How I Style: Midi Pencil Skirts

Dear Readers,

Over the past few weeks I received plenty of emails from you asking me to write about upcoming trends for Autumn and Winter. I do want to write something similar to a trend round-up/summary, I promise, but today I want to deal with one of my personal favourites in terms of Autumnal trends: the midi pencil skirt.

In my world, midi pencil skirts are equated with sophistication. They can make everyone look instantly dressed up in a matter of seconds. It's like becoming the First Lady for a few hours (only without the fancy pomp and responsabilities, parfait!)

I bought my first midi pencil skirt - in polka dot print - from Brussels a few months ago. I nearly put it back on the rail before heading to the fitting room because that annoying voice inside me kept telling me, 'seriously, that figure-hugging spawn of Satan is going to accentuate all the wrong things in the most unflattering of ways'. I resisted la voix and tried it on. To my surprise, it was actually very slimming. I wore it out a couple of days ago and I plan to wear it again just to shoot an OOTD with it for all of you. As a result of all this midi pencil skirt happiness, I've been scavenging like the hungriest beast for a couple more skirts to buy from my favourite online shopping websites. Until they arrive on my doorstep, these are a few ideas I plan to apply when styling them.

1. Pencil meets Peplum

Peplums were everywhere last season. Everywhere except my closet, that is. I never found the silhouette too tempting until I considered it paired with a midi pencil skirt. This kind of combination would work particularly well for those ladies who don't exactly adore their love-handle area: it's a really good disguise! I chose a pencil skirt in one of my favourite prints for this season, namely dogtooth, and a plain peplum top in a gorgeous burgundy colour. You could go for sky-high heels, but I tend to prefer midi-heels with these type of skirts. Midi meets midi, a love story.

2. Print Heaven

Due to recent trends, people are definitely becoming more adventurous in the print department. I couldn't omit a heavily - and less conventional - printed midi skirt from this post! As I always say, these type of prints attract a lot of attention, so unless you're okay with the idea of setting your lower body as the focal point of your outfit, stay away from them! I went for a plain sheer shirt on the top part and some coloured midi-heels to break the monochromatic look without being too 'out there'. This kind of outfit is ideal for all those who are quite self-conscious about their upper body.

3. Lengthening Pencil

One of the biggest concerns with midi pencil skirts - excluding the 'will it bring out my humps and bumps ?' issue - is whether it'll look swamping on those who aren't the tallest lady in the village. My answer, yes. They can shorten those of us on the smaller side of the scale. Fret not though! As usual, there's something called 'optical illusion' that is here to save the day. The trick is to create the illusion of longer legs by either opting for a print that roots downwards or by going for a smooth, uninterrupted block of colour at the body's lower end. For the first, choose skirts in vertical stripes or chevron patterns. For the second, make sure you wear black opaque tights and black shoes, preferably pumps, and maybe even a matching black skirt. In this set, I tried to merge both options by going for a vertically striped skirt and black tights and shoes. If you want to lengthen even further, tie your hair up in a top knot. Sorted!

4. Dress it down

Towards the beginning of my post I said these skirts are very sophisticated, but that doesn't imply they can't be dressed down. When I'm truly head over heels with something, I want to wear it on a daily basis so I try to find a way to sport it more casually. Midi pencil skirts are usually high on the waist - well, I make sure they are! - so I want to pair them with a crop top for a more laid-back feel. You could also mix it with a cropped jumper or something similar I guess. You know me, I'm a big sucker for polka dots, so I added this Minnie Mouse style scarf to the combination for either the head or the neck. I must try this out before it's too cold for such an outfit. *mental note*

Let me know whether you are as fond of these skirts as much as I am at the moment. I might - if I find time, that is - include a couple of skirts I've found online in another post later on. 

-B