In partnership with The Volon.
Who hasn’t found herself standing naked, late, in the middle of a warm bedroom in a full panic, banging pots and pans together in the hopes of beckoning some sort of dressing inspiration from above? When you can’t get dressed (as in dressed-dressed, i.e. with a point of view, with conviction), it’s infuriating. It’s like writer’s block of the body, your clothes a mess of magnetic words intended to make fridge poetry, but with nothing coming to mind. I hate it more than sandwiches sans mayonnaise.
Of course, when it comes to an outfit rut, there’s often a built-in solution if you look in the right place. Like, perhaps, right in front of you, or behind you, depending on where you keep your bags. Yes! Your bags. They’re dressed in their Sunday best at all times, so why not copy them?
In partnership with The Volon — a colorful, color-blocked, cool-shaped, sometimes sequined, sometimes feathered handbag brand — I’ve styled three ways to get dressed using your bag as the (guiding) star. And since you’re naked and I’m cold and we both need to leave our apartments, let’s get started.
1. Be a Shameless Copy Cat
A multicolored bag works best here, because the whole “does this go together” math equation is already completed for you. All you have to do, as I did above, is match color for color, and follow similar proportions. If the body of the bag is lavender and green, make those two hues your outfits’ main messaging. Make your bag’s accents your accents, and there you have it — you’ve not only found an outfit, you’ve guaranteed yourself a brighter day.
2. Focus on the Pattern
This one’s better suited for those who don’t have hyper-colorful wardrobe palettes, but may instead be drawn to a specific pattern. In the case of this sequined bag, I let the vertical stripes dictate the direction and dressed our model accordingly.
3. Make Monochrome-ish a Thing
I am all for the all-red outfit trend, but I’m even more for clashing colors in that general territory. Here, I matched a tomato-toned Volon “tote” to a tomato red skirt, and then layered on pinks and raspberry and deep dark velvet cherry. (You can do this with any shade, by the way, so you may as well choose your favorite color.)
And there you have it! The simplest way to inspire an outfit, even when you’re on the verge of panic. That’s the nice thing about bags: they don’t just hold your stuff, they’ve got your back.
Shop the Volon for your next great outfit idea here.
Photos by Edith Young. Styled by Amelia Diamond. Modeled by Irka of Click Models. Makeup by Regard Tang.
In partnership with The Volon, follow on Instagram @TheVolon.
