Tip #1: Pair a high-waisted pencil skirt and cropped shell.
Photo: B. Dowling/WENN.com
Want an easy way to take the frump out of a pencil skirt? Pair it with an of-the-moment crop top like Glee actress Naya Rivera at the San Diego Comic-Con. She color blocked with a blue pencil skirt from H&M and a chic short-sleeved cropped shell by Razan Alazzouli, and injected a pop of color with her bright yellow Guiseppe Zanotti heels.
1. Asos Petite exclusive Gingham Crop Top – $16.57; 2. Windsor Bright Blue V Neck Yoke Pencil Skirt – $24.90; 3. J. Crew No. 2 Pencil Skirt in Double-Serge Wool – $130; 4. Asos White Jacquard Shell Top with Peplum – $24.86; 5. Veda Soul Neon Yellow Ellen Heel – $59.99
Tip #2: Glam up a pencil skirt with a metal belt.
Photo: WENN.com
Pencil skirts are even taking over the red carpet—Marion Cotillard wore a pencil skirt illusion dress from Raf Simons’ Dior collection to the Batman: The Dark Knight Rises premiere. You can recreate this look without shelling out for a designer dress by combining a houndstooth pencil skirt (a staple in any working girl’s wardrobe) with a corset top in a complementary micro pattern and adding a glam touch with a luxe metal belt. Copy Cotillard and accent the grey skirt with bright reds and mustard yellows.
1.Tory Burch Cornelia Houndstooth Skirt – $275; 2. Mettle The Bold & The Beautiful Belt – $198; 3. Latico Leather After Shock Card Case – $24.94; 4. Hedonia Collette Cropped Bustier Top – $45; 5. Carvela Kurt Geiger Attack Court Shoes – $92
Tip #3: Soften a leather top with a pencil skirt in ladylike tweed.
Photo: Caroline Torem Craig/WENN.com
Leather is undeniably hot this season, and wearing a leather bustier top with a pencil skirt is the ultimate way to add an edge to a pencil skirt. Zoe Kravitz did just that in head-to-toe Chanel at the designer’s Little Black Jacket event. Amp up the contrast like Kravitz did by picking a skirt in a ladylike fabric like tweed or lace.
1. Bardot Peeptoe Pump – $79.99; 2. J. Crew Pencil Skirt in Hologram Tweed – $395; 3. Quilting Cream Shoulder Bag – $55.99; 4. A.L.C. Thea Skirt – $495; 5. Charlotte Russe Zipper-Back Pleather Corset – $29.99
