Jorts for Fall, Two Ways

Outfit 1: Blazer (Zara, love this striped blazer for Fall, too), Blouse (Zara, similar here), Shorts (Forever 21 (cost like no dollars srsly), similar here), Shoes (Keds, similar here), Necklace (Dogeared), Bracelets (assorted Nadri), Watch (Marc by Marc Jacobs)
Outfit 2: Blazer (Forever 21, similar here), Blouse (J.Crew, similar here), Shorts (Forever 21, similar here), Shoes (Zara, similar here and here), Necklaces (H&M - old, similar here, and Dogeared)

Because we all want to wear denim cut-offs year-round, don't we? Or maybe we don't, but maybe we want to at least have the option of wearing them whenever we want (that doesn't sound crazy at all), and maybe that requires us to get a little creative with our jort-wearing exploits. 

What's odd is that while everyone else was flashing their denim-sliced buttcheeks around all summer (and I usually never miss out on an opportunity to flash my butt cheeks), I was for whatever reason uninterested in the three pairs of really-similar-looking-but-obviously-totally-not-the-same-at-all denim cut-offs sitting in my drawer. I was apparently more interested in wearing my mom shorts and my leather skirts than I was in slicing my butt with jean. 

But then as soon as Fashion declared it was time for Fall, or at least time to start dressing like it was Fall, say around early August, I found myself uncannily and suddenly drawn to my denim sausage casings—in particular the $10 pair that I picked up at Forever 21 months ago when I bought them because they were $10. 

And then I started wearing them all kyna ways. I wore them out to a Shabu dinner with head-to-toe black everything else, and thought, "I can totally wear these suckers at night." I wore them to work (on a Friday, which means anything goes right?) with a giant blazer and a pair of pointy-toed flats and thought, "Suckers! I can totally wear these to the office, too." And then, knowing what I wanted to know before I even knew that I wanted to know it, Leandra Medine prophetically espoused and demonstrated the wonders of, and the many ways in which you can wear, many different kinds of denim cut-offs. 

Which only fueled my acute obsession with them that much more, and also inspired me to do a little blog dance about how one could—if they so chose—wear the same pair of shorts TWO DIFFERENT WAYS, and maybe even at two different times of day(!). This is earth-shattering shit. Brace yourselves.

If one were to approach this flatly, I suppose the first iteration could be classified as a "Day" look, and the second a "Night" look. But I feel like the outfits—or perhaps, the denim cut-offs—can be understood in a more specifically contextual way. The first look is a somewhat casual endeavor (see: laceless eyelet tennis shoes), while still being put together enough to distinguish it on the spectrum from the bikini top/flip-flop situation where in most cases the accompanying denim-shorts are not even buttoned (the "spectrum" being the Denim Cut-Off Spectrum obviously). It's the blazer that primarily does this, and to a lesser extent the button-down blouse—both typically tools of a more dressed up affair, in which business (bizness?) may or may not be taking place.

The second look is decidedly more shmancy, despite the fact that I am still donning said denim sausage casings, and it's primarily three things that contribute to the shamnce. 1) Color: sticking to all black for every other garment included in the outfit goes a long way to step up those jorts. 2) Textures/Materials: when embarking on a monochromatic adventure, it's always important to play with and layer various textures of the given color. And in this case, the textures are those that are typically more "luxe" i.e. sequins and suede. 3) My Black Sequinned Blouse: I think this gets to be a reason for the shamncy-ness all on its own. (And maybe 3b is "Rhinestones.")

So wear your denim cut-offs whenever, wherever, and however you damn well please. Because you can! And because it might temporarily make things more interesting when you're feeling like you might need to make things more interesting. I think come Winter, I will be donning them with a pair of tights, booties, and a flannel shirt, and calling myself "Six."