The Clothes In Your Closet #009

Feat. petite clothing rental company co-founder Colette

You know when you meet someone and immediately start nerding out on your favorite topic? That was me with Colette. Colette is the co-founder of The PS Collective, a rental & resale platform for gals 5’4” and under. She launched it after realizing the available rental options weren’t working for petite women (although taller gals can def find pieces too). In addition to renting, you can lend your special occasion stuff. Great for extending the lifecycle (and making some $$) on that dress you got hemmed and wore one time to a wedding.

Colette has the most delightful assortment of clothes—a mixture of trendy pieces, plus some older items she’s collected from her mom and secondhand stores. I styled her wardrobe into looks she can wear for work, going out, plus a couple special occasions. Enjoy!

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Meeting a Client

Colette wanted to weave this top into one of her outfits, and admittedly I was a little stumped until she pulled out this amazing black bucket hat from her mom. It has the right amount of cool to balance out the sweetness of the ruffles and bunnies (lol). I paired it with these trouser-esque jeans because I really liked the wash with the bright undertones of the vest. To complete the look, I grabbed her white pointy-toe boots—they add a bit of polish to the looser silhouettes. The overall outfit is fashion-forward, without being too in your face.

Miami Business Vibes

Colette picked up these polka dot pants last weekend at Reclypt’s clothing swap, and she wanted to work them into a couple of looks. I saw this fab zebra print bathing suit in Colette’s swimsuit collection and was like, “obvi we have to pair this with the pants!!” Colette was down. She’s got the confidence to rock print-on-print (honesty, all of us do—it’s just a matter of believing it). When you’re mixing prints, the key to making it work is having the same color palette. Threw on the white blazer to tie it all together. Final touch: these blue-gray sandals that give major French-girl vibes and a cream faux-leather bag. We could have gone with a black or white shoe, but it would have felt too matchy-matchy and lost the cool factor. As we were going out the door, Colette grabbed her square reading glasses. Yes, so good—the geometric shape just popped against the prints.

Boppin’ Around Soho

I was kinda obsessed with the bucket hat, so I decided to create another look around it. I wanted to lean into the cool, sporty vibe, and pairing it a clean, simple silhouette just felt right. Colette pulled this black bandeau top for me, and then I styled it with these trendier jeans, oversized white blazer, and sock sneakers. For the final touch, I added the cream faux-leather bag. I kept the same earrings and necklace from the previous two looks. They just worked so well. No need to overcomplicate things!

Cocktails in Noho

Wasn’t done with the bathing suit. Gosh darn it is so good. This time around, made it a little more chill with the gray and light wash denim and her mom’s blazer. (Colette has an incredible collection of blazers, a lot of them from her mother.). The blazer worked so well with the bathing suit and jeans because the print picked up the black, white, and gray. I did try the white blazer from the previous look, but it felt a little blah. Kept the blue-gray sandals, and brought back the beaded clutch. Still at it with the earring & necklace pairing. It just works so well with all these looks.

Rehearsal Dinner

Colette wanted to wear this dress for an upcoming rehearsal dinner, but needed to style it more casual for the venue. Easy—let’s put a blazer on it. (This is basically my solution for all things, ha.). Went with an oversized cream-colored linen blazer that she got from her mom. It gives a smidge of summer, without feeling overly so—nice as we’re oscillating between hot days and nips of fall. I was into the dress/blazer combo without a belt, but we decided to add this black one for a bit more shape, plus the color references the black in her pretty floral-print pumps. The pumps looked so good with the dress because the print was in the same color family. To pull it all together, I added the beaded clutch. Such a nice mixture of textures.

60s/Dancing/Let’s-Drink-Martinis

Ah, this is my absolute FAVORITE because it’s just so darn different from anything I’ve seen in awhile, plus it’s both feminine, and a little sporty. Colette bought this dress a couple of years ago, but hadn’t figured out how to wear it, so obviously I wanted to work it into an outfit. It gave me major 60s nightgown vibes. I thought it would look super cool over the polka dot pants. Something about the A-line shape and ruffles with the pant’s flare. I paired the dress with the simple black bandeau top. Anything with lace detailing would have been too much because the dress and pants combo needed a clean silhouette. Completed it with her bright white platform sandals, off-white beaded clutch, and this sweet little pearl barrette. Hot damn—this is a good look!

Sunday Strolling

Okay this is for the weekend and rolling out of bed, while looking good with minimal effort and max comfort. Started with a t-shirt, jeans, denim jacket, and pizzazzed it up with the slightest styling and a few accessories:

• Knot the front of the shirt. Left the knot out—it added some cool texture and defined Colette’s waist.

• Roll up the sleeves of the jacket. I wasn’t too precious with it—the haphazardness makes it feel more lived in and cool.

• Add a bright scarf. It gives a nice pop of color.

• Put on some thicker hoops and necklace. The visual weight of the two balances the heavier material of the jacket and jeans.

We tried Birkenstocks first, but went with white sneakers because they felt a bit more polished. Plus, they add a bit of grounding to complement the cropped wide-leg jean. These additions took just a couple of minutes, but totally elevated the basic t-shirt-jeans-jacket combo into an outfit.

BONUS

This is our editorial look. Very much inspired by the no pants trend. We tried a couple more literal interpretations of the Bottega fit before landing on this, which just feels so fresh and 60s and mod and cool. Started with a black high-waisted bathing bottom over sheer black tights. Then I saw this silver raincoat peeking out of Colette’s closet and was like, “omg you have to wear this.” Went with those French-girl sandals again, but I was a bit stumped on the bag. Colette grabbed this neon yellow one, and I just loved how it worked with the silver of the coat and the blue of the sandals. Final touch? Colette suggested her black headband. So good. Making rain into an opportunity ;)

Liking what you see? If you’re in NYC and want help styling outfits with your existing clothing, book a Wardrobe Styling session with me. It’s like buying a whole new wardrobe, but without the big ol’ price tag ;)

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Ingredients

Clothing: white button-up w/ vest, relaxed jeans, print bathing suit, print pants, white blazer, black bandeau top, gray & light wash jeans, print blazer, satin dress, linen blazer, sheer dress, t-shirt, denim jacket, black jeans, silver raincoat, black bathing suit bottoms

Accessories: black bucket hat, black sunglasses, thick hoops, chunky chain necklace, cream bag, beaded clutch, black belt, print scarf, black bag, sheer tights, neon clutch, black headband

Shoes: white pointy-toe boots, blue sandals, black sock sneakers, floral pumps, white sandals, white sneakers

Xx,

Robyn