TRANSITION TO FALL LOOK: Culottes and Loafer Mules

What’s not to love about a pair of well-made culottes. Derived from the french word Culot, meaning the lower half of a thing, culottes were originally knee-breeches commonly worn by gentlemen of the European upper classes. In the Victorian Era, Bifurcated skirts (see below) were developed for horseback riding and cycling so that women didn’t have to ride side-saddle, but could instead ride astride (#SoTaboo). The transition from long split skirts to culottes seems only natural. Culottes now refers to any lower body garment which hangs like a skirt but is actually pants.

Photo Credit: The Metropolitan Museum of Art

In this look, I have paired a checkered pair of culottes with a drapey white blouse. There is usually apprehension about pairing a voluminous top with a voluminous bottom, however it works in this look likely because the blouse, though drapey, is also quite structured and well-tailored. The blouse cost $24.99–a random find at Marshalls (find similar here, here, here and here). The Culottes (in US Size 14) cost $42 and are from ASOS but they are sold out (click here and here to buy a similar pair).

I styled this look with a Gucci-inspired pair of loafer mules called the Aviva Mule by a Nordstrom Rack brand called Abound. The Abound Aviva Mule (click here to buy) cost $39.97 as compared to the Gucci Princetown Loafer Mule (see below and click here and here to buy) which cost $650. I love the Abound brand because, not only are they more affordable, but they also carry up to a US Womens Size 13 which is my size (#BigFeetLove).

The Brooch I am wearing is by Oscar de la Renta (below left) but it is no longer available. Find a similar (and much more affordable) style here from Etsy (below right) that costs $19.75. The Bag is the Diorever bag in Black Bullcalf Leather by Christian Dior. The site Tradesy has a few pre-loved Diorevers (like this one).

Here are two options for structured, quality, black, top-handle totes that are similar in style to the Diorever but cost under $75 each. The one on the left is by Aldo $65 (Click here to buy) and the one on the right is from Amazon (Click here to buy) by a brand named Dasein $39. The Dasein one is giving me loads of Hermes Birkin vibes, and at $39, Hello!!!