While the opinions on Valentine’s Day can differ, Valentine’s Day fashion is another story. We love any excuse to combine fun pink, red, and purple hues or pick bright patterns featuring lips, hearts, or other symbols of love. And as much as part of the very fiber of our style philosophy and the community we are trying to build through this blog rejects the very notion that we are too old to dress how we want, dressing for Valentine’s Day can skew rather young rather quickly. These are a few of our tips to dressing for the holiday that isn’t juvenile.
Use Less Traditional Colors. Shades of lavender and purple are an unexpected choice to the pink and red. You can also take tips from Jennifer’s monochromatic dressing post for a fun look in honor of Saint Valentine.
Don’t Go Overboard. Even Jennifer thinks less is more on this one and that is sooooooo not her usual MO. Like the old adage, you can highlight your eyes or your lips, but not both, we suggest picking one statement piece to highlight and let it shine.
Elevate Your Look with Accessories. We would shy away from overtly themed jewelry in pastel colors. Gold accents look great with all the traditional Valentine’s Day colors and add class to your outfit (even in heart shapes).
A Few Notes on Our Outfits
Jennifer: I have a varied history with the DVF wrap dress. I know most people claim it is the universally flattering dress, but I had never found one that fit me properly until I scored this classic lip print wrap dress from Moss/eBay. I love pairing it with OTK boots, but in honor of today’s holiday, I paired it with my red suede pumps from Banana Republic. The bonus to this dress is that I could go from the office to meetings to the Valentine’s Day party at my son’s school and I felt comfortable and appropriately dressed for it all. That was not the case for my vintage pin up dress seen on this blog before. While this dress can be appropriate for a myriad of daily activities, this is my straight from the office to date night dress with my beau. All I had to do was amp up my jewelry and change the more sensible pumps to these statement making heels and I was good to go.
Ellen: For my first look, I decided to use the our own “don’t go overboard” advice. I let this top by C/Meo be a subtle nod to the holiday with its navy and pink color scheme and print that looks like a flower-heart hybrid. I paired it with favorite pairs of wide leg pants. The ruffles on the bottom are a fun touch to any outfit, but the neutral color keeps the overall outfit from looking too young. For my second look, as with so many things in my sartorial life, it all started with the shoes. These pink and red mules were a Zara find that I paired with an H&M top that I bought at Savers Thrift. I love the ruffles on the shoulder and that somehow that detail along with the pastel pink color of the blouse doesn’t veer into adolescent territory/somehow still sophisticated and not babyish. I bought these red paper bag waist pants by Antonio Melani from Dillard’s years ago and they add a sophistication.
Images by Breezy Ritter