Starting a pin up wardrobe: the essential checklist

Starting a pin up wardrobe

Essential Checklist

Before you can go on your (window) shopping spree, make sure to do your homework and read the do's and don'ts.

As a rule of thumb:

• Basic colors: black and red 
• Basic prints: polkadot, leopard, cherry
• Have a 2 to 1 ratio for even colored pieced > pieces with a print on them. You can combine even colored with other even colored pieces or print pieces. Combining print with print is a lot harder.

Below are some extra practical tips, to complement the visual checklists (press the right arrow to continue to the other ones).

Or download them.

Extra Tips:

Upper body

Have a set of 'pure' basics, that can be worn over/under anything, before you dig into the cleavage, print, lace or otherwise fancy basic pieces.

Get cardigans with long sleeves that end at your waistline.
This ensures the hourglass silhouet even if you wear it with a regular t-shirt and jeans

Try matching the color of your cardigans with the color of your stockings (if you wear them).

Lower body

Whether you prefer the playful swing model or the bombshell pencil style, try and have at least one item in both styles in a basic color.

Pencil dresses/ -skirts are perfectly suited or business or formal occasions.
Whereas swing dresses/ -skirts are more casual (without petticoat), festive (with petticoat) and playful.

Full body:

Invest in some decent waist belts.
Wider belts are great for swing style, whereas thinner belts look more elegant on the pencil model and are better at showing off high waisted skirts/ pants.

I really like the elastic ones, because they take in your waistline a little.

Accessories:

Go for heels and flats without any embellishments, but with a comfortable feel to them.

Determine your ideal heel height and take your walking speed into account when buying pumps (add a T strap if you're a Speedy Gonzalez like me). 

If you wear a lot of stockings, a closed toe is much prettier than a peeptoe model.

That's all folks!

Hope you liked it and found it useful :-) 

Let me know in the comments if and how it helped.

- Buttercup, the imperfect pin up