Our LA Stylist Felicia Arlin praises the multifunctionality fun of wearing Pareos in LA Style Story: “Pareos…more than a Cover-Up”. And who knew you could transition from a busy about-the-town workday to an evening pool party without making a trip home to change? Well, of course can says  Felicia who makes it easy peasy to do so in “Late Afternoon Pool Party”.

LA Story: Pareos… more than a Cover-Up

Now that Summer is officially here, I can pull out the pareos, my official summer uniform, and get creative. The pareo, is a perfect multi-functional item, that means, you get a lot of bang for your buck. I’m showing you 2 easy ways to wear your new favorite item…First, I’m wearing the blue block-print pareo, amazon, as a front tied sarong skirt to give my body shape and length. My sky-blue linen blouse, H&M is not only a great match in colour and texture, it keeps the eye moving vertically so I appear, taller.

Second is my pink block-print pareo, amazon, that I’m wearing as a strapless column dress for a bit of a “sleeker”, look. My oversized white blouse, H&M, is the ultimate “layering piece”, in both weight and shape. It’s light enough to flow and move, as I do while giving balance to the straightness of my dress. I can go from work to a casual evening out and look effortlessly pulled together. My fun shopping bags, ronherman, lend some fun and whimsy to my look and my flat sandals, samedelman, in a neutral colour can go with almost anything.

LA Story: Late Afternoon Pool Party

It’s a beautiful hot day and a friend decided to have a late afternoon pool party with an al fresco dinner. I have a very full day with a client and no time to stop back at home to change. I pulled from one of summer’s hottest trends… surf and styled my look to carry me through the day and into the evening, poolside.  My black and white story is fun and totally, functional and all I need to do is pull off my top layers to swim then put them back on for dinner. I’m wearing my bikini, Vitamin A under my fast-drying long board-shorts, Kanusurf, and an open chain knit sweater, Gisele Tune. My white bucket hat, Kangol and rapper chain, Amazon, bring the “edge” and my quilted platform kicks, Breckelles, and my crossbody bag, Longchamp, pull together my daytime look. As we move into the dinner portion of the evening, I’ll wear just my bikini and sweater, like a short dress. Now that’s what I call efficiency.

*style-tip: if you’re not a shorts person, board-shorts are a fabulous option. Buy them 1 or 2 sizes larger so they hang a bit lower for more leg cover.

*please treat your wardrobe well. many people worked very hard to get it to you.