Dressing Your Best: Basing Outfits Around One Special Piece

It seems that everyone is always in a rush. Wake up, get dressed, run to work or school. Run home. Repeat. So sometimes there's just not enough time to really think about what your going to wear the next day, or what top looks good with what skirt, etc. For those days when you have five minutes to put on something that WON'T make it look like you just raided the dumpster, I like using a special system I call "Basing outfits around one piece" (Yes, I am aware that that's not a very creative name.)
Its really quite simple. There are 2 different ways to follow this process:

WAY 1: Pick a theme
Say you have this adorable J. Crew Tee-

Now the first thing you have to do requires some brain power and creativity. You have to think of what kind of theme this shirt fits under, or at least some adjectives to describe the shirt. So in this case, I would say:
-nautical
-summer
-pastel
So now I have some brief ideas of the "theme" of my outfit. Lets say I pick "nautical" as my theme.
Then you could pair this shirt with some white shorts and Sperry top-sider boat shoes. Or maybe some red skinny jeans and sandals. Or maybe some cutoffs and converse sneakers....

See! Once you pick a theme, the possibilities are endless. And how long did it take me to pick out the outfits I wrote above? I don't know, maybe 2 minutes, tops?

WAY 2 : Let Special Pieces Shine
Every girl should have AT LEAST one or two special pieces. Special pieces can be anything from a graphic print sweater, or a sequined skirt, or some kick-ass shoes. Anything that you think stands out on  it's own.

So here are some shoes from Urban Outfitters that I LOVE LOVE LOVE:

I classify these shoes as "special" because they're metallic and shiny and follow the now very current menswear trend. So once you've picked your special piece,  picking the rest of the outfit is simple. Literally. Your special piece should be the star of the show, so the rest of the outfit should be understated and uncomplicated. Pieces like chambray shirts, cutoffs, solid colored jeans and tops, sandals, and white sneakers are perfect attributes to a special piece.

Hope I saved you time and energy. 

XOXO,

Ruby