Effortless Ways to Style Oversized Pieces

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Oh my god, you have to do it. You live for fashion.

Hello, and welcome to Nothing to Wear, the podcast that solves fashion problems and levels up your wardrobe. I'm Lee Campbell, and every week I chat to an expert who helps us work out how to get more out of the clothes we already have and tells us exactly what is and isn't worth adding in rotation. Oversized t shirts and blazers and shirts have been trending for a while now,

Oh, thank you.

Now we are talking oversize. It's a trend that's been around for a while. I do want to know if you think it's here to stay. But firstly, there is oversize, and then there's something that's too big or doesn't fit. So can you tell me, in your opinion, what's the key to pulling off oversized clothing as opposed to shapeless too big, just not the right size.

I think we've oversized. It's all about being intentional and owning it. So when we're talking about oversize, we're talking about loose. We're talking about relax versus being swallowed in fabric and being really shapeless. So you really just want to own your oversized look and not feel like you're dressing for oversize just to hide everything.

So yeah, it's less about hiding your body or the parts you don't love, which although it can be very helpful for that, But more about the silhouette that's intentionally not really form fitting. Is that right?

Yeah? Absolutely?

Do you think oversize is here to stay in some way? Is it always here? In some way? Does it come and go? What have you observed over your career?

I would say over the past couple of years, we've seen a significant growth in the momentum of oversize, and I definitely think that it's here to say, for a long time we were driven by style rules and specific dress codes, and if we think to workplaces, over the past couple of years, everything's a little bit more relaxed, and a lot of workplaces have really leaned into a code that is more casual, more comfortable, which means that

Yeah, you're right, be comfortable. I've got friends that are lawyers and accountants and work really long days and they're still dressed corporately, but they're not in super tight, really high you know, stockings. They want to be comfortable while they're working so hard. And it's interesting. I was thinking back to, you know, probably my twenties and early thirties and I never did oversize, and then I thought, did I miss that boat? But I think for me, it's

I absolutely agree. In this era of fashion, compared to when we were growing up, the silhouettes, we didn't have as much to play around with. So now a lot of designers are adding oversized designs into their collections.

So let's talk oversize because flatterings and interesting word because clothes don't need to be flattering. So when I say flattering, I don't mean to someone else's eye, just to yourself to make you feel good. So how can someone maintain feeling good and wearing a quote unquote flattering silhouette when they're going for the oversized look.

As a personal stylist, and I've worked with hundreds of clients, the best thing that you can do is obviously you want to feel confident in wearing your clothes as well. But one big tip that I say to clients, is that you need to focus on balancing your proportions, so it doesn't matter what body shape that you are.

Is.

If you, for example, are wearing an oversized tea, you might not want to wear something that's oversized with a layer over the top. You might not want to wear oversized with your pants because it might not look as cohesive, so you want to balance that out. You might wear an oversized tea, tuck it in with some high waist and trousers.

You're choosing your oversized piece, but then you're working it back mindfully within the whole outfit.

Yes, so even if you're wearing a button down shirt, you might want to expose some of your wrists, or you want to open up the neckline and show your collar bone, and it just really starts to play with proportions.

Yeah, or do the tuck. You're right, because I've got some beautiful oversized shirts. But I if I button them up and have them full long sleeve and then you know, wear them out, it looks like I'm wearing my dad's shirt or a pajama shirt. So the piece can be oversized. But as you do so well on your Instagram, it's the difference between wearing it and styling it, right.

Yeah, it's just going those few extra steps that can make the biggest difference.

What's the most common items you're seeing in oversize? For me, I immediately think blazers and T shirts, same with you.

Yeah, same as me, button down shirts, more baggy style pants.

Yeah, I mean a wide leg pant is kind of a version of oversize, right, because it's not a straight leg. It's not as skinny. Of course, it's still going to fit you on the waist so they don't fall off, but it's still that kind of over sized, volumeous silhouette.

Yeah, and we only have to look to the barrel egg jeene for instance.

That I'm wearing a pair today, Oh are you? I am? I'm wearing a white pear. Mea hates them, so I've worn them to the office control her.

Oh that's so funny. But that's just an update on a traditional silhouette of a jean. But if you wore that barrel legg jeen with your tea that is swallowing you, it might not work. But if you do a little tuck, you might add a little bit more.

That's what I'm gonna have to stand up and show everyone. Funny you say that because getting dressed this morning, I put on an oversized shirt and then I was like, oh, and then I tucked it in and then I was like, this still isn't working. So this isn't a tight, tight T shirt. But it's definitely not huge because I've got a lot of volume going on down here. I so agree. You can't just throw on the pieces without thinking how

Yeah?

It really just depends on what your personal style is. So we can have all of these rules. And I want to preface and say that no matter what body shape you are, and even though I'm telling you to dress your proportions, it's whatever that makes you feel confident. But obviously there are some little tweets that really will enhance the overall look, so you can take it or

I've always say I'm average height, but I think I'm just Yeah, I'm not teeny tiny, but I definitely have to have my pants taken.

Up exactly same here.

Sometimes when I wear oversized, it can overwhelm my frame. So for them, when I wear an oversized blazer, I love wearing a belt around the mid section to define my waist. Or if I'm wearing an oversized blazer, i want to make sure that I haven't buttoned it up, so I'm creating a little bit more space with say a tea or a tank underneath, and it just really looks better.

And perhaps maybe you know a V neck tea or a tank, so there's that bit of skin so it's not so much fabric all in one area. Yes, it's interesting you say that, because I'm obsessed with oversized blazers. I've got too many. But I've found that there's something you need to try on in real life, because the teeniest tiniest difference can look like it's intentionally oversized, or you're wearing the wrong size, or it just doesn't fit you.

You know.

I love thrifting, as we've discussed many times, and I think thrifting is a really great way to try oversized because thrift stores don't have that item in every size. So I often go to the men's section and try shirts and blazers and T shirts. But you really need to try them on because they could look cool or they can you know, the shoulders will be too far out. You know, there's beautiful Camilla and Mark oversized blazers with

Right, I want to say to everyone, do not sleep on the men's section.

Oh my gosh, me too. This T shirt I'm wearing right now. You go men's section and this is the extra small, so it's still quite fitted for me. I mean, unigloes, quite unisex, but I was at my local Viny's on the weekend and I got two amazing men's T shirts because you know how sort of graphic printed shirts are great with skirts at the moment. Yes, two men's shirts amazing And that was upstairs, whereas women's was downstairs, and

Absolutely, and I'll second the uniclow. I wear the basic teas. They're so good because you get extra coverage with your sleeves. I know, I hear often from women they want a little bit more coverage on their arms with their te's. You know, sometimes women teas can be quite fitted in the sleeve, so agreed, a little bit more floatiness in your sleeve. A men's tea is a really great option.

Annoyingly, they're oftentimes more affordable. Yeah, like that's a whole other topic. So you touched on you being petite, and I guess I'm petite too, So you can get swallowed by fabric, So that's important. What about a large bust. I always hear from friends saying I can't do oversize because I have a large bust and it just looks too foxy.

If you're fuller in the bus, like you said, it can make you appear boxy when you're wearing like floaty things on the top. But if you, for example, wanted to wear a blazer, you might want to add a

I was thinking, like the Levis wear G jeans, they're so good, they're so flattering, and they're just kind of a straight leg, and that with an oversized anything on top. You don't have to wear skinny skinny to make the juxtaposition or the balance. You can still just do sort of a beautiful straight leg pant or even a mini. I find, you know, if you love your legs, I think like a cool oversized blazer where it almost hits where the mini hits as well, is just so cool.

Yeah, I love that look, and I don't know if you've seen, you probably have scandy girls wearing the oversized tees over the sheer dresses.

A few weeks ago, I tried my first version of that. I wore like a lacy white long sleeve maxi skirt and then a cool like blue which is very not me long T shirt out did not feel like myself. I was a bit scared, but I felt really good. And guess what, I was so comfortable didn't need to tuck my T shirt in when I went for a wee. I loved it.

That's what we're talking about being intentional. So you're playing with texture, playing with proportions, you're having a bit of fun with your style.

And I think also with oversize, it generally kind of leans towards masculine, So pairing it with something that is hyper feminine like a lace or a silk or a satin kind of gives you that balance, even if it's not so much in the proportions, it's just more in the aesthetic.

I agree.

Now, let's talk about fabrics, because can all fabrics be oversized? I thought about this and I thought they can be. But then I thought maybe it's best for sort of stiffer or structure and fabrics because I always size up maybe two sizes for a slip dress. But I wouldn't say that that is then oversize. It more just falls better than grabs on my lumps and bumps. So what kind of fabrics do you think we'd look for for oversized to look good.

I think cotton is really great, which also leans into like a denim. You could do a denim shack oversized. I think even chunky oversized knits work really well if we into winter. But we don't want to talk about winter too much because I'm here for.

Oh, you never know if the weather I'm still doing a knit with a mini or a short because you just don't know what's going to happen.

Yeah, and I'm in Victoria and the weather is just so up and down, so can't pack them away just yet.

And also I guess the oversized blazers and the oversized sort of wide leg pants, they're kind of tailoring structured in a way, and that's when I think oversize looks best when it's sort of still powerful rather than sort of sloppy, if that makes sense.

Linens are really good.

Yes, what I would avoid it is really clinging kind.

Of fabrics like jersey in oversize.

That's just gonna get annoying. I agree, Jerseys not an oversized fabric to go with is oversized casual. Can we do oversized dressy? Do you think?

I think you can. It just depends how dressy you want to go. Like we were talking about before, you can do oversize tea over say a more dressier dress like silk, and you can pop on heels and that becomes more elevated. If you want to dress that down, you swap out the heels to some sneakers.

I was thinking, you know, coming into event season and summer and all the things that've got going on, can you really do oversize to like an event and event? And for me, I'm seeing some beautiful sort of maxi dresses that just sort of fall they're almost like smock dresses. And I thought, does that fall into oversize? I don't think it really does, because when we're talking oversized, we're

I agree?

Accessories, how do we accessorize and oversize? Looked? Because visually oversize is quite a statement already. What are your tips with accessrizing?

Like you said, sometimes if the blazer is quite oversized and maybe it's got some shoulder pads to add a little bit more structure, that's the statement. But then maybe you want to do something with a statement earring or your bag is the statement. I mean, you can go nuts. It depends how far you want.

To go with your ex.

Yeah, and how confident you are.

Yeah.

I just think sometimes also the accessories make the outfit, Like if it is a simple oversized blazer with jeans and a T shirt, A killer necklace, just a chunky necklace or charm necklace is a huge I love whatever you're wearing at the moment. What is that? That's a beautiful necklace.

Yeah, this one's by an Australian label called Gimme and it's a chunky necklace.

Yes, I know her.

She's gorgeous, lovely. Oh you did a color yet.

I did do a collub with them. I did my own little range and that's it. You know, it might be that simple gray blazer that doesn't feel that spacih, but you're still kind of got the nod to the oversize and then you chuck on the necklace and you're feeling quite eclectic. Now listen. Common mistakes people make when trying to do oversize. Is it that they're just wearing something that's not the right cut or fit.

I think it just we circle back to if you're wearing oversized everything and you're drowning in fabric, if you're not adding extra accessories, if you're not going the extra distance to style your outfit. I personally, when I'm wearing oversize, I really like to wear something oversized and then something fitted. Yes, for today, I'm wearing an oversized tea, but like you've done a little tuck into my LEXI skirt.

Oh cute. Oh, I need to see for that fit for me again. I think it's also the shoulders. You know, if it's meant to sort of have a square shoulder pad situation, it really needs to still, you know, be an intentionally oversized blazer but in your size type thing. Whereas coming out of winter. But I still wear a lot of bomber jackets. But all the bomber jackets were so cropped that I sized up quite a bit. It

Do?

I want to be able to do both. So I think even just when shopping items that aren't oversized, take a few sizes to the change room and then see what feels best. Because oftentimes that number on the tag isn't necessarily going to be the best for that item.

Yeah, I totally agree, and also have fun with what you're pairing that we add some texture, add some different silhouettes with it, because sometimes you just might be trying on something oversized, a piece that you're already walked into the change room with it, and maybe that doesn't go with it.

Yes, get at home and play and you know, pair it with the things that you didn't think would work. Look in the mirror, it might not work. The ones that do work. Snap a photo, save it in a folder in your phone, and then when you don't know what to wear, you open that folder and off you go. Now, before we get into bougie and budget, we're gonna both bring specific oversized recommendations. Do you have some favorite brands or stores or you know labels that do oversize?

Well, I sure do so, Ina Pelly.

Yes, beautiful, I think Melbourne based brand.

Yes, yeah, they're down the road from me on the surf coast. Ah. And also we both love a Camilla and Mark blazer.

Yes don't we all? I always, if I can get there, go to the sample sale or their warehouse sale. Because they're so expensive. However, the quality is phenomenal.

Absolutely amazing. I'm not sure if you've heard of this Gold Coast brand called Sabi No. So they do these really a click deep oversized teas and they're blowing up.

They're probably all over my feet and don't know where they're from. But now thanks to the algorithm, we've spoken it out loud. I'm sure it'll be on my phone in one minute.

Also Ganny, I.

Love Ganny Yes excellent. Yeah, I love atmoson here on the Iconic they're doing some really good T shirts as we said, Uniglow great, Yes, Shopo. I've got a bunch of oversized blazers from Their blazers are cheap and cheer for. They're pretty much you know, poly or synthetic, but I like that because they don't crush. I use them for travel, so they're not my specific bougie and budget. But I think if you even just jump into Google and type in oversized tea, or jump on your favorite website and

And I'll just add one more for my curby sisters is PQ collection have an incredible extended size range, great button down shirts.

It's very expensive, how Wondred? All right? Bougie and budget. Well, look, I'm going to start with my bougie because you already mentioned Camilla and Mark. I have a few of their blazers and one of their long coats. Do I need this? No? Will I buy it? I don't know. It's actually listed on the Style Runner website. It's the Camilla and Mark des oversized coat. It's seven hundred tollents, so it's a lot. Although I've just seen on Style Runner you can earn

You go and have a look at that.

Now, Yes, maybe we can timeshare. We'll post it back and forth to each other. What's your bougie?

My bougie is the Cassie logo tea from Ina Pelly. So it's this oversized, beautiful pink tea. It's got distressing in it, micro cuts, but not really big gates in the sure.

Yeah, it's just that kind of intentional warning vibe.

Yes, And because I love pink, I think that's what's selling it for me. And it's one hundred and forty dollars. So it's bougie, but not overly bougie.

No, not compared to mine. That's good. Well, I've got a T shirt as well. Good old cotton On. They do seven hundred and sixty five thousand different cuts of T shirts. The one I love and I have a lot of is the cotton On the boxy oversized tea twenty four to ninety nine. It comes in ten different colors. A few of those are stripes. Smaller size is two times extra small, and larger size is two times extra large, so it's, you know, quite inclusive. There. There's a beautiful

So my budget is the Emily shirt from Feather and Noise. So it's a lemon striped shirt, and we know that lemon and butter lemon color of the season.

Literally all of a sudden, absolutely everywhere.

Yeah, and so this shirt it goes up to so I think it's size six to size eighteen, but they're really oversized and it's seventy four ninety five.

Okay, Oh, I need to check that out. One more tip before I let you go is I think it's important because people get a bit confused when shopping oversized online, and I get it because you want to know is it oversized because she's sized up? So always read what size the model's wearing. You can kind of gauge the size of the model and then if it's really big

Thanks for having me, thank.

You for listening to Nothing to Wear, and don't forget. You also need to receive the Nothing to Wear newsletter. There's links and pictures and tips and it's great and it's free. So there's a link to sign up in the show notes. And if you enjoyed this episode, we have another episode on personal style and bringing it back to the basics, and some of those might need to be oversized too. There's a link in the show notes. This episode was produced by Grace roof Rate with audio