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Safari style

The quintessential safari look started about 150 years ago in colonial Kenya: crisp cotton jacket with pockets, buttons, epaulets and belt was part of the British military uniform in the tropics. In 1968 thanks to Yves Saint Laurent, the jacket found its way to runway and the safari trend became one of his recurring themes. Now this trend regularly comes back to catwalks in new ways.

You can create the most classic version of safari look quite easily:

— Classic cuts and forms: a cotton jacket or a dress with big patch pockets, a shirt dress, a front button midi skirt, tapered pants.

 — Neutral earthy colors: mostly beige, brown and khaki green

 — Fabrics: cotton, linen, leather, suede

 — Prints: as a rule none, except in accessories, like scarves and bags, where we can see geo map or postal card prints, as well as leopard, zebra, giraffe, snakeskin prints

 — Shoes: sandals with wide straps and stacked heel, lace up sandals

 — Accessories: massive bracelets from natural materials (mostly wood or leather), silk and cotton scarves, hats, large wide belts

 — Hair styles: loose low ponytail, layers, low loose bun

 — Makeup: should be moderate and well-blended with an emphasis on soft colors and neutrals. A matte finish is best. Eyes should be slightly smoky, with just a hint of color. Lips and cheeks should match the eyes in intensity.

Depending on your personal style story, you can steer your look into different directions: it can have a more military touch, or more urban and chic, more tribal and wild, or more aristocratic etc. There are countless beautiful ways to play with it! Look at the gallery below for inspiration!

Who would look best in a Safari outfit? Since this style is based on classic forms and natural colors, we should look for a woman, who has this blend in her appearance as well. Think of symmetrical bone structure and even, regular features, slightly softened, and add to it warmer skin tone or light tan. Exotic features are not excluded at all: a dark skinned woman with classic features would look particularly good. In doubt if Safari look would suit you? We can determine it during the individual consultation! Give me a shout!

A woman, who looks great in Safari style can also try Equestrian look, since both styles are born from a mixture of Classic and Natural styles. Read on my article on Equestrian style here on the blog!