How to Style Plaid

Shawnaci Schroeder
by Shawnaci Schroeder


I’m going to be showing you how to style plaid. I feel like plaid is hard to style - it’s flannel, it kind of does its own thing, and it can either make you look really chic and put together or like you just rolled out of bed, you just came from a bonfire, or you’re just like one of the guys.


How to wear plaid



The shacket

The first outfit that I’ve styled here is a shacket. I think that everyone should have a good plaid shacket in their life. I’ve styled this look by putting two big, oversized items together - the shacket and the hoodie. The way to make a shacket look put together is to make sure that your body is proportioned. On the top, I’m wearing bulky items, but on the bottom, I’m just wearing biker shorts which show off the slenderness of my legs. You want to make sure that everything you’re wearing isn’t big and bulky because this will make you look very frumpy. Go for leggings and shorts, and stay away from mom jeans and sweatpants.

Style plaid



The coat

This plaid coat is really cute, but it can definitely look too busy if you don’t style it in the right way. If you’re wearing a coat or a jacket with a lot of print on it, you want to make sure that whatever is underneath is very seamless. I’ve styled the jacket with an all-gray look underneath, which is very understated and makes you focus on the jacket’s print. The shorts I’m wearing are quilted to add a bit of juxtaposition between them and the top; the exact same material would make them look a bit too matchy-matchy.

Plaid style



The blazer

I love blazers and especially ones that aren’t super structured because if you have a very unstructured outfit, you can wear it in a very casual way. I’m just wearing cozy everyday items under this blazer.

How to style plaid pants



The pants

In general, plaid is hard, but I feel that plaid pants are the hardest because you cannot look cute if you don’t have the right fit or don’t style them correctly. These pants are really flowy. They actually have elastic in the back, so they almost feel like sweatpants. I love styling an oversized, cozy sweater with a pair of plaid pants because I feel like it’s a great look that is very elevated but also very relaxed. This is a very comfortable look for Fall.

Plaid jacket fashion



The cropped jacket

The way that I style a plaid cropped jacket is to make sure that I’m wearing a crop top. If you wear something that is really long underneath, it’s not going to look proportional to the jacket itself. This outfit is a great transitional season look, you want a little bit of skin to show, but you don’t want to be too cold. I styled it with a pair of biker shorts, boots, and high socks.

How to style a plaid jacket



The plain-ish jacket

Jackets like this don’t draw your attention much, but I think that they are good staples to have in your wardrobe nonetheless. They are great jackets to wear when you want to be understated but add a bit of Fall flair. The way to dress up a plaid piece that doesn’t offer much of a pop or pizzaz is to wear a cute dress underneath that doesn’t have a pattern on it.

Styling a plaid suit



The plaid set

If you’re trying to wear a plaid look that has a set, it can be tricky. You don’t want to be that person who wears plaid on plaid on plaid. The way to make sure that your plaid set looks seamless is to add a block of color in between it that you literally can’t miss. This block of color will break up the two pieces.


I hope that you’ve enjoyed my tips and tricks for how to wear plaid. The most important thing is to think carefully about your look. Don’t just throw whatever on and head out the door. Be deliberate in your fashion choices. It may take a little longer to get dressed in the morning, but the result is totally worth the effort!

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