When you think graphic tee, what’s the first word that comes to mind—casual, right? These days there seems to be a stigma about graphic tees being too “high school” to be taken seriously. But what’s stopping us from dressing up the everyday tee to create a whole new classy look? You can pull off the classic graphic tee in so many ways, whether you’re wearing it to the office, as an everyday outfit, or even to impress your date!
The Beauty of Tucking
It may be your first instinct to let your tee fall wherever it may, but that’s where you need to put your foot down and take a hold of the matter. If you can tuck a blouse into your skirt, nothing can stop you from tucking your tee into bottoms to make your outfit more formal. You can tuck your graphic tee into pants, skirts, or jeans. But that’s not all! Alternatively, you can tie your tee into a knot. Rolling or bundling the tee into a knot gives your overall outfit a sense of sophisticated edginess and is way more appealing than letting your tee hang loose.
Layering is Essence
No matter the weather, layering is an effective way to dress up any tee. In the warmer months, you can rock a tee with a neutral cardigan, allowing your tee to be the focal point of your outfit, or if you want to go for a bolder look you could dress your tee up with a colorful jacket. While in the cooler months, you could layer your tee over a button-up for a preppier look, or wear it under a blazer, denim jacket, or moto jacket – neutral-colored or bold the choice is yours!
The combination of tying or tucking your tee and layering a jacket over ensures that your waistline doesn’t get lost while keeping you looking chic and trendy. If you want a composed look you can wear complementary colors with a tee or if you want to pull off a more vibrant look you can wear the opposite colors of the tee. On another note, if you just want to add a little more depth to your already cute outfit without going completely overboard you can always wear your graphic tees under overalls, jumpsuits, or rompers.
The Significance of Pairing
The last step to completing your look is knowing how to pair your tee with various bottoms and accessories. The classic look is to pair your tee with jeans or leather pants. If you want to go for an edgier look you can either pair your tee with patterned pants or you can choose bold colored pants. Another option is to go for a more flirtatious look by pairing your tee with a skirt of your choice, whether it’s flowy or pencil. It’s key to wear more basic pieces to make your tee pop, that’s why wearing a plain miniskirt with heels is great for an after-hours look. An important tip to remember is that if you want to look more put together you can match your tee with your bottoms, but as always, there’s the riskier route of wearing bold colors and patterns which compliment your tee.
Choosing accessories to wear can be overwhelming, but there’s no need to fret. Just remember that less is more; you can add a little something to your outfit without subtracting from your graphic tee. For example, you can add to your outfit with a pair of earrings or a necklace – big or small. If you want to spice it up even more, you can make a statement by adding a belt to your outfit if you’re wearing pants or shorts.
Now that you know that there are many different ways that you can pull off a graphic tee, don’t be afraid to go out into the world and show your tees off!