Monday, August 9, 2010

Tiers of Joy

Besides sequins, tiers always call to me. Dresses and tops, if they have tiers of fabric, I will like them. My dream wedding dress has tiers – that is how serious this is.

I defined my style previously as classic with a touch of feminine and a touch of edgy. Tiers are where I embrace the feminine aspect of my style. Tiers can be taken too far into the feminine style and start to look juvenile, but tiers can actually fit into essentially any style scheme:

feminine, classic, edgy, over the top, or minimalist, they can take you from day to night, everything. There is a way to work tiers into your style!

And below, I will show you tiers for each style, and suggest what I would wear each one with.

Personal Anecdote: A friend of mine was a water polo player from childhood through college, and therefore she has a swimmers upper body – aka broad. Whenever I suggest tiers to her she laughs in my face, but she just has to go with the minimalist tiers, she shouldn’t wear a tiered shirt that has sleeves, that’s for sure, it needs to be a tank top so she doesn’t add to the broadness of her shoulders.

Here are Tiers for Everyone!


1. Feminine: Forever 21 Floral Tiered Top 24.80. This top’s color and print are so nice and girly – and summery! Wear with a pair of denim shorts or your favorite pair of jeans.
2. Classic: Topshop Tiered Blouse Tee 70. This classic cream color and boxy shape is so flattering. Wear with skinny jeans, black cigarette pants, or a black skirt – pencil is best, since the tiers create volume on top, you want to streamline your bottom
3. Edgy: Urban Outfitters Silence & Noise Mixed Media Tier Tank Top 42. This top is not something that I could pull off, but if this is your style, I would say wear it with black leggings or a pair of skinny jeans.
4. Over-the-top: Catherine Malandrino Tiered Flutter Sleeve Top 345. This is a lot of look. But if you want to go for it, this is the way. The top is flowy and gorgeous, and you could wear it with skinny jeans, olive shorts, khaki shorts, or a pencil skirt in any of those colors.
5. Minimalist: Eileen Fischer Layered Tank 158. These flat tiers in silver are a perfect minimalist look if you feel like you can’t quite pull-off the tier. It’s like a gateway drug. And what I would recommened to my swimmer friend. So if you think your upper body is too broad, go for flat tiers like these. Wear with black slacks or jeans.
6. Day-to-Night: BCBG Maxazria Tiered Cropped Blouse 198. This BCBG top can easily be taken from day to night. In the day time, wear khakis or jeans and boots, at night, a black skirt and heels will take this top to a nice dinner out.