Drape neck top + slim straight jeans (petite friendly)

My practical outfit formula lately has been slim straight jeans, pointed flats, and a top with an interesting detail or draping! Above is how I’d wear this as a simple but chic everyday outfit, and then just swap in heels and a blazer / trench coat for a business or presentation-worthy look.

Draped front mock neck sweater
2 colors, sizes xxs – xl

A versatile, elegant little sweater from Express that works great for dressing up basic jeans, and also looks tres polished tucked into trousers (especially gorgeous with a pair of cream ankle or wide leg pants). The draped neckline detail makes it look like an expensive top, and the camel color pairs easily with pretty much every neutral like black, grey, white and blue jeans. The knit material is medium weight (not thin), and the shoulders have padding to add a little structure. They are having a BOGO sweater sale now so here are their other sweaters under this deal!

High waisted black slim jeans
In regular, petite, short and long inseams

I recently did a tutorial on how to cut your jeans to the right length, but if you like a finished hem (which is ideal for smart casual office dress codes), these jeans from Express come in multiple inseams and the Short is the perfect ankle length on me! They also come in petite which is just a smidge longer.

The cut is a classic slim straight cut that’s very wearable with flats, sneakers or heels and the black color makes these versatile enough to wear at certain workplaces too. Note the size 00 Short has a bit of a waist gap on me, but this will depend on your body type as there are multiple rave reviews for these jeans without gapping mentioned. Size 00 Short measures: 13″ across the waist, 11″ rise, 24″ inseam. They also have Petite which is extremely similar, about 0.5″ longer than Short.

Block heel sock booties

Update: These are the current year’s version

I also wanted to mention these booties, as I’ve been getting a lot of questions on how to keep your ankles warm through winter with all these cropped and ankle length bottoms like these jeans! I like to look for booties with a slim ankle opening or “sock” style shafts, or you can wear dark socks with your loafers or lower shafted booties. I got these Express boots to try after reading the great reviews – the squared off toe is chic and on trend, a size 5 fit me comfortably and close around the ankles, and they do not feel like as high of a heel as they look!

Thank you to Express for partnering on this post.