Hey girls!
I know most of us probably have celebrities whose style we’d love to be able to copy. The problem is, how? Limited budgets, and no personal stylist aside, some of these celebs have pretty out-of-the-box ideas as far as fashion goes (And no, I don’t just mean Lady GaGa… though I think she would be the glossy photo next to the definition of “hard to re-create!”)
This post is going to be the first in my new “Sincerest Form of Flattery” series, and for this I have picked a celebrity who has graced both best and worst-dressed lists, but who is usually overlooked by many of us, because she is atypical. Her quirky style is part vintage, part hipster, and part grunge.
I give you…. Florence Welch!
You will recognize Florence from her musical career (Florence + The Machine… sound familiar?). She is probably best known for her singles “Kiss With a Fist” (hear it here) and “Dog Days Are Over” (As heard in the movie “Eat, Pray, Love” and in an episode of “Gossip Girl.” Hear it here).
Her style is one that sometimes makes me think “oh hey! Cute!” and sometimes, I just cringe and wonder who let her out of the house dressed like that. I like Florence’s style because it is so different, and because it makes me think. Not only about what she’s wearing, but also about what I’m wearing. As I sit here and type this, clad in… well… boring, Florence makes me wish I had put on earrings, and a necklace, and about 4 more bracelets. She also makes me happy that my plain, black Jeggings zip up the side. You will notice that throughout, accessories play a huge part in the “Quirk-factor” of Florence’s outfits. There are also girlie, vintage-inspired elements, which are toughened up with more edgy pieces.
Be forewarned, though. If you’re going to try to emulate a celebrity’s outfit, try to look as carefully as you can at her picture. There may be a lot more going on in there than you think!
Top,
Dress,
Bag,
Boots,
Gold Necklace,
Silver Necklace, Bracelets:
1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
Sunglasses
This first outfit was one worn by Florence to the Glastonbury Festival in 2010. The look overall is quirky and cute, and probably more inspired by the fact that Glastonbury is a gigantic outdoor festival than anything else. It’s a little grunge-y, but overall, she looks as though she’s quite comfortable.
At first, when I looked at this picture (not being overly careful, myself), it seemed as though she was wearing two tank tops (one black, one lace), and then a black tiered skirt. Wrong!! She’s actually wearing a black tank dress, with the cropped lace tank overtop. Obviously, lace is see-through – it demands that you wear something under it! Florence picked to do a dress. If it had been me, I would have done the tank and skirt combo. Florence isn’t me, therefore, her way wins!
You will also notice that she toughened this look up a LOT by grabbing what look like rubberized combat boots! She also dares to pair a black and brown bag with her mostly-black outfit. I couldn’t find a similar one, so I went with this texturized one in shades of brown. Again, the mixing of neutrals used to be a bit of a fashion taboo. Don’t be afraid of it! They’re only neutrals, and neutrals go with everything… including each other! (Do you hear me Grandma?? I’m blatantly disobeying you with neutrals!!)
The pops of colour for Florence’s outfit come in her layered bracelets, layered necklaces, and in her sunglasses (wow… something she didn’t layer!). I went for the same aesthetic – mixed metallics (silver with gold – much like black with brown, is totally acceptable!), and shades from the same colour family. No two are exactly the same, because Florence knows that colours don’t have to match precisely, they just have to “go.” That is, they need to not clash and be headache-inducing when sat side-by-side (think of that “bright yellow next to tangerine” headache).
This second photograph was also taken at Glastonbury Festival. I love the fact that Florence didn’t pair any neutrals in her actual clothing for this outfit. She also didn’t really stick to a continuous colour family, which gives the whole look that effortless “oh, this? I just threw this on” look, which is eternally chic.
The look of her jacket here is more western-inspired, with its fringe detailing and apparent suede (or faux-suede) material. The jacket off-sets the girly aesthetic of the dress, which has a subtle floral pattern. I switched the colours up a bit in the outfit I put together, and exchanged the western-style jacket for a more on-trend military style jacket, but the overall tone is the same.
The whole outfit was pushed to the side a bit when I glimpsed the “bag” she’s carrying. It looks like it’s made out of wood, and seems to me to be a kind of “repurposed bread-box” style. Not only did the bag actually confuse me, and space me out for a bit, I couldn’t find anything that even slightly resembled the bag she carries here! So I ran with the whole “wooden bag” concept. The clutch/cross-body bag I went with here lends a little earthiness to the whole outfit, and works as a neutral in what could otherwise be a very bright and overwhelming outfit. The fact that it is a wooden bag lends the same eye-catching and “wow, that’s not something you see every day” sentiment to the outfit as Florence’s breadbox-turned-purse does. I also happen to think that the combination of sandals with socks in this outfit is the only way you can wear socks with sandals without looking like a total fashion reject. Florence’s sandals are a light tan/nude colour, and the straps are matte. I get the feeling that this may have been more about comfort than style – I personally find that strappy sandals like these have a tendency to cut into my feet – socks would actually stop this from happening.
The last look I’m covering in this post is one that actually landed our friend Florence on a “Worst-dressed List.” I’m about 90% sure it’s because of the dress… the length, the fact that the “lining” stops about a third of the way down her legs, but the lace keeps going… or the fact that the lace itself looks like a doily gone wrong. I must say, though, that although many of you will probably find the dress-socks-and-booties combination to be a bit much, I quite like it. I do think, though, that had the dress been a bit shorter (like the one I picked for my “inspired” outfit), that it would have looked a lot better. I like the vintage tone of it all together. Again, Florence has kept her accessories fairly minimalistic. She just put on a few silver rings, and, with this white/off-white dress, has let her gorgeous red hair do all the talking. I find that she does this quite often in her formal wear – it’s rare to see Florence in a colour when she’s at an event or is performing, she sticks to black or white, and really lets her hair be the starring component of her outfit. Frankly, if I had hair like Florence’s, I’d let it do my talking for me, too. All I did with this “inspired” look was to shorten the dress. I liked the way it looked with long sleeves, and kept it fairly structured.
Well, that’s it for this post! Please let me know what you think of this little series of mine in the comments, and if there are any celebrities you’d like to see inspired outfit posts on, let me know and I will do my best to get something together for you!
I leave you with a music video from Florence Welch's band, Florence + The Machine. The name of the song is "You've Got the Love" from the album Lungs.
Talk to you very soon.
Love,
Ally.
