I Asked My Maximalist Bestie To Style Me For A Week

and here's how it went.

Some of the items have been sent to me as samples, but all have been selected independently by me. BTW, this post uses affiliate links, so if you purchase something from any of my links, I might get a small commission, which is no extra cost to you. This helps keep Beccaland free!

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As many of you know, my word of the year is experiment, and I’ve been doing my best to keep that word front and center in all parts of my life. As snow continues to fall in NYC, I’ve been struggling to experiment when it comes to clothing because all I want to do right now is wear sweats. BTW, I’m not even someone who often wears sweats, so that says a lot about where I am right now.

So I decided to ask someone for help.

I asked Emily Polner | NYC Maximalist if she would style me for a week, and of course, she was so down! I trust Emily with my life, and therefore my closet. So Emily chose five different outfits for me, which I wore during the week.

I am not exactly a minimalist but not exactly a maximalist; I find myself somewhere in the middle. Emily and I's styles overlap in a lot of different places, so I couldn’t wait to see how she styled me. Emily left the accessorizing up to me; but she did curate the outfits.

Let’s get into it.

Editor's Note: Some of these quotes from Emily have been edited for clarity.

Day 1: Teddy Girl

Why Emily Chose This

“I just thought the teddy was really cute, and I really liked the color scheme going on, the pink, the brown, the black, and the light tan. Then I went with brown pants. It’s not the exact shade of brown, but I feel like it still works. This is just like a really cute, comfy, and more casual outfit.”

My Thoughts

Unfortunately, two of the five days that Emily styled me for were days when I was working from home. I almost felt like I was wasting this super cute outfit. Sadly, no one saw this cute fit other than my doormen. I would totally rewear this look one day and preferably snap some cute pictures! I feel like it would have been cute for a coffee date.

Animal motifs are something super common in my wardrobe, so I was not suprised that Emily picked out a few of them to style. If you want to learn more about my personal style ~ aesthetics ~, you can read this post:

Day 2: Print Mixing For The Minimalist

Why Emily Chose This

“I just love this sheep sweater. This is a reference to Princess Diana for those who don’t know, and I love Princess Diana and so does Becca. So that’s why she has this sweater in her closet. I’m just a huge fan of this design and also the historical significance behind it. So that’s why I gravitated towards this. I think it’s really fun to pattern mix. So I went with this striped skirt. It’s black and white, though. So it still matches the colors that are on the sweater. Like, even though it’s patterns on patterns, the colors are the same. I also picked out red tights because I’m a huge fan of wearing colored tights. And also it makes this like kind of a sandwich because we’ve got red, black, and then red again.”

Emily wrote all about her love for colorful tights here:

Where to buy maximalist-approved patterned and colored tights

My Thoughts

Emily loves her tights, but I rarely wear them and my skirts during the winter. Emily is deffo helping me get my wear out of items I typically focus on during other seasons. This outfit was chef’s kiss; it reminds me a lot of Emily. I am not someone who often mixes prints, so this is a lot for me at first, but I quickly got used to it. Typically, I would pair one print with a solid. However, looking back, I think this might have been my favorite outfit that Emily picked out for me.

My only qualm with it is that I was a bit cold. I feel like this look would be perfect for when it’s closer to 50-60 vs 20 degrees. I also happened to have a photoshoot this week, and this was the look that I chose to wear for it!

Day 3: Bow Girly 🎀

Why Emily Chose This

“This has a lot of layers to it. So we’ve got a white kind of like mock neck shirt and then this sweater layered on top of it. And I just love the bows. And then I went with the bow jean because, like bows on bows, why not? Why not just go full bow with it?”

My Thoughts

I feel like this look is the closest to my personal style with all the bows. I wear a ton of pink, and I love including bows in my looks. Emily and I have very different personal styles, but one of the places our styles overlap is when it comes to bows. Emily is always wearing the cutest bows!

Typically, I wouldn’t style these together. So, it was a little out of my comfort zone. It earned me a few compliments, and I did feel good about this. I felt busy but cute. I’m not a big print person, despite owning a few different printed items.

I had some meetings today, and one involved being outside for a decent amount of time. So I did swap out the white layer for one of my Heattech pieces that was the same color and shape.

Day 4: Dark Academia Queen

Why Emily Chose This

“ This is probably the most like plain out of all of them, but I saw that Becca had this like denim dress that’s sleeveless that’s probably meant for like summer weather, but you know what? She can get wear out of it even in the winter if she does some layering. So that’s why I put the black sweater underneath, because this is totally just a cute layered look, albeit a little simple, but totally her vibe. And then again, it’s cold, so I added some black tights (fleece-lined). She can easily accessorize this with a bunch of fun jewelry like fun rings, bracelets, and necklaces, and stuff to make it a little bit more visually interesting. I feel like we should all be getting more wear out of our summer clothes, and an easy way to do that is just to layer.”

My Thoughts

P.S. Working on this post tells me I need to clean my mirror again! Sorry about that!

Wearing this had me feeling like I should be studying in some castle and library in Scotland. I was a little worried that this sweater wouldn’t fit underneath the dress, but I was pleasantly surprised. The sweater is a bit thicker since it’s a cashmere piece, and it doesn’t always layer well.

Now, I will say that this was, in fact, my first time wearing this denim dress. I remember when I was gifted it, I couldn’t stop thinking about all the ways I could style it, but somehow it stuck around in the back of my closet, waiting to be worn! I was super comfortable and cozy in this, making it perfect for an evening event. The tights were fleece-lined, so I didn’t freeze as I walked through the cold tundras of NYC.

BTW, this helps me with 2026 style goals, which you can check out below:

Day 5: Dreaming of Vacay

Why Emily Chose This

“The last fit is so colorful and so fun. And I put this collar on because I love a big lace collar. I just love this parrot design. We’ve been having such cold weather here in New York, and this is like a tropical scene. So I don’t know, I feel like Becca needs to help us manifest the warm vibes. I paired it with this red maxi skirt. I think this is so pretty, and it matches the red on the sweater perfectly. And then again, I mean, it’s cold, so we gotta have white tights underneath. I know you’re not gonna see them though, because the skirt is maxi, but she’s gonna need them if she wants to stay warm.”

My Thoughts

This was the last look that I decided to wear. This is the look that I wore on the day before the NYC big cold front. It was a whopping 32 degrees today ( and it was balmy.) Sadly, this was my second day of the week that I spent working from home, so not a lot of people got to admire my look. Emily paired this with my beloved collar from Japan, but I did end up removing it since it obscured the details of the sweater, and I would rather see the parrot’s face.

I wore this to go out and do errands. This look did survive over 10,000 steps, but sadly, with the NYC sludge, my shoes got kind of ruined, and the bottom of this skirt is going to need a deep clean.

Out of every single look this week, I feel like this was the most Emily-coded. I do not like pairing bright colors together because I feel like I get lost in these kinds of colors, or look kind of like Snow White (who is my least favorite Disney princess). I felt okay in this, but I preferred some of the other looks during this week.

Reflection

I do wish we waited until it was a bit warmer to do this, since NYC has been so brutal this week, and I was dealing with some other not-so-fun things.

However; This was a great challenge to get me out of my comfort zone. So if you’re bored with your wardrobe, this is a great idea to get you out of your style rut. Chances are, one of your friends or maybe even your partner would be down to style you for at least a day.

I learned that mixing prints does not have to be super scary, so I want to try to do it a bit more. I still feel more comfortable mixing more minimalist elements with maximalist items. However, this was a great way to dip my toes into maximalism.

This certainly made me want to wear my skirts and tights more. Fleece-lined tights can and will save you. I am more of a pants person, so this was very different for me. It’s funny because one of my goals during my 75 Hard Style Challenge last year:

BTW, if you do have INDYX, you can actually style me! Use code “Bglasserbaker” to receive $10 at sign-up.

Would you let someone style you for a week? Let me know in the comments below!