Wardrobe | Home

I just need something different than white jeans some days and I hardly ever wear shorts (we've got some great posts coming up on how to wear shorts, and how short can they be!). I love dresses, but they can be hard to find. So, I've embraced chinos. Girlfriend chinos, so as not to be confused with a manpant. Mine are from Gap. 

Chinos are sooooo comfy. These are twill, cotton with a touch of stretch, which means they will grow on you, but they won't look terribly baggy. (Vault Insiders, shop similar fringe slides in May Style Notes.)

You can wear a myriad of tops with chinos...gonna show you how now.

Um, first let me address the length issue here. I rolled mine and they are looking a bit short to me here. I didn't have a mirror on the street, ok? So if you have long legs like I do, you may not need to roll them; if you are on the petite side, order the petite chinos or you can just order regular length and roll them. They also come in tall. And loads of pretty colors.

I probably won't be tucking anything into my chinos - another advantage - because then you run the risk of looking like a man. So you've got to keep the top you're wearing kinda perfect. Not too tight, and not too loosey-goosey.

No tops that creep too far down your bum because then you'll look like a sack. The chinos are already kind of loose, at least looser than jeans would be. So we're creating balance.

Some of you may have this top - it was featured in the Style Vault last summer. Bring it out and wear it in new ways this summer! It can be worn off the shoulders, too ( I was ahead of this trend thankyouverymuch). Grab any of your off the shoulder tops, or find a fab new one inside the May Vault. Showing that bit of skin is a nice counterbalance to chinos.

I bought the off-white pair of chinos so I could easily wear colorful tops with them. They have that cute tuxedo stripe down the sides, which makes them a hair dressier, so you could maybe just maybe pull this off for a client meeting in a casual office setting. I'd probably wear nice flats and not espadrilles, though.

If I'm wearing pattern and color, I'll choose jewelry that compliments without competing, like this turquoise stone against the green palm leaves. Watch for our post on summer jewelry and how to wear different necklaces with different tops.

What's nice about this top is that it has a defined waist, which helps a borrowed-from-the-guys wardrobe staple like a pair of chinos, seem a bit more feminine. Style Vault Insiders, we've added more tops like this to the May Style Notes!

Now I'm really getting my full-on boyfriend look going: I grabbed one of my men's button downs I wore during all those surgeries I had, tied it up at the waist, and to try to compensate for all the menswear references, added a tote with a floppy flower on it and tall wedges.

I'm just gonna come out and say it, I really, really prefer you to wear wedges with your chinos so you get a little lift. Since they're on the loose side, and basically a manpant, heels will carry you a long way back to feminine land.

The key to the Daisy Duke tied-at-the-waist look is to leave it all the way unbuttoned so you get enough length at the ends for the knot, and to wear a tank under it. Duh.