Walking for top designers during Fashion Weeks, Brazillian model, Gizele Oliveira’s personal style usually takes a back seat in favour of the style-imaginings of Dolce & Gabbana, Akris, Carolina Herrera and many more. But her get-up IRL, is dare we say it, way more interesting. Or at least a whole lot more relevant to your average night down the pub.
She’s a dab-hand at making old stuff work for now without looking weirdly retro (see how she styles an ’80s fringed leather jacket for proof) and strikes just the right balance between simple staples and statement pieces – heart-shaped sunglasses, cartoon patches or a wild furry clutch – to look cool without looking try-hard ~kooky~.
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Here’s what else we can learn by dissecting her style:
Careful detailing stops grunge looking too much like fancy dress
Gizele does this expertly by throwing on those heeled ankle boots into her otherwise full-on grunge look.
Pair statement accessories with simple stuff to stand out
This Dolly Parton-worthy fringed leather jacket and those heart-shaped sunnies looks like super-slick biker attire when worn with simple jeans and a sheer top. Extra props for making wet-look hair work off the catwalk, too.
Stick within the same colour scheme when you’re mixing fabrics
Two wildly different textures such as metallic and faux-fur shouldn’t work when layered, but because they’re within the same tonal colour palette, they somehow do here.
The ’70s is an era you can recreate in real life without looking like an extra from Almost Famous
Which is a good job, really, given how many catwalks referenced the era for next Spring. Learn from Gizele and team a sporty dress with a shaggy fur for an unexpected turn on the decade.
Cartoon patches = cool!
OK, not really a lesson. But still, how ace are these jeans? It shows that if you go hard on something fun like cartoon patches, your approach to everything else needs to be straightforward.
Make a simple style reference pop by matching the rest of your outfit to it
Those sequin lips (which look rather like Markus Lupfer to us) look so much more bold thanks to the red coat against everything else’s black, right?
Equally, don’t be afraid of piling on the statement accessories sometimes
But look how that iridescent lens coordinates the shades in that patchwork print.
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Pictures: Getty, Jason Lloyd-Evans
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.