Iconic Looks: California Casual

I’ve decided that to really get out of my fashion rut, I’m going to have to stretch my thinking of dressing. The different iconic looks are giving me a guideline, but it is up to me to consider different ways to make the look, well look. When I first read the term California Casual, I immediately thought of Lauren Conrad. She is one of my favorite LA girls, and I always enjoy looking at pictures of her, in her casual clothes that always look so pulled together. The list I have suggests thinking of Farrah Fawcett, but I didn’t want to go for that 80’s daisy duke look. I’m still new to the ‘trying different styles’ game. I did a little googling and found this information about California Casual Fashion:

“Think California Casual means high street clothing. Don’t come off dressy at all. Great jeans, tees or tanks, be funky and wear some sassy dress shoes.”

So with these concepts in mind, I started to pull together my California Casual look. There were a few things I had to keep in mind. My look had to be office appropriate, and it had to work for a busy day. I had a doctor's appointment in the morning so I needed to be professional and flexible with my look.

I haven't worn this blazer in a while, and felt that it would really bring an added element to the look. A simple white tee and necklace just wouldn't be California cool enough. To make the khaki blazer even more interesting I added a yellow cardigan underneath. I tucked the back of the cardigan behind the jacket, and rolled the sleeves up over the jacket so instead of looking like I had layer, they looked like they were meant to be together. I loved how the yellow in the sweater really played up the yellow in the necklace beads. These beads also don't get much wear, because they sit funny when worn. I liked the idea of some funky jewelry and thought it made the outfit a bit more pulled together.

The outfit itself completely revolved around these shoes. When I read the words, " Wear sassy dress shoes", I knew that this challenge would be totally do-able for me. I purchased these heels last fall from Payless for just a few dollars. Since than they haven't gotten much wear. I have a hard time making the 3 colors in the shoes work with much of anything. After wearing them around the house for a bit, I decided that my yellow necklace would work with them and from there an outfit was born. I really felt that the Mary Jane style of the shoe in and of itself was casually dressy and worked perfectly with my final vision.

Final Evaluation: I had almost written this style off when I first looked at the list. It seemed too easy, and almost too casual. In the end I liked having to make casual fancy, and I loved getting to wear these shoes. Funky shoes are great but sometimes hard to pair. With a simple tee and jeans and lots of great accessories I was able to pull a look together that is completely different from my normal. I really think that California Casual is a look I can pull off, and I think that this look could work in the winter months as well, something I was at first skeptical of. California Casual may just become one of my regular go to looks. Maybe we'll soon have a Lauren Conrad of our own in Upstate New York.