The Sandwich Dressing Styling Trick

No, we aren’t talking about mayonnaise or salad cream here, although now you’ve got me craving an egg and salad cream sandwich on that fresh, low-Gi granary bread from Lidl. If you know, you know. I could eat a whole loaf in one sitting. Also, if anyone can tell me why they’ve stopped doing the insanely tasty Cronuts at the Lidl bakery, let me know. I’m thinking of writing a strongly worded email to their customer service but, then again, I’m probably better off without them. It’s for my own good.

The ‘sandwich dressing’ method is a simple styling trick to help you pull together and balance outfits very easily. I can’t lay claim to having invented this at all, as I first heard of it via Lydia Tomlinson on Instagram, and she does it very well. In essence, you think of your look as a sandwich, so you match the top to the bottom (the bread) and have something different in the middle (the filling). This can apply to tones, fits, textures and styles. It can be as straightforward as just adding the right accessories, or you can play with full-on colour matching. Let’s have a look at some ideas…

LINEN SHORTS SANDWICH

You fancy wearing your black shorts, but you don’t want to wear all black? Or you’d like to wear colour with black, but it feels too blocky? Maybe you want to wear loose clothes, but you worry it will bulk you out? Fear not, just sandwich a vest in there. Wear the shirt open, match your black shorts to your black sunglasses, or even your white vest to your white trainers. This could actually qualify as a double decker club sandwich.

CREAM SUIT SANDWICH

Going somewhere nice in the summer and fancy wearing a cream suit, but you don’t want to be too Anthea Turner about it? I don’t know why she particularly sprang to mind. I saw her last year at the Hampton Court Flower Show and she was instantly recognisable because she still has exactly the same hairstyle that she had in 1994. It’s like time stood still. I digress… For your sandwich filling here, add a chic bit of black between your more ladylike cream for a tougher edge. Bonus points for matching the studded belt to the studded sandals and adding gold accessories to tie it all in nicely.

EGG MAYO SANDWICoH

I only added this one because I have this Varley jumper and it’s a really great summer knit. Works so well with denim. In this case I have used the socks to sandwich the shorts nicely. Adding blue trainers again makes it a club sandwich. I believe you can tell how good a holiday hotel is by the quality of their club sandwich. Bread should be toasted, you should be looking at turkey or chicken, bacon, lettuce, tomato and sometimes even some sliced egg or cheese. Should be triple decker and held together with a cocktail stick and served with chips. If they get it right, you know your stay will be good.

Shout out again to this Boden swimming costume. I have been recommending it since 2017 and it’s still one of the best for holding you in around all the right places while also giving decent arse coverage.

MIDI SKIRT SANDWICH

Here’s one where you’re basically using your accessories to make the sandwich. The black sunglasses, bag and sandals also tie in nicely with one of the colours in the shirt, and the voluminousness (is that a word?) of the skirt is balanced out well with the sleek, simple shoes and the cropped shirt. I think this is my favourite look. I’m trying to get back into wearing skirts, as they have been lacking recently.

BLACK TROUSER SANDWICH

Here’s another one to balance out proportions using the ‘shirt over a vest’ trick. If you’ve got two very loose items of clothing – the flowy sheer shirt and the wide-leg linen trousers – add something fitted between them as your ‘filling’. Then the light-coloured shirt and sandals become your ‘bread’.

BROWN BREAD SANDWICH

It might be too warm for a suede jacket right now, although at the time of writing, I’m wearing a big jumper and looking out at weather that I can only describe as autumnal. But mark my words: tan suede jackets are going to be a ‘thing’ when summer is over. If Gucci showed them in their latest catwalk show, then you know the high street is going to have a version for every price point come September. For now you can use your tan belt and sandals but, come winter, you can use your brown boots to pull this look together.

BONUS COLOUR TONE SANDWICH

Here’s an example of how you can use colour tones as your bread, as we’ve got the pink jacket and the red trainers that complement the denim shorts. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, these Mango shorts are the business. They aren’t as short as they look on the website (the model is 5’11, so unless you also have acres of leg, they won’t look like that on you). I sized up one size to get a looser fit. If you buy one pair of shorts this summer, make it these.

Next weekend I will attempt a packing for a summer holiday post for anyone flying off in the next few weeks.

K x

WearsMyMoney

I spent it all on clothes by the looks of things...