Hello everyone!! This weekend, Johnny and I were finally able to have a little date day and snap some pictures and I am ecstatic with the OOTD that I came up with. Johnny and I are your friendly neighborhood emo kids (28 and 33 is still young, right?!) and I wanted to pay homage to that with what I considered a “grown up” emo ensemble. This look was so much fun to style and shoot and Lil Red Fun Fact for ya: The brick wall that you see below is actually the building for the bathrooms at a local park lol. Hey, whatever works! Check it out:

Who? What? Wear?

• Black Blazer: Express, Goodwill (Only $4 a thank youuu)
• Rock On Hoodie: Zoe + Liv, Target
• Plaid Skinny Jeans: Wild Fable, Target
• Lace Up Boots: Forever 21
• Lightening Bolt Earrings: EmLeigh’s & Mama B’s

^^^ SHOOK that there are no pieces from TJMaxx in this look!!

Normally, when I am planning an OOTD shoot, I do so with one specific piece in mind and build the outfit from there. In this case, it was my yellow plaid skinnies by Wild Fable. I love these pants so damn much and I was amazed when I realized that I have never featured them in an outfit post before. These pants are the cutest and they add an awesome grungy touch to any look. They are also insanely comfortable and fit just a tad looser than traditional skinny jeans. Long story short, they are A+ pants.

Of course, with such a bold pattern on the bottom, choosing a top was a bit difficult. I vetoed several options because they had already been featured in past OOTDs and poo pooed others because they just looked bad lol. Finally, I threw my hands up and decided on the Zoe + Liv hoodie from Target with a rock on skeleton hand. At first, I wasn’t particularly thrilled about this because it seemed like such a safe bet and we all know that Lil Red never plays it safe. Then, I had a brain blast!

It is freaking freezing in Ohio and there was no way I would be warm enough in just the hoodie alone. I knew that when I chose it and figured I would just make do with my stud embellished Zara moto jacket. I wasn’t particularly thrilled about this, either, because it also seemed like too safe of a bet. Then, I began shopping through my jackets and an epiphany dawned on me: If I was trying to do a grown up spin on emo kid classics, why not add a blazer?

With that idea in mind, I went with my Express blazer that I got at the Goodwill. This was such an amazing find and it oozes chic. It was also what got me back on board with the hoodie that I had chosen. I have never really seen a hoodie and blazer combination before and that was really exciting to me. It was even more exciting when it looked awesome lol! I loved being able to see the casual hoodie’s hood over such a signature business staple. The blazer also took away from the slouchiness of wearing the hoodie on its own, providing me with a nice, lean silhouette.

After the base of my outfit was complete, it was time to move onto shoes and accessories. My stark white lace up boots from Forever 21 were an obvious choice. The inspiration was giving an update to an emo staple of black combat boots with a similar structure but totally different color. I also really liked how they popped against the rest of the outfit and brought out the white in the plaid pants.

For accessories, I wanted to keep things minimal because the outfit as a whole was so sleek and I didn’t want anything to distract from that. So, I kept things simple and put on my favorite pair of pink glitter lightening bolt earrings. These were a sneaky way of adding a bit of color without being super obvious about it. Every outfit needs a little glitter, amiright?

Minus the crippling depression I had in my angsty teenage years/early twenties, I am still an emo kid at heart and always will be. It might not be apparent in all of my OOTDs but it’s true! I think my younger self would have been obsessed with this look. ❤

Where are my elder emo kids at? Who is your favorite emo band? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah