From the ages of five to 18, I spent majority of my life in a Catholic school uniform. For me, that meant sweaters, polos, tights, knee-high socks and, of course, the pleated kilt. While polos and sweaters are nescessities in every preps wardrobe, I was effectively turned off from wearing any other clothing articles that reminded me of my Catholic school uniform, putting pleats quite out of my fashion sight. Something about the thought of wearing them gave me P.T.S.D. flashbacks to Sister Marge’s scoldings for it being “too short.” I’m 5’ 10”, obviously its going to be short.
However, the 2015 pre-fall womenswear fashion shows had a slew of pleats coming down the runway. From the edgy stylings of Neil Barrett to the vibrant stylings of Marco de Vincenzo, the shows had plenty of pleats and future outfit inspirations strutting down the catwalk. Yet, the particular show by Proenza Schouler really inspired me to retry out pleats and end my aversion to all things Catholic school uniform. I simply loved the flow the skirts in the show had plus their lengths would totally not get me a demerit. Additionally, celebrities such as Rita Ora have been using pleats to spice up their street style this summer as well!
While I am open minded to all types of styles, I’m typically referred to by my friends as a daytime prep. Combining my prep with this newfound inspiration in pleats, I created my outfit of the day. The double layer of pleats brought out a fun yet different look to the outfit that I had never experimented with before. This particular outfit I was able to wear as a day outfit to hostess at work and then transition it right into a night outfit to discover the district with my friends.
Get My Look: 1. A cute summery pleated skirt. 2. A light pleated tank top. 3. Pair it with a bag to keep the pleats the center of the look.
