Testing Trends: Off the shoulder outerwear

Off the shoulder outerwear, or basically not wearing your coat properly, seems to be trend that has been floating around for a while. In fact, before I started writing this post I toyed with the idea of calling it 'The kardashian trend' because, lets face it, recently in nearly all the pictures of them they have forgotten how to wear their coats on their shoulders. In the end I settled upon 'Testing Trends' because I will often see street style pictures and think 'yes' these off duty models running around after a fashion show look fabulous wearing something or styling it a certain way, but really, how wearable is it? So on Saturday, I decided I was ready for a fun filled day of not wearing my coat properly and getting cold shoulders (my Nana would not approve).

I think the off the shoulder trend was always on the horizon with the introduction of street wear and knitwear moving from loose fitting, aka 'baggy', to dropped shoulders, to oversized and finally to 'cannot even be bothered pulling it over my shoulders anymore'. It is a nonchalant attitude to dressing but a bloody pain when your trying to get your phone out of your bag.

Testing, Testing...

After taking my blog pictures we headed into town to get some coffee (standard blogger) and God did I miss wearing a coat. It probably wasn't the warmest of days to wander around but if the editors of fashion magazines can do it, so can this girl!

Coffee shop sleeves

Here is where I meet problem number one. Too much material to arm ratio and that meant a constant wrestle with pushing up my sleeves every time I wanted to do anything. Getting into my purse looked like an Olympic sport. Even pointing to the cake I wanted took some strategic movements. Im sure people must have been looking and thinking 'look at this ~~twat,~~ put your coat on properly'. I attempted once to try and drink my coffee but ended up taking my denim jacket off after I nearly spilt it by, again, wrestling with my sleeves.

The grumpy child

I don't know why, but wearing my coat off my shoulders reminds me of when kids are throwing a tantrum like 'awww mum (or dad) please don't make me wear my coat' and begrudgingly you put it on but 'haha' you get your own back because your technically only half wearing it. Well that's how I felt all day, walking around like I had got dressed in the morning and been told I have to wear a coat and this was the compromise.

There is a time and a place

There is a time and a place for most things and I think this is definitely one of those trends. Great for Insta pics or during fashion week when the fashion editors leave one show and go straight into a chauffeur driven car to the next. Actually, that leads me onto driving in this trend... DON'T! Not only do you end up with a jacket digging into your back while your driving but you sort of need to use your hands for the steering, and not pushing up your sleeves, or so I've been told.

Model off duty

As much as it pains me to say I am not a model by any stretch of the imagination and sometimes some trends are better left to the beautiful and the cool. What I am trying to say is 'I am no Kate Moss'.

To conclude

Eating and Drinking: With all that extra sleeve going on your probably going to need to wear wrist napkins cos it aint pretty, in fact its pretty messy.

Body temp: At this time of year, don't bother. Maybe in a warmer climate like L.A. and that probably explains the K-dashers love for it. Only plus side is, you don't need to wear gloves.

Bodily functions: Unless you want a damp sleeve, probs best to either pull that coat over your shoulders or take it off.

Driving: Just Don't

Although these pictures have turned out really well it sort of proves my point that, yes it might look effective on pictures but in everyday life you just end up with messy sleeves, cold shoulders and a lot of outfit arranging.

Verdict 3/10 - Avoid.

Like this post? Check out my 3 ways to style a playsuit here.

Hollie x