Utilize this same extravagance in pieces whose impact comes from exaggerated length: a wide-brimmed hat, draped shirt, stacks of bangles, a maxi skirt, dangling earrings, and tall boots may seem a little too long when all paired together… but that’s the point!

Gimme a Beat, Boys

Product Information: Shirt – H&M, Skirt – Nordstrom, Boots – H&M, Socks – Charlotte Russe, Jacket – H&M, Purse – DSW.

“They were like the man with the dungeon stone and gloom, rising from the underground, the sordid hipsters of America, a new beat generation that I was slowly joining.”

Kerouac associated with the likes of Allen Ginsberg and the rest of the best boys of the Beat movement. In a time before skinny jeans, baggy tees, and beanies outed you as a hipster, these guys lived to understand greater meaning… as well as to party. The Beat Generation were defined for their search for meaning in post-war America, their conflicting views of spirituality and goodness, and their “hedonistic” quest for the next kick. Their disregard for societal conventions in the ’50s, as well as their manipulation of typified standards of “goodness,” earned them the status as the original bohemian rebels.

Integrate the Beat movement into your own look by using pieces that are created with similar standards: questioning the origins of classic pieces like the plaid shirt or the tweed skirt, and experimentation with new structures. For example, the plaid shirt is oversize and made from a thin material instead of flannel, while the skirt was shrunk into a mini. Chopping down motorcycle boots to fit the ankle, reaching socks well over the knee, and diminishing a leather satchel to a mini-bag also fit this style, while the denim jacket, the true American classic, remains unchanged.

Burn, Burn, Burn

Product Information: Headband – Banana Republic, Nail Polish – Charlotte Russe, Skirt – River Island, Shirt – Macys, Shoes – Chinese Laundry.