Trend Chic: Leopard Print Trench Coat

When a modern twist marries up with a timeless classic, the result is instant chic!  The hottest print of the past few seasons, Leopard everything is showing no signs of slowing down; in fact, this feline print is so ubiquitous that it has been dubbed the 'new neutral' and when styled in a trench, it will become your new go to piece.

1. Merona Water Repellent Classic Trench in Leopard Print
2. Apostrophe Cropped Pants
3.  RSVP -Madison in Red Kid Leather

Today's 1, 2 3 Chic elements are a Leopard print water repellent trench, black cropped pants and red pointy-toed shoes.  As the 'new neutral,' leopard can be thought of a blank canvas for styling; while it is easy (and safe) to stick with neutrals when styling prints (black, grey or off-white bottoms and shoes, like the colors in the print, would have worked equally well), a bold color such as red can turn your print from neutral to glamorous!

1, 2, 3 Chic!

1, 2, 3 Chic! (Pictured right: Johnny Mercer)



Bold and bright, a cross body bag, like this one from Carpisa adds another intense burst of color to the leopard trench.  Matching your accessories (in this case the shoes and purse) are fine provided you don't go overboard.  If you think of your body in terms of thirds (lower third: knees to toes, middle third: waist to knees, and upper third: head to waist; limit your accessories to no more than two items in two different thirds (shoes and bag, belt and hat, belt and shoes).

Bold jewelry is a fun way to express yourself.  Keep in mind, that a general rule of thumb is not to mix metals (that is pair gold tones with gold and silver tones with silver).  Additionally, if you want your metallics to stand out, create a canvas upon which they can shine (in my case, I wore the sleeves up on the trench, exposing the long sleeve of my sweater as a background for the cuff.

 

How I Styled It?

1, 2, 3 Styling is easy when you have a standout piece like this leopard print trench.  To really make the jacket shine, I went with dark bottoms and a dark color-blocked turtleneck.  Red is the perfect complement to leopard and creates a striking contrast when worn side-by-side (with the cross body bag).  The red shoes pull the entire look together.  Styling Tip: cropped pants and pointy-toed shoes, when worn apart, make you look taller, when worn together doubly do so!  SN