The essence of My Tomayto is an outstanding appreciation for reinvention and perspective-- a diehard fascination with the ways in which style can maintain its creative appeal in so many contrasting forms. Today I wanted to explore that idea by taking an utterly classic outfit and giving it my own spin to create a completely different yet (hopefully) equally compelling look.
First, I scanned my mom's closet for the perfect, can't-touch-this classic pieces. I settled on a coordinating top and skirt from Chanel. The floaty chiffon and black-and-white color scheme screamed "cool chic ladyperson who always keeps mints in her purse and has great eyebrows," and that pretty much sums up classic to me.
Then, I set about making the look MY OWN, by which you could say I totally perverted it, but I prefer to call this process Adventures in Creativity and Possible Improvement According to Harling. In other words, I tried to think of how to transform the outfit from something classically appealing to something unexpectedly appealing. Don't get me wrong, I didn't want to take away from the awesomeness of the original skirt and top (because, believe me, I like it just fine as is), but I wanted to try giving it a little more edge.
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To me, this meant adding an embroidered tribal vest, sky-high sandals, red lipstick, and a dirty-hair-gone-rogue poof bun, a.k.a. 2013's iteration of the proverbial top knot. Tomayto, tomahto, anyone?
And I've gotta say, I like the final outcome--it's unexpected, but it works. I even received my mom's seal of approval. Uncle Karl's thoughts are still pending.
But whether you like my zany additions or you'd really prefer the top and skirt with a straight up hairstyle, simple clutch, and black pumps, the point is that style experimentation and reinvention are toterly doable (and a FUN TIME all around), even when it comes to something as classic as Chanel. So go ahead and bust out your moms' and grandmothers' stuff and give it a 21st-century refresher courtesy of your very own brain. You will not be disappointed. (And if you are, please tell me in the comments. I'm super good at consoling/back rubs of the online variety.)
Chanel top and skirt, Roberta Freymann vest, Boutique 9 sandals.
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