Styled by Marina - 90s Grunge Fashion : How to Style Plaid Dresses #OOTD

Plaid, A classic fashion element, a textile pattern that originated in Scotland as the symbolic national dress. It certainly seems like we have adopted plaid into our wardrobes since...as long as we could remember. Chances are you can spot people wearing plaid or tartan skirts and flannel shirts here and there. It's undoubtedly one of the most popular fashion patterns nowadays. With the 90s grunge fashion making a huge comeback in the past few years, I am feeling inspired to write a quick blog post on how I would style plaid / Tartan dresses.

I've always loved the 90s grunge fashion and enjoyed incorporating plaid into my day to day outfits. However, I was once afraid to wear clothes with colors and patterns. Mostly because I didn't quite know how to style it and was terrified by the idea of making the wrong style choice and potentially looking like a fashion disaster. Through years of good and bad fashions choices as well as discovering my own style, I have come up with several rules that I follow when I am trying to pull off a plaid outfit (long maxi dress in this particular post.)

• I'm wearing:

1. Black Embroidered Satin Blouse - QUEENSHOP

2. Olive Green Plaid Maxi Dress - Above Life

3.Black Sparkly Trainers - BERSHKA

1. Oversize! The bigger the better.

Now I am certainly not one of those super slender girls with model standard golden body ratio, lol. I mean we all have insecurities when it comes to our bodies. It's nothing to be ashamed of and I think we should proudly own what we have and love every inch of our skin. But loving our body and learning how to dress are two different topics. One thing I've come to master when I'm putting together an outfit for myself is to actually getting to know my body. Say if you are particularly insecure about your thighs, it's perfectly fine! Instead of blindly putting on whatever they advertise on a style magazine, you can use certain fashion items to compliment your body.

Instead of going for those super tight and fitted dresses, try to utilize oversized fashion items to create an edgier and retro style, at the same time it covers up any body parts that you may not feel comfortable showing the world, which is totally okay. I have found out that a lot of the girls steer clear of wearing oversized outfits in fear of making themselves look bigger. While wearing oversized fashion pieces does have a risk of accidentally looking like a balloon. The ultimate trick is to show where you are comfortable showing. If you decide to wear something looser or oversized, be sure to show a little ankle or wrist, add a belt to accentuate your waist. You might be surprised to find out just how good you look in a pair of palazzo pants or your dad's vintage baggy sweater.

2. One pattern at a time, Keep it simple.

Since plaid is already a statement pattern itself, when wearing a plaid or tartan dress, it's always smarter to keep the rest of the outfit clean and simple. We've all made the mistake of unintentionally wearing more than one bold patterns or bright colors in one outfit I'm sure... well at least I have committed such fashion crime when I was younger, lol.

3. Go for the 90s grunge vintage look, you can't go wrong 

Now my outfit is almost complete, all there is left to do is style is up. Personally, I think anything plaid looks ten times better with a grunge, 90s sort of retro style. Try adding a choker or layered necklaces to your look. I also wore my favorite gold rimmed vintage glasses. As for shoes, going for a pair of black boots or platform creepers is never a bad idea! It's fun to mix and match to reinvent and create your own signature look!