A Failproof Minimalist Chic Outfit Formula

Last month, my friend Jasmine was visiting and we had fun exploring all around the city on foot and making this little video clip. She has great everyday style, and we often found each other rocking some variation of this same minimalist outfit formula:

• long belted coat
• pullover sweater in the same color family
• slim dark bottoms or leggings
• dark ankle booties

This is so quick throw together but always looks chic, and I apply it regularly with my coats of every color (camel, grey, black, cream…). And depending on the choice of bottoms and boot style, variations of this formula can go from super casual with flat boots and black leggings, to dressier with trouser pants and a heeled boot, as shown here.

A favorite black boot on sale

My Caslon boots were discontinued, but they did come out with an updated 2.0 version that’s on pretty steep sale right now. Another walking-friendly boot in my regular rotation are these Sam Edelman ones pictured below, and they’re on sale for the first time this year with free shipping and returns!

These combat boots have made dozens of appearances in my past outfits, and I just love how they add a little edginess and height to my everyday outfits. You can read my older review here, and if you’re interested in this style boot in more colors, I’ve been getting great feedback from you guys on this look-for-less option that I shared last month!

As mentioned in a recent post, this is Jasmine’s The Drop trench that I had the chance to try on. I have yet to find a longer length, lightweight casual trench in petite sizing this year, but this is a surprisingly good option for someone a little taller and with longer arms. I don’t buy much Amazon apparel and wasn’t expecting how lightweight and flattering this trench would be in-person. It’s a midi, almost maxi length on me which I’ve been really liking lately, but note the sleeves will be long for petites. I’m trying on my friend’s size XS, and this starts in XXS online.

The most comfortable “leather” slim pants

I raved about these faux leather bottoms earlier this year, and they’re a great component for the minimal outfit formula when I want something a little edgier than regular leggings or jeans. These in size 0 petite (fits like 00 petite) work perfectly for me at both the waist and inseam length.

I love how these are cut in between a legging and a pant – not so tight against the legs like leggings, but also not as loose as a regular pant. I am truly very comfortable in these even at kids birthday parties (just yesterday) and playground trips, where there’s no shortage of squatting and bending over! They stand out amongst my other “leather” bottoms thanks to the flexible stretch and soft fleecy inner lining. I also wore them here for apple picking with a simple black tee and poncho.