Model-Off-Duty Style Made Easy: Our Six-Step Formula

by Alison Syrett Cleary


Model-watching is one of my favorite parts of New York Fashion Week. I catch them weaving between commuters on the subway platform, makeup fresh from a show, a head taller than the rest of the crowd; they turn up, long limbs crossed, in line at my favorite Juice Press. Often I'll see one rushing down a busy street to her next big important NYFW thing (where is she going? A go-see? Backstage at Milk? A secret model hangout? Because those do exist, you know!), making ordinary lateness look like a Vogue editorial.

What's more, as if it isn't exciting enough to spot tall, leggy beautiful people around every corner, each one is always wearing something impossibly cool. Up close, it's easy to see why there are entire blogs and Pinterest pages dedicated to model-off-duty style: it's the perfect balance between slouchy and tailored; somehow it manages to be trendy and practical at the very same time (or as Karlie Kloss told me last February, it's a "balance between casual comfort and supermodel chic"). But that doesn't mean you need one-in-a-million genetics or a cosmetics contract to pull it off. In the slideshow above, I've condensed the look into six easy-to-follow steps-click through to dress like a runway regular (off the runway) now.

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