I’m Wearing: Boohoo, Inspired by PINS

Sometimes, I will rave and wax about a particular style or outfit for months, and I’ll write about it here and post about on social media endlessly… but never actually wear it. It’s usually the result of a combination of insecurity and general doubt that causes me to say “that’s probably best for other people.” But, recently I got an opportunity to break the cycle, and I took it.

Did you know that boohoo, affordable fashion honeypot, loves music almost as much as they love fashion? When I got the opportunity to help them celebrate their USA arrival, I met some really fabulous people from the boohoo team, and many of them had a music background or were extremely passionate about music. I’m not the first to say that music and fashion go hand-in-hand, especially when you consider the cultural-influence of musicians and how they can often dictate the current trends.

boohoo got in touch with me to introduce me to give me the heads up on some new musician collaborations. Frequently, boohoo will interview new artists and sometimes record a live performance. Often times they are emerging artists from other countries, or fresh faces that the whole world is new to. They make it extra fun by outfitting the band members in boohoo clothes, so you can see actual rockstars wearing clothes that you can actually buy.

They sent over some of their recent collaborations, featuring this boohoo Live Lounge performance by PINS from their blog, an all-girl rock group out of Manchester, UK.

As my first exposure to PINS, I admit I was pretty glued to their presence. They emitted the kind of cool boredom that rock & roll bands from the 1960s and 1970s had when they’d perform on big-budget talk shows. An extremely high-energy song is executed with an almost opposing attitude. At first, I couldn’t tell if it pissed me off or if I loved it.

Many things about this band were pleasingly contradictory. They were also dressed in girly, feminine clothing – nearly all of which were color-free. Gray, white, and black skirts and dresses, tights with hearts on them, and cropped lace jackets. Then Lois Macdonald starts strumming out a morse code of thick, rhythmic notes just before lead singer Faith Holgate starts beating out lyrics, sending me instant images of modern day Jefferson Airplane mixed with Karen O., and the “little girl” images instantly vaporize.

I’ve never been in a band, and I’m fairly sure that I’ve never been cool, so this whole situation had me green with envy. Fortunately, boohoo gave me an opportunity to fulfill a dream and pretend that I joined PINS for a moment by dressing the part.

I’m doing my best cool girl impression here. (PS those rays are the only sun I’ve seen in the last two weeks, so forgive me if I keep them in the photos!)

I finally got my hands on a cropped sweater. I’ve been wanting to wear cropped sweaters over a dress for weeks, and instead of just getting distracted by the next shiny piece of clothing, I actually went out and wore it! This is a very thin but perfectly fitted cropped sweater in a very light pink which costs $14. It’s available in a few different pastels, but I wanted a baby pink to keep with the “girly with minimal color” theme that PINS had going in their video. The drop shoulders of this sweater are my favorite part,  the seam falls down on the arm, giving a really flattering shape to your shoulders!

Another thing I’ve been too scared to try: over the knee socks. Having had soccer calves for the majority of my life, I have struggled with hosiery and boots and long socks. I love the cozy look of tall socks with a short dress, but could never get the socks to stay up. Fortunately, these $10 over the knee tights never fall down, and always look perfect!

Underneath and overtop these fun accessories is an excellent, excellent basic grey skater dress I nabbed for $14. This dress kind of toes the line between skater dress and babydoll dress. The waist seam is a little closer to the bust line, but it still flares out nicely in an A-line shape below the seaming. It hits right at the mid-thigh (I am 5’6″ for the record!), and is made from really sturdy but really thin jersey. It has very adorable cap sleeves that you can’t see, and doesn’t show too much under thin tops.

I paired everything with my favorite Doc Martens Regina boots from the Diva Collection because I felt like it was the most appropriate form of footwear for a girl band. It just makes sense, you know?

Overall, I may be pretty far off from joining PINS as a band member, but I definitely enjoyed taking some cues and inspiration from their style. Keep an eye out for PINS as they begin to take over the USA!

*boohoo furnished the boohoo clothing for this post, but opinions and clothing choices were my own.