This oversized sweater outfit is shown after a request from Heather in New Zealand. Heather was asking about tips on how to wear sweaters and what to wear with them to make them less boring and less predictable.
What to Wear with an Oversized Sweater Outfit
1-Statement Earrings
2-Necklace
3-Scarf
4-Brooches
5-Vest
6-Hat
7-Purse
8-Knot the sweater
Quote of the day: “What heaven can be more real than to retain the spirit-world of childhood, tempered and balanced by knowledge and common sense.” Beatrix Potter
A sweater is the perfect winter item and it can be spruced up easily with a little imagination and inspiration from your closet.
Lesly showcased this same idea with a black sweater and Charlotte styled a white sweater. The thought is you can change how your sweater looks just with different accessories and other pieces from your closet.
Accessories can really be more than just an extra in the outfit. They can do many things including tying together colors in a look, bringing the focus to where you want it, as well as adding personality to the entire outfit.
That’s exactly why my eBook is so beneficial for everyone. So make sure to sign up below to grab yours.
Jeans: Old Navy~~ Sweater: I knitted it~~ Top: Belong Lifestyle USA~~ Boots: Not Rated
My Oversized Sweater Outfit
To show some variety with the theme of adding interest to any sweater outfit, I chose one of my handknit sweaters made long ago. Both my mom and Lesley showed off basic neutral sweaters, so I wanted to show a print sweater.
I consider this an oversized sweater outfit because the silhouette is bulky and not fitted. Since it’s a crew neck sweater, I wanted to wear a shirt under it too.
Just like I showed when I talked about 5 popular ways to wear a sweater, I usually like some kind of collar showing when I wear a crew neck sweater. Since there’s only a bit of the shirt showing, I wore another print blouse. This one is from Belong Lifestyle USA and the ruffle neck adds a feminine flair to the oversized sweater outfit.
Now, in all honesty, I wish I had styled a ivory blouse under the print sweater so you could concentrate on all of the accessories instead. So just pretend that the blouse under the sweater is ivory for me, okay?
I also let the blouse underneath hang out at the bottom too but if that’s too much pattern for you, that’s easy to tuck into the jeans.
So let’s explore all 8 ideas that can make your oversized sweater outfit less boring.
Statement Earrings
Forget those diamonds because I think that statement earrings can be a girl’s best friend. Why? Because they bring people’s eyes to our face instead of having them think about how this oversized sweater isn’t really flattering.
While I believe in having items that fit well, it’s also nice to have variety in your closet. Especially if you are wearing tighter pants (like skinny jeans or leggings), then it’s great to have a top that is more oversized. Besides, as I always point out “flattering” is overrated!!
Knitting insight: Many of my knitted pieces either end up too big or too small. I may love to knit, but I never said my gauge is perfect, haha.
Then again in my defense, this pattern was from the ’90s when oversized was more common.
These earrings are from Audra Style and are wooden so therefore very lightweight. At our age, the last thing we need is earrings causing our earholes to get bigger. Besides the fact that the heavy earrings hurt after a couple of hours.
Notice with all of the other outfits, I wore a pair of metallic earrings by Frannie & Elinor so you could focus on the category I was discussing. While I love statement earrings, I also appreciate classic ones that work with everything.
Insider tip: More tricks on how to match earrings to your outfit in this post.
Necklace
With a print top or sweater, you have to be careful that if you’re adding a necklace, you don’t want it to disappear because of the print. You need a color or metal that will contrast against the print.
In fact, if you want to see an example of what not to wear, then check out when 4 of us all wore the same necklace with different colors. I also showcased an outfit of how not to wear the necklace because it blends in too much.
The other thing I like to point out sometimes we see the colors of our jewelry differently. It can change depending on what you are wearing with it. For example, that necklace that we all wore here was “turquoise“. That’s what I thought about it when I bought it because I could see it up close and hold it in my hands.
Sure, when you look up close at the necklace, it has turquoise stones on it. But in all reality, when you are wearing it, it really shows as more of a silver necklace.
Insider tip: Do you hate it when the longer necklaces get “caught up” on your girls?? Because that bothers me, I used a clear elastic around the beads to keep both sides together. In fact, I just leave the elastic on this necklace so it’s always like this.
Scarf
Adding a scarf is really no different than adding a necklace to your sweater outfit. I like to think of a scarf as a softer necklace. I know scarves can be intimidating if we don’t wear them much, but as I explained in Charlotte’s and Lesley’s posts, it’s just a piece of material.
This fuzzy scarf was knit by my mom over 20 years ago. It’s a triangle shape, so it’s easy to style by just tying the ends together.
But remember, if it seems too much, then you could roll it to make it thinner.
Insider tip: Even if you are wearing a scarf, you can combine it with a necklace or even add a pin to your scarf. Don’t think that just because you styled a scarf, you can’t add more to the accessory game.
Cluster of Brooches
If you’re anything like me then you have a bunch of pins in your jewelry box. We went through a phase of wearing them often on the blog. A reader favorite was wearing them by your neck, but I also love the idea of styling them at your waistband (almost like a belt buckle without the belt).
When I do wear my brooches, I find it fun to cluster at least 3 of them. You can see I have a DIVA one above and then 2 leaf pins. I might have positioned them up higher if I tried this again.
Insider tip: It is usually MUCH easier to put the pins on your clothing before you put the item on your body.
If you love brooches, make sure to look at consignment stores because I’ve gotten great deals there.
Throw a Vest Over the Oversized Sweater Outfit
Even though all three of us did give examples of adding a vest over your sweater, all three of our examples are unique. Lesley’s was a long vest, Charlotte’s was a cardigan style vest, and mine is a sweater vest. Now the secret behind this specific vest is that it’s inside out.
You’ve seen this vest on my daily outfit post here, and we laughed that my husband called it my Barney Rubble vest. When I was taking it off one day, I noticed how pretty the inside was, and decided to remove the label so I could wear it as a reversible vest.
BTW, the vest is also from Belong Lifestyle USA and is oversized. That’s why it works with this oversized sweater outfit.
Insider tip: So many of our clothing items can either be worn inside out or backward. Don’t let the labels dictate how you wear it.
Hat
Now another idea to add some interest to your oversized sweater outfit is by wearing a hat. The beginner guide to style a hat is a favorite way to get started if you don’t wear lots of hats.
Winter hats were a subject explored last year too.
Why does a hat help with sprucing up your oversized sweater outfit? Because it acts as a focal point by bringing people’s eyes up to your face.
Purse
A purse is functional to carry our things, but it can be one of the extras to add shine to any kind of outfit. In fact, you see many women use their crossbody purses or belt bags as “decoration” for the look.
This means instead of your purse being an afterthought, make it part of your overall look.
For this example, I used a clutch to hold next to my midsection. The mint-colored purse brings out the light blue in the sweater yarn and stands out beautifully. If I had chosen a muted brown purse, it would blend in too much to be the focal point. Yet, a muted brown bag would work if you wanted the focus on your face.
Knot the Sweater
Especially if your sweater is a tad big and bulky, you could experiment with creating a knot so it’s not so baggy. I used a hair elastic for this example and made the knot in the front.
But play around, because you might like it pulled up to the side better and that would make the sweater look more asymmetrical.
This is exactly what Lesley did in the past when we talked about the half tuck. The half-tuck can be interpreted in many ways. In fact, Lesley even showed how she tucked the knot up under the sweater so there wasn’t a bulge. Another idea is to create the knot from inside the fabric.
So there you have it. Three different women gave their interpretations about adding extras to their sweaters. Hopefully, it’s given you ideas on wearing what you already have in your closet!!
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