I was a tomboy for a majority of my childhood, sneakers were my go-to shoe of choice or a long time. I even fueled my love of sneakers into a job at the PUMA store in Soho, NYC, to put myself through college!
Since becoming a Mother, specifically a Boy-Mom, I have been revisiting my love for kicks a lot lately. While I love dressing up and wearing dresses and skirts, I have been ditching the heels for sneakers, to take a tomgirl chic approach to style! I’m going to share some tips to help you master this chic approach to dressing!
When opting to wear sneakers with your dresses and skirts, a couple things to keep in mind are proportion and cut of the shoe. I almost, always opt for a low top sneaker for my dresses, it doesn’t add unnecessary bulk that can make the outfit look out of place. Think of the older ladies on the train, commuting with their broad shaped sneakers and their business skirt-suit, THAT IS NOT THE LOOK. Since you don’t have the elongation that a heel would provide, you do not want to add weight to make the look doofy, for lack of a better word.
I have not personally worn a maxi dress with sneakers, but I have seen it done nicely. (Check out Rihanna and Tracee Ellis Ross below.) I always prefer to have knee length, or just below the knee to give a sporty feel. Breaking up the look, by showing a little leg, doesn’t hurt either.
One last thing I can say, try and buy classic colors and silhouettes of sneakers that will transcend the trendy eras of fashion. This will guarantee no matter what styles come and go, your classics will never be outdated. I have a pair of hot pink Nike Wedge Dunks, that I barely wear anymore. For one, the wedge sneaker trend is dead, and two the color isn’t a neutral by any means. It was a trend I was into at the time, but I barely reach for now that I have some pretty awesome classics in the arsenal!
My sneakers in the featured photo for this post above as follows: Tweed Converse, Leopard Vans, Leather Converse, White High Top Converse, Nike Roshe, Corduroy Adidas, Rose Gold Stan Smith Adidas, Adidas Superstar Low. As you can see, I have a go-to aesthetic, and color scheme. I’ve had some of these for years and I couldn’t find a link for them online, like the corduroy Adidas, and the tweed Converse.
Hope this post helped you think outside the shoebox! Let me know what sneakers I absolutely need to have in my collection below, as always stay chic!
