If you’re simultaneously obsessed with the latest micro-trends and too intimidated to test them out, you’ve come to the right place. This is Ways to Wear, a monthly series where editor Eliza Huber offers a dose of outfit inspiration centered around current trends that feel intriguing yet overwhelming at the same time. Consider it your guide to actually wearing the coolest items of the moment, no matter how puzzling they might appear at first.
As someone who tests out trends for a living, it’s rare for one to stump me. I’ll wear anything once (and probably a few more times after that), whether it’s underwear as pants on the streets of New York or a whale tail. One of the only themes in fashion that’s ever truly thrown me is snakeskin. I can wear a leopard-print bikini or a cow-print coat, but something about snakeskin has always felt especially intimidating and difficult to style in any sort of nonchalant manner.
With that, when I started to notice the print gathering momentum after the spring/summer 2023 runway shows last September—it was especially prevalent in Khaite and 16Arlington’s collections for the season—I knew that it was time to crack the code and finally figure out how to wear snakeskin right. Four items, five looks, and plenty of discarded combinations later, I can, at last, say that I’m no longer intimidated by spring’s fastest-growing print. In fact, I’m more than ready to embrace it. Prepare yourself for the same conclusion by scrolling down.
I’ve come to the conclusion that a snakeskin belt is the all-time easiest way to add the print into your wardrobe in a low-key cool manner. No matter how simple your outfit is—here, I’m just wearing a drapey, black top and barrel-leg jeans—topping it off with a python-print belt will take it up a few dozen notches in five seconds or less.
I’ve always loved a leather moto jacket but never thought about opening up my collection to new prints. Now that I think about it, every last one that I’ve ever owned has been black. But for the sake of this story, I ventured out of my comfort zone and chose a snake-print alt for my latest addition, styling it with my go-to denim maxi skirt and a high-neck black tank. Surprisingly enough, this jacket’s been almost too easy to throw on, whether it’s with this look or a classic jeans-and-tee ensemble.
I love an everyday, goes-with-everything bag just as much as the next person, but sometimes, especially when your outfit’s erring on the plain side (that’s not a bad thing, it just calls for a little zhuzhing), only a statement purse will do the trick. If and when that’s the case, dare I suggest the snakeskin version of Staud’s iconic Moon bag.
There’s almost nothing I rely on more sartorially than a really good coat. As someone who’s never had the pleasure of living somewhere with perpetually good weather, I’ve long required them to not only keep me warm, but also cover up laundry-day outfits. So, when I stumbled across this floor-length faux-snakeskin coat at Nanushka’s SoHo store the other day, I knew I had to test it out. My analysis: It’s a keeper.
The snakeskin belt trick doesn’t only work with super-simple ensembles like jeans and a tank top. It’s just as effective with suiting, a maxi dress, or a chic maxi skirt. Here, I paired it with a monochrome, waistcoat suit that needed something in the middle to break up the two pieces and it was just what the doctor ordered.
I was genuinely shocked when I saw that these $20 H&M sandals are still entirely in stock.
The shirt version of Paloma Elsesser’s sequin, snakeskin dress from the spring/summer 2023 16Arlington show.
If you’re board of all the same-old wedding-guest dresses you’ve worn again and again, perhaps give this more exciting option a try.
I can always count on JW Pei to create a gorgeous, expensive-looking bag for under $100.
More plissé please!
Simply perfect.
Slip dresses are spectacular no matter what they’re printed with, but this one is especially enticing.
To be worn for nights out and relaxed days alike.
An easy pair of ballet flats will never wrong you.
Norma Kamali’s dresses are blowing up on Instagram right now, and for good reason.
If gray isn’t your color, this hot-pink snakeskin belt is a great alt.
Consider me obsessed in every possible way. Shop the matching Cancun Snake-Print Bikini Briefs ($131).
I’ll never get over the fact that these stunning sandals are just $43. Never.
