OUTFIT | Casual Nautical

A smart/casual outfit featuring a stripe top and red shoes…

I almost didn’t bother posting these photos.

(In fact, I almost didn’t even bother taking them, because the whole time we were shooting, there was a man sitting in a parked car across the way, practically leaning of his window in a bid to stare a little harder at me. I’m pretty used to getting the occasional strange look when I’m taking outfit photos, but this was seriously the most uncomfortable I’ve ever felt: gah!)

I mean, this is SUCH a typical outfit for me: in fact, a stripe top and cropped trousers are the kind of thing I ALWAYS wear on cooler spring/summer days, and I’m pretty sure that if you took a quick scroll through my archives, you’d find dozens like it. Still, I’ve always viewed the fashion section of this blog as more of a style diary than anything else, and this is what I actually wore the day these were taken… also, I’ve been wanting to talk about these Oasis capri pants for weeks now, so I guess this is as good an opportunity as any!

So, these are the ‘Grace’ pants, and I know they’re just a plain ol’ pair of trousers, but seriously, these are the pants I’ve been searching for all my life. Most of the time when I buy cropped trousers, they’re actually full-length on me, so I was really happy with the fit of these, and with the fact that they’re a super-soft, stretchy cotton, which is really comfortable to wear. Oh, and they also come in black and white: I have a feeling that at least one of those shades will be winging their way to me soon!

The stripe top, meanwhile, is a super-slouchy one which I bought from H&M last year, and almost returned, because, although I like to think I’m one of those effortlessly cool Pinterest girls who can totally get away with the slouchy sweater look, every time I actually try to do it, I just end up looking like I’m wearing someone else’s clothes. I pulled it out this week, though, when I was looking for something else, and thought it worked quite well with the more form-fitting trousers. And you all know how I feel about stripe tops, right? You can never have too many…

How I wear a stripe top:

Oasis ‘Grace’ capri pants

H&M sweater

Office ‘Niagra’ peep toes

Kate Spade handbag*

Related: How to walk in high heels