You know the moment.

You spot something fabulous. Maybe it’s a velvet blouse with dramatic sleeves. Maybe it’s a sequinned jacket. Maybe it’s a pair of pink jeans that have absolutely no intention of blending quietly into the background.

You love it.

You picture yourself wearing it.

You may even hover dangerously close to Add to Cart.

And then your sensible brain barges in wearing orthopedic shoes and carrying a clipboard:

“But where would you even wear that?”

And just like that, the fabulous thing gets abandoned in favour of another perfectly practical top that looks suspiciously similar to six things already hanging in your closet.

We would like to respectfully suggest that your sensible brain calm down.

Because the answer to “Where would I wear that?” is usually:

More places than you think.

The Sequin Jacket

Your brain says:

Holiday party. Maybe New Year’s Eve. Possibly a casino in Monaco.

Reality says:

Dinner with friends.
Drinks.
Date night.
A birthday.
A concert.
An office party.
Over a simple black top and jeans because it’s Thursday and Thursday has been looking a little smug lately.

The mistake we make with statement pieces is assuming the rest of the outfit needs to rise to the same level.

It doesn’t.

That’s how you end up dressed like the entertainment.

Put the spectacular jacket with your favourite denim, a simple tank or tee and boots. Suddenly the sequins aren’t “formal.”

They’re just fabulous.

And fabulous is allowed at dinner.

The Velvet Blouse

Velvet suffers from a similar public relations problem.

Somewhere along the way, we collectively decided velvet must only come out when appetizers are being passed around on silver trays.

Nonsense.

A velvet blouse with jeans is one of the easiest ways to look beautifully dressed without actually dressing up.

Wear it to dinner.
Wear it to brunch.
Wear it to a family gathering.
Wear it to the theatre.
Wear it to your friend’s house for wine and snacks.

Wear it when everyone else shows up in a sweater and quietly enjoy being the person who looks suspiciously put together.

That soft texture does half the styling work for you.

You simply showed up.

The Colourful Jeans

Ah yes.

The jeans you adore until you imagine yourself actually leaving the house in them.

Pink. Lavender. Rust. Olive. Patterned. Embellished.

Your closet is already full of blue denim. You do not need additional proof that blue jeans work.

Colourful denim is surprisingly easy because, at the end of the day, it is still denim.

Treat it exactly the way you treat your favourite jeans.

Add a white shirt.

A chunky neutral sweater.

A black tee.

A bomber jacket.

A simple knit.

The colourful jeans become the interesting part of the outfit while everything else gets to relax.

This is what we call letting one person at the party do the talking.

The Wild Sweater

You know the one.

The colour combination is fantastic.

The sleeves are doing something.

There may be fringe involved.

Perhaps metallic foil.

Possibly all of the above.

You pick it up and immediately think:

“I love this…but is it too much?”

We have an important scientific finding to share:

If your first reaction is “I LOVE THIS,” followed several seconds later by “Is this too much?”, there is an excellent chance the first reaction was the correct one.

The sweater does not require an occasion.

It requires jeans.

That’s it.

Add boots or sneakers and go live your life.

Coffee shop. Grocery store. Lunch. Work-from-home day where you eventually leave the house. Weekend errands. School pickup. Dinner.

Your ordinary life is actually the perfect place for extraordinary clothes.

The Statement Jacket

This category causes particular trouble.

An incredible printed jacket looks like such a fashion piece that women sometimes assume they need to construct an equally impressive outfit beneath it.

Please don’t.

You’ve already got the interesting bit.

Wear the jacket over black.

Wear it with denim.

Wear it with a tank.

Wear it over a simple dress.

The trick with a statement jacket is not finding something clever to pair with it.

The trick is knowing when to stop.

Let the jacket have the microphone.

The Embellished Thing

Beads. Lace. Appliqués. Embroidery. Bows. Fringe. Studs.

We support all members of the embellishment family.

And perhaps nowhere does the where-would-I-wear-that reflex strike harder.

Here’s an experiment:

Replace the question:

“Where would I wear this?”

with:

“Would I enjoy wearing this?”

Completely different question.

Because clothes don’t only have a functional role.

They have an emotional one.

Some clothes make you feel polished.

Some make you feel relaxed.

Some make you stand a little taller.

And some make you look in the mirror and think:

Ohhhh. There she is.

Those clothes deserve closet space too.

The “Too Dressy” Top

We hear this one all the time.

And often “too dressy” really means:

“I don’t want to look like I tried harder than everyone else.”

We get it.

But there is an enormous amount of territory between I made an effort and I am accepting a lifetime achievement award tonight.

A beautiful blouse with denim is not overdressed.

A dramatic sleeve with simple trousers is not overdressed.

A lovely top at dinner is not overdressed.

It just means your outfit has a point of view.

There are worse crimes.

Stop Waiting for the Invitation

This might be the bigger issue.

We often save our favourite things for some future version of our lives.

The dinner.

The trip.

The party.

The event.

The moment when we will apparently emerge from our homes into a suddenly glamorous social calendar requiring excellent outfits seven nights a week.

Meanwhile, the sequinned jacket gets neglected.

The beautiful blouse hangs pathetically behind closet doors.

The fabulous, perfectly creased jeans wait patiently.

And we keep wearing the safe thing because today somehow doesn’t seem important enough.

But today is where your life happens.

The coffee runs.

The dinners with friends.

The birthday lunches.

The errands.

The casual Friday nights.

The spontaneous invitations.

The Tuesdays.

Especially the Tuesdays.

Your Clothes Don’t Need a Better Social Life Than You Do

You do not need to become someone who attends more glamorous events.

You do not need a vacation booked.

You do not need a restaurant reservation.

You certainly do not need permission.

You need clothes that make you happy when you put them on.

So the next time you see something and immediately think:

“I love that.”

Listen carefully.

Because when the second voice arrives with its clipboard asking where you could possibly wear such a thing, you now have an answer.

Pretty much wherever the hell you want.

And if your Tuesday afternoon grocery run gets a little more fabulous in the process?

We see absolutely no downside.

Shop the pieces you can’t stop thinking about.

Because your closet has enough clothes you can merely wear.

It could probably use a few you can’t wait to wear.