How to Wear a Denim Jacket (Ultimate Guide for Women)

Denim jacket is a staple for the fall and spring. For the fall outfits, the best ways to wear a denim jacket is to wear them with a thin underlayer from the summer such as casual dress or white jeans, and pair it with the other staples for the fall such as suede booties or tall boots to a complete fall look. For the spring outfits, the best ways to wear a denim jacket is to top them over floral dresses or a jumpsuit and pair it with either flats or strappy sandals.

Wear with Pleated Skirt

Wearing denim jacket with a pleated midi skirt can make a great outfit either in the fall or the spring.

Pleated skirts add a lot of volume to your bottom half. So, the most flattering way to wear them is to pair with pointy toe shoes to tone down that volume. You can go with pointy toe pumps or pointed toe booties. The biggest benefit of pointy toe shoes is they also elongate your legs. That is critical especially if your skirt is midi length.

I was wearing a snake skin midi pleated skirt.

Wear with Midi Skirt

I was wearing the denim jacket with a camel midi skirt.

Midi skirts are a harder length to wear, especially if you are petite like me. The reason is the length is awkward, since it hits below your knees and above your ankle, which run the risk of making your legs look cut off.

Therefore, choosing the length of the denim jacket to wear with a midi skirt is critical for this outfit. If you are short, then your best option is to go with a cropped length denim jacket, so that you can create the illusion of longer legs and shorter torso. That will counterbalance the awkward length of the midi skirts.

Another way to wear this denim outfit is to wear it in a monochromatic look.

Monochromatic outfits are one of the most flattering ways to dress a woman, regardless of her height. If you are petite, then wearing monochromatic colors are the smartest way to make you appear taller and leaner.

Monochromatic colors do not mean that you have to wear the same colors from head to toe, such as all black or all white, etc. Rather, it just means your top and bottom are from the same color scheme, but possibly different shades.

In the the fall and spring, beige, camel and brown are a great monochromatic color combination, especially a classic staple for the fall outfit. Wearing a denim jacket with a camel/beige outfit immediately adds dimension to the look and make it more interesting and effortlessly chic.

Wear with Short Skirt

Wearing a denim jacket with a short skirt is an easy outfit you can pull off from what you already have. Mini skirts are naturally one of the most flattering pieces for any girl who wants their legs to appear longer.

I was wearing a winter white mini skirt with nude pumps.

Denim jacket with a mini skirt is a cute outfit that gives the vibe of young and college girl look. If you want to have a more sophisticated look, you can play with the color of the skirt.

Choose a darker shade of neutrals for the skirt can easily give this denim jacket outfit a more mature look.

Wear with Sweater Skirt

Wearing denim jacket with a sweater skirt is a staple for the fall. Sweater skirt of any length can keep you warm in the fall, while looking chic. In the fall, your best option is to go with a longer sweater skirt such as the midi length or a maxi length.

Here are some options for sweater skirts.

If you wear a midi length sweater skirt, then it is critical that you choose a cropped length denim jacket. The reason is the midi sweater skirt are likely reaching your calf, which is a challenging length because they can make you look shorter (as mentioned earlier). In order to counterbalance that, a shorter length denim jacket will be a perfect choice.

The best sweater skirt for this denim jacket outfit is the A line skirts. A line is the most flattering skirt shape that looks good on all body type. It is also the most forgiving skirt to women of any age.

Wear with a Dress

Wearing denim jacket with a dress is the easiest outfit to transition from the Summer to the fall. Since T-shirt dresses are causal, they are the natural pal for denim jacket.

The key is to pay attention to the length of the dress and the length of the jean jacket in order to achieve the best proportion for your body.

If your dress is shorter than the knee, then you can go with either a cropped length denim jacket or a longer one that sits over your hips. If your dress is longer than your knee, which means your dress is either a midi dress or a maxi dress, then your best option is to go with a cropped length denim jacket so that your body will be divided into the ideal 1/3 and 2/3 proportion. Dividing your body by the thirds is the most pleasant to the eyes, and it is an important rule in fashion, especially if you are petite like me.

I was wearing the Banana Republic petite denim jacket, Lily Pulizer Brewster T-shirt dress and Sam Edelman suede booties.

Wear with Animal Print Pencil Skirt

A great way to wear a denim jacket is to pair it with a pencil skirt. Pencil skirt don’t have to be just for the office wear. There are plenty of pencil skirts that you can wear in casual occasions.

Pencil skirts typically fit close to the body, so they naturally have a sensual vibe because they highlight the curves of your bottom half. Wearing denim jacket with the pencil skirt can balance out the sexiness of the skirt and make it a great outfit for everyday wear.

If the pencil skirt have animal prints, adding a denim jacket will make this a great outfit for the fall, because animal prints are the staple color in the autumn.

Here’s the products I was wearing (or similar if sold out).

Depending on the color of your animal print, you can choose denim jacket of different shades. For Zebra prints, choose darker color denim jacket or a white denim jacket. For leopard or giraffe prints, choose a natural denim wash.

Wear with White Jeans and Bootie

Wearing a denim jacket with a colorful sweater and white jeans is a fun and functional out fit for the spring and fall.

If you have a closet full or neutrals such as black, grey or beige, then adding different colors, prints or patterns is a great way to elevate your style. If you want to add colors to your wardrobe, a common question you might have is how to wear the colorful piece with your other items.

The most easy way to wear your colorful tops is to pair with white denim, which is a staple for the spring and summer. If you want to transform the summer outfit to the fall, then adding a denim jacket to the sweater and white denim combination will make a great outfit for the autumn.

Since white jeans goes with any prints, patterns or bright colors, you can use this outfit to have fun with any color you like. Choose a natural wash denim jacket because it looks great with any color of your top.

The important tip to make this combination a great outfit for the fall is to complete the look with booties, especially suede booties in beige or nude color.

The reason is white denim is considered the staple of the summer. Once the leaves start to fall, wearing white after Labor day can be a bit tricky. The best way to counterbalance the summer feel of the white denim is to pair them with the fall staple, i.e. the denim jacket and the the suede booties.

I was wearing this white jeans. Here’s more options in petite sizes.

Wear with White Denim and Tall Boots

Wearing denim jacket with white jeans not only looks good with booties, but also look great in tall boots. For the same top and bottom, once you switch from booties to tall boots, you transform the look from fall to a cold weather look.

The best tall boots to pair with this denim outfit in the fall is nude color tall boots. The reason is nude is the closest shade to the white, which provides a monochromatic effect without causing too much contrast.

For the most leg elongating effect, you should go with tall boots with pointy toe. Since white denim has the expanding visual effect, wearing it with a jean jacket and pointy to boots is a great way to have the volume in check in your outfit and make you look taller and leaner.

Wear Denim Jacket with Pants

Another classic denim jacket outfit is to wear with black flare pants, and you can choose a sweater of any color you like.

Flare pants is the most universally flattering pants for women of any height and any body shape. If you want the most slimming effect, go with black flare leg pants. If you are petite, a pair of flare leg pants is a must have, regardless of the season.

When you wear a denim jacket to the flare leg pants outfit, it adds a casual feel to the look. This can be a great outfit for you to wear, especially if you want to transform a serious office look to a causal outfit for after work events.

With this outfit, you can wear a bright color sweater under the denim jacket, for an everyday casual look, or you can wear a dark neutral color top to make it a work outfit.

This is a great outfit for the fall especially when you need to add a layer in the morning and evening to cope with the temperature fluctuation.

Here is some great options of flare leg pants.

Wear with Sweater Top and Black Skirt

Wear a denim jacket with an all black outfit can make an effortlessly chic outfit regardless of the season. If you have a basic sweater top and a black skirt, they might look uninteresting, especially if they are both black. Adding a jean jacket will add an interesting hue to the all black combination, and it is also introduces a different texture to the sweater and skirt outfit which adds another dimension.

I was wearing these.

You don’t have to feel limited by the color of the black sweater top. You can go with other neutral color sweaters such as navy, grey or white.