Flare Jeans Are The Wave - Here's One Pair, Four Ways
Allow me to introduce you to the jeans you'll be wearing the rest of 2020: the flare jeans. The 70s inspired trend is one that you'll need to jump on because you don't want to be left behind. The allure of flare jeans made its way to the runways this past season from designers like Celine to Michael Kors. That means the time to jump on the wave is now.
As a youngin, I would flip through my mom's high school photos just to spark creativity. One of my all-time favorite lewks from muva included a pair of badass flare jeans. Distressed, vintage or high-waisted, the fashion proportions are on your side when it comes to finding your perfect pair.
To show the versatility of one pair of flare jeans, I have styled four different looks. One of my favorite features of these Citrus Husk Boutique's 1988 Uber-Flare Denims is the frayed hem; it gives them edge. Ahead, find some serious style inspo!
Tee + Flare Jeans
Photography by Curated by Charlie Photography
On my Janelle Monae tip, I paired my flares with a classic slogan white tee and white accessories because what's more timeless than black and white. When in doubt, pair one of your treasured tees with these bottoms to keep it cute and cool.
Blazer + Flare Jeans
Photography by Curated by Charlie Photography
I grabbed my go-to blazer to throw over my shoulders for a retro vibe. This blazer was one of my greatest thrifting finds with its padded shoulders and striking color. Whether you consider yourself stylish or not, you need to own at least one blazer. Lucky for us, you can purchase them at all price points.
You might not be heading back to the office every day just yet but you could easily replace this Mix Boutique crop top for a chic blouse and save the crop top for your socially-distanced date.
Statement Top + Flare Jeans
Photography by Curated by Charlie Photography
Playing with shapes, I coupled this off-the-shoulder, bell sleeved top with the 1988 Uber-Flare Denim. I love how the similar silhouettes create a harmonious getup. This marrying of figures is ultimately strategic; it is gracious to all body types and emphasizes my curves effortlessly.
Kimono + Flare Jeans
Photography by Curated by Charlie Photography
Kimonos and flare jeans are one of fall's favorite combos so as you prepare for the next season, make sure you have a couple in your arsenal.
1) This kimono is my favorite because it's custom.
2) It's also my favorite because a dope ass black, female designer, CR LEE, made it for me.
With the fall usually being the prime time to get inspired by fashion weeks around the world, it's going to look different this year now that we are living in a pandemic. Don't fret though, we want to empower you to try an assortment of kimonos and even long-line cardigans with this spectacular bottom to spark some style ingenuity.
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Featured image by Charlie B Photography
Joce Blake is a womanist who loves fashion, Beyonce and Hot Cheetos. The sophistiratchet enthusiast is based in Brooklyn, NY but has southern belle roots as she was born and raised in Memphis, TN. Keep up with her on Instagram @joce_blake and on Twitter @SaraJessicaBee.
ItGirl 100 Honors Black Women Who Create Culture & Put On For Their Cities
As they say, create the change you want to see in this world, besties. That’s why xoNecole linked up with Hyundai for the inaugural ItGirl 100 List, a celebration of 100 Genzennial women who aren’t afraid to pull up their own seats to the table. Across regions and industries, these women embody the essence of discovering self-value through purpose, honey! They're fierce, they’re ultra-creative, and we know they make their cities proud.
VIEW THE FULL ITGIRL 100 LIST HERE.
Don’t forget to also check out the ItGirl Directory, featuring 50 Black-woman-owned marketing and branding agencies, photographers and videographers, publicists, and more.
THE ITGIRL MEMO
I. An ItGirl puts on for her city and masters her self-worth through purpose.
II. An ItGirl celebrates all the things that make her unique.
III. An ItGirl empowers others to become the best versions of themselves.
IV. An ItGirl leads by example, inspiring others through her actions and integrity.
V. An ItGirl paves the way for authenticity and diversity in all aspects of life.
VI. An ItGirl uses the power of her voice to advocate for positive change in the world.
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Not Enjoying Your Career Journey? Try The Anti-Goals Method.
We've all heard, at one time or another, about the importance of goal-setting and the various methods you can use, especially when it comes to career goals. For me, some of the methods have just been ill-fitting. I'd been searching for the best goal-setting approach for someone like me who has struggled with negative self-talk—always feeling overwhelmed due to focusing on my failure to achieve certain goals within a certain time frame.
I’m also okay, at this point in my career, not knowing exactly what I want my professional life to look like in the future because, at this point, I've accomplished a lot before the age of 30. I have hit that so-called mid-level career wall that many ambitious women face when they reach a certain age and level of experience.
For sure, the last 10 years of my life have been all about speaking up and setting boundaries for what I no longer will do on the path to success. I kept thinking that there had to be a goal-setting method that works within that context—to use to my advantage, as I’m good at pinpointing what I don’t want to do, where I don’t want to be, and how I don’t want to feel in the work that I do.
Well, this is where anti-goals come in.
What Are Anti-Goals?
Anti-goals are goals that center on happiness, avoiding certain actions, decisions, or habits that will certainly deter you from making career fulfillment a reality. Leadership consultant and speaker Selena Rezvani elaborated on the essence of this concept well in a recent Fast Companyarticle.
“An anti-goal is a way to customize your work life and decision making,” the author of Quick Confidence: Be Authentic, Boost Connections, and Make Bold Bets on Yourself, told the publication. “Do that by looking at what doesn’t serve you. You can figure out pretty quickly some of the frustrating patterns you might fall into and what you want to actively avoid.”
Anti-goals allow you the space and permission to work along with (not against) what really motivates you to achieve a goal. You think about what you don't want to happen versus what you do.
For some of us, it’s the less attractive outcome that drives our decisions one way or another. (Research has proven this to be a real psychological phenomenon. You can read more about that here, and here).
I’ve found that I’ve been this way my whole life. Oftentimes, for example, if my goal was to remain on the Honor Roll at high school, I wasn’t thinking about the joy or perks of being an excellent student. I was thinking about the other outcome: My mom not being proud of me, or not getting into college in order to have a better prospect at a decent job in my adult future. As a copy editor, I didn’t set a goal of writing more in order to become a features editor.
I’d outgrown the copy editing jobs and thought about the dead-end dread of spending one more year of dotting i’s and crossing t’s for a living, so I set out to write more and took on assignments in digital publishing.
Thomas Barwick/Getty
How To Set Anti-Goals
First, you think about things backward. Where don’t you want to be? What feelings at work do you loathe? What companies do you want to avoid and why? What types of people do you want to be sure you’re not working with? What skills are you lacking that are needed to get you to where you actually want to be in your career? Write these things down. Get them out of your head on paper.
Work with a coach that’s familiar with anti-goals and won’t shame you because you’re not starting with S.M.A.R.T. or F.A.S.T goal-setting. (You might need to come back to those methods when you’ve actually set out a plan to go against what you don’t want.)
For example, after working full-time in media for more than eight years finally becoming a manager with the pay I thought I deserved, I found I didn’t really like being a manager. I wrote down my whys and a lot of it had to do with wanting to just manage the greatest asset to my career advancement: me. I didn’t want to have to deal with the attitudes, the politics, and always being the first to put out fires when someone was insubordinate, numbers didn’t add up, or key deliverables weren’t being met.
I knew I didn’t want to sit in an office all day and be the last one to leave. I wanted freedom, autonomy, and a flexible work schedule where I could manage content, projects, and one-on-one clients from anywhere in the world. I didn't want to be responsible for a massive team of full-on human beings.
I then began setting anti-goals and taking steps, motivated by those anti-goals, to create the career life I’d dreamed of. I created my exit plan and eventually resigned to go freelance full-time, but I had to set anti-goals like:
- Decline your employment contract renewal as a manager. Instead, build up a client base.
- Don’t apply for any more managerial positions or promotions. Start doing freelance work on the side.
- Don’t spend frivolously on eating out or clubbing. Save x-amount by the quit date.
- Don't overdo it with meetings and emails. Use that time to go to after-work networking events.
- Don’t continue giving time to managerial training or other related coaching. Get mentors and coaches who are living the career lifestyle you want.
All of these anti-goals not only positively aligned with my regular way of thinking but they helped me avoid being so hard on myself, sitting in negativity during the processes of transition throughout my career, and they helped me enjoy the journey. For several, I still had to write down and follow through with specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (S.M.A.R.T.) details only when applicable. I’ve found that we can think something will go a certain way, and life (well, God) has its way of taking you somewhere else exciting, and that’s okay.
Anti-goals are a great way to rethink how we maneuver through setting realistic career goals that align with purpose, allowing us to get clarity on what we don’t want in order to work toward what we do. Hey, a win is a win.
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Featured image by FG Trade/Getty Images