Style Notes: Graphic t-shirt outfits ft. "Frog and Toad are Friends" ringer tee

Style Notes
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Happy Spring, everyone! The next few posts will be more in the traditional fashion blogger style where I'll share a couple of outfits, though of course in typical #OOTDinDepth style, accompanied by a nontrivial caption.

I'm recovering from a concussion (thankfully mild, as mild as you can call any brain injury – I just gotta say, y'all, get a mat or flat platform thing for your tub if it's a rounder old style) so I wanted to ease back into using full screen devices with posts that I could type up in a shorter amount of time without sourcing dozens of photos. I expect I'll mostly just rotate through all my stretchy dresses this week and next, so I need to share more interesting outfits somehow! Hope you enjoy this detour from the more thesis-like posts, and let me know if there are any other items you want me to do "1 item styled N ways" posts for.

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To use blogger parlance, I am absolutely obsessed with this Frog and Toad ringer tee from Out of Print. I loved reading the Frog and Toad books back in first grade, and when I reread them last year, I think they actually hit harder as an adult. If you've just been hit by a wave of nostalgia, I really recommend giving them a reread! You'll laugh, you'll cry, and feel extremely called-out.

I'm normally hypercritical of anything new I see in Instagram ads, but when I saw one for Out of Print's Frog and Toad collection, I went and bought the t-shirt SO FAST. This is the first thing I've purchased from Out of Print, but I've generally heard them to be reputable and they've been around for a while, and there's not too much risk in fit issues for a t-shirt. (Tip: they seem to have 10-15% off sales fairly regularly, as they had one running when I purchased in mid-April and at least another one since then, so if you can wait a bit you can save a few bucks)

I went for a size medium in the unisex cut to make sure it wouldn't be too tight, since the t-shirt is the soft, thin style that I expected could get kind of lumpy looking over a bra or show sweat stains easily if it was on the tighter side. It's a very very pale yellow tee with a dark burgundy/cranberry trim at the collar and sleeves. The graphic itself has nice vibrant earth tones and is printed clearly.

Due to the type of fabric I expect this to pill quite a bit and be relegated to sleepwear faster than a stiffer tee. If possible, I go for thicker cotton t-shirts even if they're a bit stiff because they hold up better, but they didn't have any in the Frog and Toad print.

Some thoughts on the item as related to styling:

  • Thin and unstructured, good for layering under stuff and tucks in easily (no worrying about where you're going to stuff the extra 8 inches of fabric)
  • Contrast edges make it basically self-accessorizing (less of a need to add a scarf or layer in a higher contrast color to complement it if off-white isn't your complexion's best color). Similar thing to colorblocking you get on raglan tees, which I think you could style in a very similar way.
  • I always feel that ringer tees lend themselves to a casual 70s/80s vibe
  • Fairly saturated earth tones so could work with other brights
  • Whimsical! It's not a harsh or sophisticated graphic, so it'll work well in softer aesthetics vs, say, a rock band tee

Primary colors

Starting off with my favorite outfit of the bunch! Kind of an artist persona / working creative sort of vibe to me. Or maybe just "granola mom" ☮️? The top and bottom are both a bit oversized and slouchy, but there's structure from collar and trouser's pleats and cuffs. To balance out the looser main silhouette, I opted for a relatively fitted sock/shoe combo and tied back my hair. It's a fairly androgynous styling, so I added a bow scrunchie for a slight feminine accent although it didn't show up much in the photo.

I love the primary colors + green palette! The red is a pretty muted redwood/burgundy and the yellow is more of an accent, and combine with the fact that the blue comes from chambray shirt which is more of a traditionally neutral blue item like blue jeans, it feels more like an incidental/casual red/blue/yellow/green rather than hitting you on the head with it 💀.

Wearing

  • vintage Jurassic park patch chambray shirt, vintage via eBay
  • BDG "drew" poplin trousers
  • Birkenstock Arizonas (affiliate link)

Classic clogs

This is my "casual but flavor it 1970s" combo with wider pants and platform clogs. I think this would be pretty great with a sweet pair of flares too, but I don't own any at the moment. Since these jeans are full length, they can feel a bit tomboyish when paired with more unisex shoes, so I like pairing them with chunky-heeled clogs and boots to both add a girly touch and reduce the fraction of the silhouette that the pants take up (since they're both high-waisted and full length).

Wearing

Most of the time I like to go for a more feminine look, but some days I do like a simple slouchy outfit. I skipped the belt here because with the unembellished pants and crisp sneakers, it felt like too much of the visual weight was in the torso area. Added a corduroy tote with little mushrooms embroidered on it for that cottagecore 70s vibe which was fun even though the red slightly clashed with the burgundy trim.

Wearing

  • Converse Chuck Taylor 70s (affiliate link) these have slightly more support than standard chucks
  • Urban Outfitters embroidered corduroy tote

Earth tones

Earth tones all the way with forest green corduroy a-line miniskirt. The preppy/academia touch from the structured bag and derby shoes makes it feel slightly less youthful. While the yellow socks don't pop very well against my skin tone, I really liked the extra coordination they add here and in the primary colors look.

This outfit is a lie because I can't actually zip this skirt up all the way at my current size, but this post is a styling exercise and not a documentation of my worn outfits (although all of them I would wear if the weather/occasion/sizing worked!)

Wearing

  • Maeve (Anthropologie) ribbed velvet mini skirt
  • Trotters "Lizzie" derby flats (affiliate link) – these run narrow, get a size wider than you normally would
  • Vintage Coach "Willis" bag via eBay

Picnic day

I love this one because it feels the most "in-universe" of all the outfits. I can picture myself having a summer outing with Frog and Toad in this. I like the more old timey feel of relaxed fit denim shorts (plus they're breezier when it's actually hot out) and that they have almost a skirt/skort silhouette. I love pairing these with my straw hat, and recently I've discovered that I like styling my hair in braids for that to add a slightly whimsical vibe (and again, also great for when it's actually hot).

Wearing

And that's all for now! I'm sure I'll come up with more variations, but I didn't want this post to get too long as I've been typing it up in 15-20 minute increments over a few days 😩. This shirt has brought me so much joy in the short time that I've had it, and I'm excited to have it in rotation, even if most of the time I end up just wearing it with jeans 🐸

I love feedback! Feel free to leave a comment below on whether you found this post interesting or helpful, even if you don’t elaborate on it 🙂

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Style Notes: Dresses with Sneakers
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A tale of two dresses: an unintentionally pants-free capsule wardrobe