How to achieve the collected look – building a wardrobe that actually looks like you!

//Alice & Olivia Jeans//Perfect White Tee Tank//Sam Edelman Platform Sandals (very similar)//Hart Pearls & Baguette Necklace//VAHAN Necklace//

Everyone wants the “collected” look…the wardrobe where everything works and nothing feels like it came off a mannequin. But you can’t just start shopping….you build it by first figuring out what you actually love!

Here’s how I’d do it.

Scroll Instagram and Pinterest and save every look that stops you. Save without thinking about why. Don’t ask where you’d wear it or whether it’s practical…just save it. The moment you start judging, you save what you think you should like instead of what actually pulls at you…and those are two different folders.

Do that for a few weeks, then go back and look at all of it at once. You’ll begin to see a thread – a color you keep saving, a silhouette, the way something high is mixed with something casual. That thread is your taste. Once you can see it, you can shop toward it instead of guessing.

Here’s the part people get wrong. Your folder won’t be one thing, and it shouldn’t be. Mine runs from Audrey Hepburn to full-on boho, because I’m not one person and neither are you…there’s duality in everyone. Some days I want to wear every bracelet I own. Some days I want a white tank, jeans and nothing else. Dressing well isn’t just one style, it’s matching what you wear to who you are that day. The collection gives you the range and your mood picks from it.

These floral Alice & Olivia jeans are a good example. The brand reached out and asked me to choose a few pieces, which was a pinch-me moment because I absolutely love Alice & Olivia! One of the pieces I chose were these jeans…I’m definitely having an embellished jeans moment. I never really thought about where I would wear them. I’ve saved so many wild, romantic, more-is-more looks, so I knew I loved them the moment I saw them and also that the occasion to wear them would present itself…and I’m actually planning to wear them to a Dave Matthews concert next weekend! The clearer your taste gets, the faster you recognize the right piece when it’s in front of you…and sometimes the right people start recognizing it too. Thank you Alice & Olivia!

So…here’s the plan…save without judging, find the thread, dress for the mood you’re in. You already know what you love. This method just helps you see it.

A few notes on the jeans themselves. They’re a lower rise, baggier through the leg but fitted through the hips. The floral fabric is sewn onto the side, not painted, so they’ll wash well…just don’t put them in the dryer. They run looooong – I wore my highest heels, but they could easily be hemmed. I think I like them just as they are. I styled them with a simple ecru tank (I have this tank in multiple colors and love it) and some fun jewelry, because the jeans make the statement. I’ve got my eye out for another top that works with them too, and I’ll admit I’m still stumped on a bag but I’ll figure it out!

And…I’m sure some people think I’m too old to wear these jeans but, I could not care less. The older I get, the bolder I get, and what anyone else thinks matters less and less. These jeans are so much fun and I’m obsessed!

I’m linking everything in this post below plus a few more things I’m loving from Alice & Olivia!

So that’s the method…save what you love, find the thread, and trust it when it shows up. The collected look isn’t something you buy all at once. You build it over time, one piece you can’t stop thinking about at a time…and sometimes that piece is a pair of floral Alice & Olivia jeans you’ll be dancing in at a Dave Matthews concert!

Have a great weekend and thanks so much for reading today!

~XOXO Suzanne