It’s allllll about the trousers

For me, an outfit is made by the trousers. With me living up north, I have to walk to uni in baltic (overdramatic is my middle name) weather conditions, which means wearing small cute crop tops is generally out of the question. This means that I like to let the trousers do all the talking. I used to just wear black jeans or leggings day in day out, but what is the fun in that? Now I wear bright pink and white stripped trousers or blue trousers with elephants on (courtesy of Mat) …no shame to see here.

I really think that in today’s society there is so much pressure to look, think, and act a certain way.  So for me, the way I dress is a carefree way to have fun, to which I apply no pressure on myself to wear anything in particular. I really like wearing wacky clothes because they make me feel funky and individual, something that’s generally frowned upon. I often get comments from people like ‘I love those trousers but, I’d never be able to get away with them’, to which I respond ‘why on earth not?’. I think it’s really sad that people genuinely believe certain clothes are for certain people, clothes are so irrelevant in the grand scheme of things, they don’t define who you are and nor does the person you are define what you have to wear, if you like something, wear it! There’s so much negativity everywhere today so if something as easy as fashion  can have a positive impact on your life, then this should be encouraged!

I am so over the TOPSHOP days. I am so uninspired by every overpriced item I find in there! With my dad being in the textiles industry, I know that TOPSHOP clothes and PRIMARK clothes often come from the same factory. The “up-market” vibe that they try to promote just is not justified, nor worth the ridiculous prices. I generally will never buy anything that costs more than £20/£25 pounds. This is because it will most likely spend half of its life sat on a hanger hoping to be picked along with the other 1,000’s of things I have in my wardrobe! You do not need to spend crazy prices to look and feel good, for that reason I am no snob when it comes to finding new things to wear. I have found FAB-U-LOUS pairs of trousers in charity shops, sale rails, affordable online websites, or even friend’s wardrobes (thanks Bea).

I’m going to show you my 4 favourite pairs of wacky trousers that I love to let take centre stage of my outfits. I genuinely wear these trousers with such confidence and what’s even better is that most of them can be worn with different tops and shoes to give them a completely different vibe. None of these trousers broke the bank, nor are they the type of trousers that I wear once and never again (we’ve all know the ones).

Look 1: The black and white chequered trousers.

I LOVE these so much. These were by far the biggest bargain of the whole selection. I want to show you how you can stay on top of trends whilst also staying on top of your finances, you don’t need to spend a lot to feel a million dollars. I saw these trousers all over the Instagram, blogs and Depop, I just had to get myself some. I couldn’t find them on high-street shops so knew that I had to look elsewhere. I found them on DEPOP for about £25-£30, to which I thought to myself, “I’m sure these are just chef’s trousers?” and then I had a lightbulb moment. A lot of the time Depop sellers will be buying in bulk from China or America for cheap prices and selling on for so much more. I typed in to EBAY “chef’s trousers check” and there they were in abundance! I soon found them in a range of colours, styles and sizes for over half the price than the DEPOP ones.

I saved myself over 15 pounds doing it this way and they are identical to the ones on Depop. A tip for all you bargain hunters out there, instead of sticking to Depop to find on-trend garments, just think about what it is exactly that you are buying. Often the brute facts about the item such as “chef’s trousers” is exactly what you are paying for and therefore you should try and cut out the middle man (Depop sellers) and grab yourself a steal.

Details of look 1:

• EBAY black and white checkered trousers (£7/8)
• A metallic pink pleather bustier top (£18)
• ASOS heavy chain belt (£32),
• White NIKE Air Force-1’s (£50)
• BOOHOO gold chunky necklace (£3)
• PU leather baker boy hat PRETTYLITTLETHING (£15)
• Faux fur green hooded bomber jacket (£45)

 

Look 2: The green floral trousers

These trousers are great for dressing up and down, so I thought I’d give you an example of me using them for both. These trousers are seriously stunning and courtesy of my fabulous friend Bea. She actually owned them but decided they weren’t her thing so passed them onto me and oh boy were they well received. They’re from an independent brand called the LAVENDER ROOM, they sell so many gorgeous pieces so definitely check them out, I’ll link them below! It was bought to be a two piece but as I’ll show, they can be used as individual pieces or paired together for a perfect night time look. They’re a silky material, so comfortable and eye catching.

Details of look 2:

Dress it down:

• LAVENDER ROOM green flower print silky trousers
• Black bandeau from ZARA (£5)
• Mesh top I tucked up to make it cropped from ASOS (£20 but you could definitely find one cheaper elsewhere)
• Western gold concho choker necklace ASOS (£2)
• Black and gold elephant waist belt ASOS (£3)
• White NIKE Air Force 1’s (£50)
• Gold hoops PRIMARK (£1)
• Black faux leather jacket from ZARA (£29)
• Kurt Kobain white oval sunglasses EBAY (£1)

Dress it up:

• I wore both parts of the two piece LAVENDER ROOM
• Burnt orange/red heels from BOOHOO (£20)
• Beige MULBERRY clutch (££££££, but a girls gotta have treats here and there am I right?).

I made the silly mistake of leaving the top half of this two piece at home, so I’ve included the outfit details that I would have used, and also included a picture of the outfit in action from the LAVENDER ROOM’s Instagram (its essentially pictured the same way I’d do it!)

Let me know which was your favourite out of the two! I just wanted to demonstrate how versatile trousers are and these in particular, I must say I’m definitely a casual dresser so for me, it just has to be the first, but I do love the second too.

Look 3: Excessively ripped flared jeans

The next pair of trousers just have to be my light blue ripped jeans. These are my go-to jeans, for those days where I’m not feeling too imaginative with my outfit, but still want to wear something different and a little bit out there. I used to only buy black TOPSHOP joni jeans but regardless of the fact that you have paid £36, yes, you heard it right, THIRTY-SIX pounds on them, they fade after just one wash and it looks like you bought grey jeans. For me ZARA denim is great, it’s amazing quality, fair prices and very different to the jeans you’ll find in other high-street stores.

These jeans were about £30 and worth every penny. I get so much wear out of them but you would never know, they have stayed in perfect condition. They’re so out there and easy to dress.

Details of look 3:

• ZARA blue wash frayed jeans (£30).
• My favourite grey sweatshirt CHARITY SHOP on holiday in Tenerife with mat (€2)
• White NIKE Air Force 1’s (I promise I do wear other shoes!) (£50)
• Black western buckle belt ASOS (£16)

 

Look 4: Purple rain

The final pair of trousers included are my purple flares. One of my favourite colours to wear is purple, it’s so fun, pretty and a little bit out there (just how I like it). Whilst wearing purple flares is not for the faint-hearted, I don’t see why they can’t be worn with confidence in any situation. As I’ve said, I really do love experimenting with clothes and I feel like the more I test myself with daring outfits, the braver I become to wear whatever I want! Putting this look together made me think ‘would even I feel comfortable wearing this into town with the possibility of people thinking I’m in costume?’ to which I decided, who cares? I’m enjoying myself in a positive way, life really is too short to care about what other people think, and with that, this outfit became my favourite out of all of them.

Details of look 4:

• Incredible purple PRETTYLITTLETHING flares (£15)
• BRANDY MELVILLE white t-shirt (£15) with a tiny flour/vase embroidery on it which I have tied at the back just to make it into a crop and show a bit of tum!
• Purple crystal pendant from EBAY (£1)
• My favourite purple pom pom earrings that I found in POUNDLAND (£1, who would have guessed the price?)
• White NIKE Air Force 1’s (£50)
• Faux Mongolian fur jacket from ASOS (£65)

For me the fur just completes any look for any occasion, I really cannot recommend investing in a fur jacket enough.

I hope this has given you a little bit more insight into my style and also where I go to find things! I really don’t see the point in spending loads of money on clothes, I’d much rather spend that money on experiences (and yummy food). As I said with the Parisian chic post, I’d love to know which outfit was your favourite and why, I literally love hearing from everyone who reads my posts and it really does mean a lot! Another suggestion for feedback is how to display the photos of my outfits, do you like them as full individual images? Or would you rather them be in a mosaic, I’ll change / stick accordingly so do let me know!

Until next time,

Megan

x x

P.S. if you want me to send you a link to anything I bought then I am more than happy to do so! Just comment down below!

& A special thanks to my great friend Lucy for taking these photos for me.