Letter from The Haute Closet: Customer Closet Makeover

Jill, a Lori's customer, wrote in about how to wear a pair of short brown booties that she had just purchased:

 

I happily agreed to step into her closet and help style an outfit around them.

I had never met Jill so one of my first questions when I met her at her apartment was "Whose style do you admire?" When she said [Gossip Girl's] “Serena van der Woodsen,” she showed me to her closet and I started pulling.

This bootie style is all over the place. Not the easiest to wear with any old pair of jeans. A slouchy, wide-ankle style like this is best teamed up with a pair of tights, socks, super skinny jeans or leggings. My recommendation for Jill is the Hue Solid Skinny Jeanz Legging - Navy Denim.

Jill also wanted help with her latest Lori’s purchase, a super luxe pair of black suede, over-the-knee boots:

Drawing inspiration from what she had told me about herself, the two pairs of shoes and the décor of her apartment, I pulled from her closet a fab white party skirt, a couple of dresses, jeans and a velvet blazer. I gave Jill her first outfit:

The blazer and the top are super-versatile pieces. She could wear the top and jacket with black pants and a pair of pumps and head to the office. With the skirt (which had originally been purchased for a New Years Eve party), she has a super-fun going out look, and the boots make it really kicky for right now.

Recommending that she definitely pick up the Hue denim jegging because they would work perfectly with both of her new boots and a long tunic or sweater, I pulled out a dress I loved and grabbed a belt, something she said she "never would have done" but loved:

If she were to wear this outfit when the weather turns colder, she could add sheer patterned tights, like the Hue Geo Mosaic Tight w/Control Top - Black, throw on a classic wool dress coat and a pair of precious gloves—a perfectly cute cold-weather look.

Winding down and coming back to my original mission, I put together a look for the brown booties inspired by a jacket I had pulled from her closet at the beginning of our session. One of the best purchases you can make is an item that comes with a belt—two looks in one! So, the inspiration for this last outfit came from a black patent belt hijacked from a black and white tweed jacket:

It’s not bad to blend brown and black—actually, it can be just perfect. Jill can play off the earthy colors in the plaid and make the black patent belt softer with a sheer black tight and a soft velvet bag. She should get a lot of wear out of this look. It makes her tall and lean with legs a mile long below an empire waist. With lots of dresses in this style in her closet, these boots will take her a long way; mixing up this look is as easy as switching the color of the tights to a rich purple or raspberry!

Let me know if there’s a pair in your closet that’s calling out for some Haute Closet styling!

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Jill reports on the wardrobe makeover:

I contacted Lori's after realizing I bought the cutest shoes with no clue what to wear them with. Lately, this has happened to me frequently. I'm past the point of having time to read through tons of magazines and spend hours in a store. I work hard, and when I'm not working I just want to enjoy life with my friends and family.

Enter April.

April came to my house last night to help solve the two shoe dilemmas I faced: over-the-knee black boots and short brown foldover boots. How I could use what I have to make these stunning beauties shine? First off, April asked my current style and what celebrity style I like. In 20 minutes April had pulled out clothes I forgot I even owned to pair with my adorable shoes and made me feel like one of Serena's BFFs. She pulled together going-out-for-cocktails looks, day looks and effortlessly incorporated my new boots into an office look.

The outfits were perfect! I looked like a better version of myself infused with a little haute styling. I would never have paired some of the clothing pieces together that April did, but when tied together with a little belt or a fun bag—and the shoes—it all worked.