So, you find this amazing lambskin jacket from Ann Taylor LOFT, and your first thought on how to wear it would naturally be: layer it for something a little more Fall-friendly. Maybe over a tunic that runs past the hem of the jacket keeping things proportionate. Then you streamline everything by adding in a skinny jean of course, right? Maybe and sure, that look works, but the product page shot on this cropped leather jacket inspired a different take on how to wear it. So I’m going to go with that…aka the dress:
(Click each image to start shopping)
When you’re talking leather, lambskin is as buttery and soft as it gets. It’s the kind of leather people touch in boutiques and immediately make that face, you know, the, “omg I cannot believe this is leather,” face. Super luxurious and you have to be careful around it because it’s thinner and less willing to put up with wear and tear, but usually it’s tough to find in a jacket at under $300.
This LOFT jacket (yea, it’s Ann Taylor’s reincarnation and push to hit a younger demographic; apparently it’s working) is spot-on when it comes to details. Check out the side zippers, the double closure on the front with snaps plus zipper, a collar that actually adds something to the jacket instead of just lying there, and just for good measure, there’s also tonal patch detail at the elbows.
Ok, so $298.00 may sound like a hit to the budget, but relatively speaking, you’re getting plenty of bang for your buck on this one. The price is also reasonable considering that, for a cropped leather jacket, it doesn’t hit the extremes on the trend, which means you’ll get more use out of it.
But enough on the actual jacket, time to get to the ‘how-to-wear’ it part…
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Patterson J. Kincaid is a great name to become familiar with if you haven’t already. A lot of what I see from this label is on-trend, a little edgy, but wearable. Non-fashion speak: It’s something you can put on and people will not know where you got it, but they will definitely ask.
This snake print dress has a couple of details I love. The built in belt that cinches at the waist, and I’m all about the layering of the sheer black, almost tank-like, under ‘garment’ that pops out under the lightweight, serpent-inspired fabric. Super easy and a perfect color palette to wear back to the cropped leather jacket or alone for evening. The colors and cut lend themselves to a few different looks so versatility would definitely be a fair descriptor to use here:
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I could have gone with a multitude of shoe options when thinking about how to wear the cropped jacket back to a slinky dress, but the clog-inspired sandal from Via Spiga won out. It’s safe to say that most of us have a love/hate relationship with clogs. Some of us are scared by the fashion disasters of the early nineties, while others associate the term immediately with the bright orange rendition, or ‘Crocs,’ and really, that’s never a good thing.
But the clog is going to be like the over the knee boot. Mark my words, and if I’m wrong then too bad, no one’s perfect. But, that said, it took a full season for people to come to grips with the idea that a boot reaching well beyond the knee would be considered more stylish than street-walker. Now, it’s a full-blown trend. Same with clogs. I think this Fall will be their reintroduction onto the fashion scene, in small doses, but next year these Swedish inspired shoes will be running rampant all over the fashion scene.
Via Spiga pulls off a toned-down version below with the ‘Astro’ sandal. I like the weight of this shoe back to the rest of the ensemble to complete the look. It wasn’t the first reaction I had when looking at the Kincaid dress since it’s pretty lightweight and femme, but the mixture of heavy with light, back to a little weight seen in the jacket plays well together:
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Finally, a little accessory to tie it all together. With all of the blacks, beiges, and snake prints going on here, it was important to keep this part of the look low-key. This faceted onyx ring is bold, pulls together the black streak running throughout the look, but doesn’t go overboard on the shine factor like say, a gem encrusted statement ring would. It slips right into the ensemble effortlessly.
It’s perfect for this cropped leather jacket look, but can also be worked into a ton of other pieces floating around in the closet. It’s that ring you keep on the counter somewhere on-the-ready because you can add it on in a pinch to polish off a look.
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So there’s one take on how to wear a cropped leather jacket for now. That’s just the tip of the iceberg though, there are plenty of other trends to be figured into looks. Check out more of my take on how to wear the latest fashion trends out there.
Posted on August 12th, 2010 at 9:18 pm by stella.b