3 Ways to Wear a New Shirt

 

I was flying through Nordstrom at the end of a work day and wanted to say hi to my friend Mariam before heading home. I was wearing a scowl when I met her bright face. “I am so sick of my wardrobe. I think I need interesting tops,” I said. She told me what to do: “I know this great stylist—YOU— and she should take you shopping one day.”

It wasn’t a bad idea. My own personal shopping generally happens in ten-minute bursts. I could give myself the full attention I give my clients…one day.

I filed her suggestion in my head under “good ideas to follow up on” and was ready to take off when I happened to look down at the table top display, six inches from my thigh. There, spread out on a round marble table, was a really cool silk shirt by Equipment.

 

 

I was intrigued by the hand stamped—handwritten in some cases—dates. Why the dates? What happened on those dates? There was a story here!

 

 

Mariam said, “These dates relate to important women in our history.” Then she showed me the attached tag.

 

 

A shirt that was attractive and had a not-so-hidden message honoring women and human rights?

Sold to Brenda Kinsel!

I love when shopping is this easy: Think of it and it appears. But that doesn’t mean I was super confident about how to wear it right out of the gate.

 

 

Wearing this shirt with jeans

I knew it would be easy to pair with a blue jean so I started there. I slipped into my DL1961 Margaux skinny jean. I really like the color of these jeans. They’re not too dark, nor too light—they’re just right.

 

 

I tried putting a jean jacket over the shirt. I thought double denim would look really cool. But the shirt was too long, the jacket looked too cropped, and the proportion was just off. Uh-oh, I thought.

 

 

But then I remembered my go to navy crinkle duster that’s been with me faithfully for years. Bring on the duster!

When I wear a duster I feel like I’m scoring styling points. A duster is so chic. I wore my suede black bootie by Aquatalia and my blue L.A.Eyeworks frames from Uber Optics.

I wore this shirt with jeans, several times. What happens every time I wear this shirt is people stop and talk to me about it…every single time. Then they ask about the meaning of the dates and I try to explain it. I’m asked so often that now I’m carrying that card around in my wallet so I can pull it out and read it aloud.

 

Wearing the stamped shirt under a dress

Okay, next experiment: Wear the shirt under a navy sleeveless dress.

You know that navy crinkle duster? Well, I bought it with the crinkle dress that came with it. Can you believe that was a timid purchase at the time? I got home and wondered what the heck I’d done. Sometimes I just don’t trust myself in the moment, but these two navy crinkle pieces—the dress and the duster—have helped me feel like a million bucks on many occasions.

 

 

I slipped the dress over the shirt. The shirt is more oversized, less fitted, and I noticed that when I was trying to arrange the shirt under the dress. A closer-fitting shirt would work better. The deeper armholes in the shirt makes it kind of a tight fit. It’s not perfect.

 

 

I love, love, love this idea, but I don’t know that I’ll wear it again this way. I don’t want to be fiddling with my clothes and this awkward fit was taking my attention away from the moment. But don’t count this out in the future. If the armholes were deeper in the dress, or the armholes of the shirt were higher, it would have worked well.

I liked wearing my red Woow frames from Uber Optics. What’s not to love about red, white, and blue? I added my crystal necklace, because I wanted that a statement focal point. I especially wanted that V shape this necklace provides.

 

Wearing the shirt as a jacket

 

 

One morning I decided to wear this shirt with black pants. I wanted to make it more worky, more sophisticated. I slipped my C’est Cool T-shirt (Banana Republic) over my head and tucked it into a pair of Lafayette 148 slim pants (Nordstrom, again). I added a patent leather belt and wore my patent Chelsea boot from The Office of Angela Scott. When I looked for a bag to team with this work outfit I landed on this quilted black patent bag.

I wore my black Fiction by L.A.Eyeworks frames from Uber Optics.

 

 

The bold lettering in the T-shirt draws you into the outfit. In this case the shirt with the dates is more in the background.

 

 

I feel a little Bohemian in this outfit. I feel kind of heady and creative as I combined words and dates and discovered an alternate function for the shirt. My black framed glasses made me look smart.

When I wear Chelsea boots I can’t help but think of the famed NYC Chelsea Hotel along with the Beat Generation. I need to be in New York in this outfit, meeting with editors and publishers and short story writers, talking books over a cocktail at the Carlyle Hotel. Although if I was a true Bohemian, I’d be meeting someone in a less chichi place than the Carlyle.

Okay, daydreaming is over. On to the next outfit!

 

BONUS: Wearing the stamped shirt in a column of white

 

 

It’s a tradition for the Bellas to go to the TEDx Sonoma County talks. It’s usually the first weekend in November. This year’s theme was Re-Imagine. I was going to be in a theater with people interested in ideas, culture, and the wave of the future. I needed to wear something interesting. I needed my stamped Equipment shirt!

I decided to pair it with my white Eileen Fisher jeans with frayed edges. I wore my AGL taupe patent oxfords. I added my consignment store Jil Sander brilliant blue jacket and my red Woow frames.

 

 

I decided to add my pearls inside the collar. I think of this necklace as my dragonfly necklace. One day soon I’ll tell you the story of this necklace. I’ve had it for twenty years, I’m sure. I’m re-imagining it in current outfit combinations.

 

 

There you have it! Often I’m styling a pant three ways but it was fun to take a shirt and show you how I styled it. If you run into me wearing this shirt, don’t be shy. I’ll let you look at it all over to see if you can find your birthdate on it!

Do you wear shirts? Do you find them easy to wear, sexy? Do you like variety? Which are your favorites? Do share!

XO

 

A little side note and invitation for you. Nancy, the owner of Uber Optics, and I are going to do an event together on December 1st. I’ll be at her eyewear boutique in Petaluma from 1-4 helping people choose eyewear. If you think you can come, I have a little homework for you to complete first. It’s just three little questions. Let me know and I’ll send it to you. Just send me an email (bkinsel@brendakinsel.com) with Eyewear in the subject line and I’ll send it your way. I’d love for you to come and play with us!