5 Style Lessons Courtesy of How to Get Away with Murder’s Michaela Pratt

Here on The City, we are all about cultivating personal style, luckily, we can look to some of our favorite celebrities for a few style lessons.

I’m not quite sure what I’m going to do with my life on Thursday nights for the next two months. I’d been in a committed relationship with Shonda Rhimes, her primetime shows, and a good pour of red in a mason jar.

And now, it’s gone.

Over.

Winter break or some mess.

In its absence, I’ve taken to scouring the Internet for outfit inspiration courtesy of How to Get Away with Murder’s Micheala (Makaylah? Mikalah? Buller?) Pratt. I hope this doesn’t come off the wrong way, but she is everything sartorially that I hoped Viola would be. Whip smart and stylish to boot. My kind of girl. Aside from that whole Aiden debacle because #GWORL.

In my research, I noticed a few patterns that I would like to apply to myself, and so, here where are, with five style lessons courtesy of Ms. Pratt.

1. Be a Star in Stripes

In just about every single episode of How to Get Away with Murder, Ms. Pratt wears stripes. A striped tunic, a striped sweater, a striped dress, and it always looks good. The key is to, like Aja Naomi King’s character, decide out what works best for your figure. Perhaps, white stripes on black work best. Or maybe, like the photo above, you play with the placement of your stripes.

2. Quilted Picker Upper

I’ve seen a resurgence of quilted clothing last season. I do have one quilted top, but Michaela makes me want to add more. A quilted jacket? Over a window pane dress? How cute does she look? Remember the scene where she was wearing a dress with a quilted bust? Way to pick up an outfit, Ms. Pratt.

3. Shrug It Off

Michaela’s style could be considered preppy but she doesn’t need to throw a sweater over her shoulders to look the part. Ms. Pratt does a good job of playing up her shoulders, whether it be with her stripe placement or watercolor flowers.

4. Get Collared

In addition to playing up her shoulders, the law student emphasizes her collar in the best way with sequin trim, crystals, and in this instance, faux ribbon detailing. I love the feminine touches along her collar.

5. Fit and Flare

Recently I discovered the secret to a no fail flattering dress: fit and flare silhouette. Michaela knows too. Just about all of her dresses show of her shape, fitted through the bodice, flared through the hip into her leg. Bonus, the fellas like it, too. Promise.

Shop some of pieces Michaela wore this season below:

I’m writing this mostly for myself.

But also for you.

Life’s hard, I know, it can suck.

But sometimes, it literally takes losing something for you to remember who you are and just what you’re capable of. Not unlike Noni’s struggle in Gina Prince-Bythewood’s (the woman who gave us Love & Basketball) Beyond the Lights. Or at least that’s what I told myself when I saw the

I debated talking about this on the blog. But considering I miss when I was an actual personal style blogger, I figured it couldn’t hurt. Plus, I wanted you to know when the posts fall off, it’s because I don’t want to write anything too negative or annoyingly vague posts. There’s no way to dance around the topic and I’m hopeful that soon I can report back with good news and a cool, new exciting job.

I thought Beyond the Lights was going to be a 20somethings guide to living in New York City—you know, once you get passed the glitz of having a specific zip code. But this plotline sounds equally as inspiring. Want a chance to see Beyond the Lights for yourself? Comment below! Tell me your last what-the-f*ck-moment or that you think Nate Parker is fione.

Something–all you have to do is comment

BEYOND THE LIGHTS is the story of Noni, the music world’s latest superstar. But not all is what it seems, and the pressures of fame have Noni on the edge – until she meets Kaz Nicol, a young cop and aspiring politician who’s been assigned to her detail. Drawn to each other, Noni and Kaz fall fast and hard, despite the protests of those around them who urge them to put their career ambitions ahead of their romance. But it is ultimately Kaz’s love that gives Noni the courage to find her own voice and break free to become the artist she was meant to be. In Theaters November 14, 2014. #BeyondTheLights

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