Savannah Engel is the co-founder of Palm Creative, an image and branding development agency based between New York and Los Angeles. Her days are filled with the kinds of meetings that require her to get fashion-fancy on the regular; she is almost always in a Full Look. But at night, Savannah — who “goes out” often and with enthusiasm — wears jeans and a tee or a sweater plus sneakers. She can’t handle the thought of one more outfit. On top of that, she shattered her knee this winter. That means no heels, and now that she’s off crutches, a cane.
Canes have become her signature. Savannah purchased quite a few of them from Fashionable Canes in order to work with her work clothes. One features an elephant head; another, a gold tiger. They demand to be dressed around! It’s almost rude to not give an ivory-colored, elephant-head cane the outfit it deserves, you know?
…Which meant Sav was put to the challenge of figuring out how to get dressed for ~*The Night*~ when you’d rather be in a sweatshirt but your cane demands more of you.
Dress It Up
Markarian-NYC dress, Converse shoes
A friend once described the coolest girl in her class to me by explaining that she was “the kind of girl who wore Converse sneakers with a gown and gets away with it.” I totally get the image, but here’s the thing: anyone can get away with it. Savannah didn’t go full black tie, but paired sneakers with the type of dress you’d normally look at and think “heels.” Voila — instant going-out outfit that you can really dance in.
Find Middle Ground
Pixie Market top, Redone jeans, Michael Kors Collection loafers
Consider this the perfect-porridge temperature between Savannah’s casual extracurricular fallback and her work-ready get ups: a “top” (heavy on the ruffles) rather than a tee and after-dark loafers to stay grounded. You’ll also note there’s no cane. Now that Sav’s getting stronger, she’s starting to leave her cane at home when the occasion calls for more sitting than standing and thus, the impetus to match aesthetics with a gold tiger isn’t quite as intense.
Sleep On It
Michael Kors Collection silk pajama shirt, silk pajama pants, and sneakers
When in doubt and going out, silk pajamas will help you get down without letting you down. (Sorry, an alien legit took over my brain while writing this, so I apologize.) Sneakers work just as well in this scenario too, by the way. All you need to do is roll up the sleeves and keep a button undone to show a bit of skin — this helps you look more evening than bedtime.
Grab a tassel bag before you head out the door (or an ornate cane), smash some lipstick on real quick and breathe in the night. It’s time to party! And you look great.
Check out Palm Creative and follow on Instagram @PalmCreative. Follow Savannah on Instagram @savannah_engel. Photos by Edith Young.
