I always like to dress for comfort, but I don’t want to feel as though I have just stepped out of the house, straight from bed, still in my pajamas. So, in this post I am sharing with you a few of my own off-duty dressing style tips to achieve a relaxed, yet effortless look with a hint of fashion credability thrown in (so keep reading for my tips below).

1. Dress For Comfort

As mentioned above, you can’t beat dressing for comfort and this really is the basic rule for ‘off duty’ dressing. Personally I like to go for knitted pieces, whether this is a dress, knitted joggers, a matching set, or your favourite baggy jumper. Ribbed knitwear is a huge trend right now, so anything like this that you can get your hands on is a good staring point for your ‘off duty’ outfit – although your favourite jeans or comfy trousers will work just as well.

2. Don’t Go Crazy With Colours

Try to stick to a clean colour palette, or something that doesn’t scream “I have put every single bright coloured item on from my wardrobe today”. Try to stick to mainly black, white, greys, navys and neutral tones for your outfit base and then you can add in a statement pop of colour with one item or accessory. For example, here I am wearing a monochrome based outfit with a pop of complimentary green from my khaki bomber jacket.

P.S. Khaki and monochrome ALWAYS work well together.

3. Keep It Minimal

Minimal looks and clean lines with help you to put together the perfect off-duty look. If you take the basic model off-duty look of jeans and a white tee, you will see that they don’t go crazy with any patterns or intricate pieces of clothing. Think wardrobe basics and try to compose a look around these, such as black trousers, a plain t-shirt or a leather jacket. The same can also be said for shoes – go for plain trainers, boots or your favourite classic leather flats.

EXTRA TIP: A girl can never have too many plain white t-shirts, they are the original wardrobe staple!

4. Play With Plain Layers

Rather than going crazy with too many accessories – I would suggest a delicate necklace or statement earring/ring here and there, if wearing any – I would play with layers instead. This could be wearing a jumper over a plain shirt, or you could be popping a plain turtleneck jumper under your favourite denim pinafore dress, or even tying a shirt around your waist with a simple tee and jeans combo. Add some interest and dimension to your outfit by adding layers in complimentary colours, or different textures.

5. If All Else Fails Wear Sunglasses

To me, nothing screams ‘off-duty’ more than a pair of basic / modern / cool sunglasses. If you think of celebrities getting snapped off the airplane with their fedora on, blanket cape and sunglasses, you have hit off-duty chic on the head. It also means that you don’t have to worry about your eye-makeup either (as I would suggest to keep make-up minimal or nude too!)

So, there you have a few of my off-duty dressing style tips that I try to bide by when putting together my daily laid back looks. If you have some additional tips, I would love for you to let me know in the comments below and as always, thanks for reading! P.S You can re-create this look with the items below…