Five Ways To Always Look Put Together

Photocredit : Me, photographing street style in Milan

A few days ago, I had a friend tell me I always look fashionable, even when I’m wearing sweatpants. It’s a really sweet compliment, even if I know it’s only partially true, but thought I would dabble into more how-to blogging and share what I think helps to create that sense of my looking nice- basically my cheat sheet for my personal style, for looking like I didn’t just roll out of bed and grab the first item of clothing I saw.

I have just about five things that are really easy to incorporate into your daily routines, to make sure you don’t look like life is beating you down even when it is- learning to work your personal style is key.

Drink a lot of water

Every human ever asked how their skin looks nice, how their hair looks so shiny, how they’re so alert, how they always pay their rent on time, will tell you- drink water. And while it seems slightly overdone particularly in the blogosphere, it’s only because it actually does work. What I’ve noticed when I am faithful with my water drinking is that I am more awake, I have more energy, and my skin looks ten times better than it does when I’m always dehydrated. When you’re having the kind of week where you’re behind on all your assignments, you can never find your hair ties, and you’ve run out of clean underwear, having your skin look moisturized from the inside, along with every other benefit of staying hydrated will help you along a long way.

Moisturize

I cannot stress this one enough, particularly if you have brown skin- you can’t skip on moisturizer. There are very few things less attractive than ashy elbows and ankles, and hands, and calves… What I started to do is carry a small tub of Vaseline around with me, especially since it’s getting colder, and use it in dry patches throughout the day. I promise you, when you roll out of bed and you hate yourself for taking that 9am class, slathering Vaseline on your lips before you leave your house with have you looking like you’ve been handling business since you got out the womb.

Plan Ahead

A really easy third thing is to pick out what outfit you will you be wearing the next day the night before. If you have early mornings, the last thing you want to do is have to make real decisions when really all you want to do is go back to bed. Laying out your outfit the night before removes your having to do this, giving you one less thing to think about as you’re starting your day. It’s also useful so you can find out ahead of time if those jeans don’t fit anymore, or if you need to find a belt for that skirt.

Sweatpants 

Sweatpants get a bad rep which I don’t feel is entirely fair. My input for wearing sweatpants without having them look like you’re struggling/cannot be bothered to make an effort is to find sweats that are interesting. I, for instance, have these ombre sweats that I got from Urban Outfitters on sale that nobody would think of as sloppy, because their design is so out there. Another easy way to wear sweatpants is to plan the rest of your outfit around it. For instance, if my sweats are a heather grey color, I will usually pair them with an oversized sweater of a darker grey, and muted grey or white sneakers, just so they look more intentional. Playing around with the color palette is a really easy way to dress up sweats.

Neutrals

My final tip to always look intentional is to keep your outfits basic in terms of the colors. Black on black on black cannot look bad. Mixing blacks, olives, nudes, whites is a simple recipe for looking like you tried. It’s a mixup that I use often, and which has never failed me.

A few bonus tips- Pull your hair back. Any kind of sleek ponytail/bun look instantly makes you look put together. Tailored pieces even paired with the most basic of tops will amp up your look, I particularly love navy trousers. Minimal accessories are also great for adding something that makes you look that bit more intentional in your ootd.

I hope these tips are helpful, and let me know in the comments if you have any that you use!