of the polish of a classic suit, without any of the stuffy corporate energy. The lesson? Start with something structured, then give it a little personality. Sonia Ramos knows the power of playing with silhouettes and paying attention to the details. “I love a good bubble skirt, especially if you are curvy, you have some hips, some thighs…it balances you out,” she says. “But it’s also always about the accessories.” Not just the handbag, shoes, and sunglasses. “But also, like, the nail art and my rings. I think when it comes to jewelry, the jewelry makes the entire look, and so do the nails,” she adds.
Don’t want to buy an entirely new suit? Don’t. Bayeenuh and Yiriya Shahdaiah showed us how statement belts can really turn it up a notch. A checkered suit gets its shape from a perfectly tucked long tail belt, while zebra print paired with an oversized buckle turns another traditionally serious silhouette into something impossible to ignore. The modern take on suits gets so much better with perfectly undone brows, silver-streaked tresses, and metallic lips.
Layering Season
As the temperatures drop, it can be easy to reach for a sweater or scarf, but why not start with something unexpected? Give your favorite summer dress a longer lifespan by wearing it over jeans and a crisp button-down. Look at pieces that are already in your closet and start reimagining them. Refinery29’s Dawnie Jefferson makes a case for refusing to pack away your warm-weather wardrobe, layering a striped dress over an Old Navy boyfriend shirt and loose Old Navy horseshoe jeans.
And Jefferson’s layers aren’t just interesting to look at; some carry a story. The necklace she wears belonged to her dad. “It was my favorite of his, and I wear it all the time,” she says. One of her rings is also a friendship ring shared with her best friend.
Sometimes the feelings come before the actual outfit. “When I woke up this morning, I said, ‘What do I wanna feel like?’ And it always starts with an emotion for me, and today’s emotion was that girl,” Natasha Ferguson, also known as MAAD, tells Refinery29. Well, mission accomplished. She layered a vintage blazer with a bustier and mini skirt, proving that winter layers don’t have to be the most obvious ones and — more importantly — we should all be wearing whatever makes us feel most confident. Period.
The Pink Moment
There’s wearing pink, and then there’s making it part of your personality. This season, we’re firmly in the latter camp. Forget the notion that the color has to read precious or overly sweet: velvet trousers, unexpected gingham, piles of pearls, and clashing shades prove pink can have just as much range as the people wearing it.
For Paige Lauren Billiot, it’s more than just a Pantone swatch reference. “Pink is definitely my color,” she says. “I love to match my birthmark as much as possible, so today’s look obviously had to have my pink statement.” This time, that statement came with flowy velour pants, a shoulder-baring top, and stacks of jewelry. Harry Park takes the assignment even further, mixing pink with gingham and playful proportions for a look that refuses to take the traditionally “pretty” color too seriously. Because playful pink pants, platform Crocs, and a bedazzled phone case aren’t exactly easy to forget.
Tailoring After Dark
As a millennial who lived through the era of wearing business casual to the club, I know a thing or two about taking tailoring after dark. Thankfully, this time around, the dress code is decidedly less corporate. Take a cue from ShaVonne Boggs and think plunging necklines, razor-sharp tailoring, sculptural hair, and makeup that would feel entirely unreasonable at 10 a.m. — which is exactly the point. Black might be the starting point, but these looks prove it’s really about what you put on top.
For Kendra French, more was always the plan. “I wanted to do a really editorial kinda ’80s look today, ‘cause that’s just my thing,” she tells Refinery29. Her signature smoky eye, metallic lip, and equally signature mullet make the case for choosing an era and committing to it.
The Finishing Touch
Who decided that the finishing touch has to come last? Sometimes the bow, the hair, the nails, or the perfect swipe of eyeshadow is the thing that inspires everything. Liaah Barrera makes a case for going big with a larger-than-life white bow topping polished half-up waves, while Jalyka Smith turns color coordination into an art form, pairing burgundy hair with green eyeshadow, rosy blush, and graphic green nails. When the details are this good, the outfit doesn’t have to do all the talking. Consider it the final lesson of the semester: personal style is all about knowing which detail makes something feel unmistakably like you. Class dismissed.
Photography by Shana Jade Trajanoska.
