Outfit: Boho In WeHo

Johnny Was velvet jacket, Gucci Soho bag

I’ll admit, as much as my Inner Hippie Chick loves the idea of Boho style, so many pieces in this genre end up feeling too costume-y when I try them on. But the minute I slipped on this velvet jacket, I knew I’d found my Hippie Sweet Spot.

embroidered velvet jacket, metallic mules

It’s Just Boho Enough.

Wearing: earrings | necklace (worn doubled) | jacket (similar) |
tee (similar) | jeans | bracelet | shoes | bag

I love these shoes. They’re unusual, comfortable and easy to walk in, and the subtle metallic finish gives an outfit such a nice lift.

embroidered jacket

Embroidered bomber jackets are having a Fashion Moment now, and I’ve always loved the look of them. But having tried them on many times over the decades, I’ve had to accept that they don’t look good on me. This jacket’s proportions and shape are much better, and I also think I can dress this jacket up more easily than a bomber style. (Sadly this particular style seems to have sold out in the last day or so, but here’s a similar one.)

an embroidered jacket and metallic mules zhush up jeans and a tee

These photos were taken along Melrose Place. Lots of great shopping there, including Violet Grey, a gorgeous beauty boutique. They carry a curated selection of products from both well-known and independent beauty brands. I want to go back when I have more time to “play.” Parking can be a bear in this area though, be warned!

on Melrose Place

Do you have any embroidered pieces in your wardrobe? How do you wear them?

WeHo = West Hollywood

All photos by Tannaz Photography.

Linked up: Visible Monday, iwillwearwhatilike

Embroidered Jacket Options…

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30 Comments

  1. It’s gorgeous! When I see women in bohemian outfits, I think they look so artsy and cool–Advanced Style features quite a few of them. But I don’t pull it off. As you say, it feels like a costume. Chapeau to anybody who can do it!

  2. Your blog is so fun. I love all the samples you include to your posts.
    I love kimono jackets and wear them often in the spring and summer months. I currently don’t own a thing with embroidery on it but I sure am tempted by that olive Gap jacket/duster.

  3. With an early theater background (I eventually became a writer) I have always liked pieces of clothing that are out of the ordinary. I too struggle with that fine line between fun or even elegant . . . and costume. Love the embroidered jacket. But the shoes! Am putting them in my cart this moment.

  4. Love it — and it looks lovely on you. Love the shoes with it too! I received the Johnny Was sales alert for this same jacket last month and snapped it up too. I wear mine with jeans and cowboy boots and a turtleneck. I will likely wear it with leggings next year for the holidays, but I think jeans are key to wearing velvet casually. In fact, I love wearing velvet with jeans now!

    My inner hippie chick loves embroidery. While in Puerto Rico, I purchased a lot of those beautiful embroidered tunics from a shop called Pure Soul. Living in Michigan, I only wear those tunics in the summer, usually with cropped white jeans, maybe black leggings, lots of bangle bracelets.

    I love BoHo, and am always looking for suggestions on how to wear it after age 50 — without looking too costume-ish or too retro. So much depends, of course, on individual style. Thanks for showing us how you wear Boho!

  5. I picked up a dress at & Other Stories in Bordeaux last fall — black, light wool crepe, with flowers embroidered down the sleeves in red and red blanket stitch at the yoke. Just enough for a touch of Boho, a bit folkloric, but (I like to think, at least) not too costumey.
    My daughter’s been wanting to learn some basic embroidery, so she’s got me thinking about adding some very simple stitchery on jeans. . . perhaps just chain stitch following the top curve of a pocket. . . . or a simple daisy at the hem. Just ideas, at the moment, but could be fun to do. . .

  6. Very fun and wish someone would make it in a beautiful navy —
    Parking: that is why Lyft and Uber were invented!
    My 85 y/o mother spent a 4 day weekend in LA last year, and used the above exclusively.
    No parking hassles, the drivers came right to the front door for my mother and myself.
    It was significantly cheaper than renting a car, even with tips, and much less hassle. I did not have to find parking, then go get the car after going to a museum or restaurant. No waiting at the rental car counter or figuring out how to efficiently get from place to place—no driving in an unknown area–
    Your outfit is great!

  7. I LOVE that jacket. You don’t seem to have travelled to Mexico since I’ve been reading your blog; someone I know in Oaxaca gets the most beautiful (and not overly decorated or overly folkloric) clothing down there. I know the areas near the US border can be “problematic” but if I lived in LA I’d certainly want to visit cities such as Puebla or Oaxaca…

    Here in Montréal we have carshare schemes such as CommunAuto and CarToGo, and in Paris there ia AutoLib along the same lines as Vélib for bicycle share:
    https://www.autolib.eu/en/

  8. Susan – I love the jacket! I knew immediately that it was Johnny Was. I have so many pieces from JW and I love them. You look so lovely in it and the way you styled your look! I will admit that whenever JW online has their sales with the additional % off, I am on the site and scouring it for my next piece. I invested in a cocoa velvet jacket this last holiday season and I have several other cardigans/sweater jackets that get lots of wear during the long Wisconsin winters. The JW boho tops are a lot of fun too. I do usually only buy the tops that I can launder myself and try to keep the color/pattern in the neutral range to incorporate it into my seasonal capsule wardrobe. PS – love your posts! Thank you.

  9. Susan- I’ve said it before- I love your blog! You always find that sweet spot of stylish and accessible. Thank you!

  10. You look amazing! I used to own several tops from Johnny Was years ago but just haven’t found any lately that feel like me. I know BoHo is more popular than ever with women our age but I feel overdone in most of it. I’ll have to give it another look. Perfect styling, Susan!

  11. Susan, thank you for offering up such a varied selection of embroidered jackets. I need a more tsilored jacket on my flight frame so your jacket, which is lovely on you, would overwhelm me. I’ll be checking a few of the others out as the embroidery is a nice ying to the yang of jeans and a tee.

  12. Theres a great song by Kings of Leon with the words, ‘all the way from Waco to Weho with a rabbit on her chain, drove a little slick car to tend bar with static on her brain’….well thanks to your post I now know that Weho isnt the name of a town as such, but West Hollywood!! I guess as a non-American it isnt surprising that I wouldn’t know, but still I had a ‘duhh’ moment!

  13. I think you nailed it with this jacket. Black velvet is luxe, however, when paired with jeans and a tee shirt, it’s Boho with class! P.S. LOVE those mules…such a great color and toe shape.

  14. The shoes are to die for but the jacket is a step too far for me. It’s lovely on you and it’s definitely a nice contrast to your more minimal pieces, but I don’t crave something like it.

  15. This is a good fit for you, Susan. I love kimonos and I really love Johnny Was. My weekends lately always include a boho style kimono to go out somewhere. They work for so many types of events. Love your images!

  16. I LOVE your embroidered jacket. It’s absolutely beautiful and just the right amount of Boho! I am now eyeing that Primavera lady jacket you posted that Loft is selling. It is calling to me! I’m also very much in awe of the shoes..my feet are so narrow that I would be afraid slides would literally slide off my feet. The whole look is great. The only embriodered article of clothing I own at this point is a Lilly Pulitzer tunic with some embroidery and a t-shirt in which “Je Suis Charlie” is embroidered on the front. Now I’m starting to rethink embroidery!

  17. Hi Susan. My first time commenting, although I have been following your blog for some time. You really hit it out of the ballpark with this one. The shoes, the jacket, and the fantastic photography. Absolute perfection.

  18. Love this jacket on you Susan! I have one embroidered summer tunic. It’s a soft orange with white embroidery. It falls into the voluminous category, so I don’t wear it often even though I love to look at it.

  19. In my 40s I spent a lot of time in Kashmir. (sigh) Needless to say, crewel embroidery whispers to me in ways it doesn’t to people who were introduced it by their great-aunts’ wingback chairs.

    One of my fave boho pieces is a long wool crewel embroidered tunic that I cinch with (don’t laugh) a wide leather cowgirl belt that’s 50 years old and has my name carved on the back. Somehow (and maybe only in my mind) those two pieces were made for each other. And for me.

    Sometimes I just want wear my biography. 😉

  20. I’m curious about sizing for this and other JW pieces as I’m thinking about ordering one for myself. We seem to be the same size, Susan … what size did you take?