If You Want To Be More Adventurous With Your Style, Alani Figueroa Has Some Tips

Take a minute to think about your fashion sense. If you choose three words to describe it, what would they be? Maybe playful, or perhaps minimal? How about quirky? Alani Figueroa throws out bold, colorful, and creative while on the phone with TZR — no hesitation or second-guessing. According to her loyal 431K Instagram followers, the New York native knows a thing or two about incorporating these three characteristics all in one outfit (just look at her latest partnership with X by Glenmorangie for proof). While she admits her personal aesthetic is still evolving, it’s clear that her penchant for unconventional styling is what makes her one of social media’s breakout fashion influencers.

Growing up in the Big Apple gave Figueroa exposure to plenty of out-of-the-ordinary fashion and beauty looks. “Walking around New York [as a child], I would see women with these long nails, huge accessories, and different colored hair,” she says. And Figueroa herself has been pushing style norms since the day she stepped onto the school playground. She was required to follow a dress code — but, she would find ways to work around it. “I had to wear navy blue or khaki pants, and a white or navy blue polo,” she explains. “So I would wear a colorful spaghetti strap on top of my polo because ... I was still wearing the polo.” Or, Figueroa would roll up her pants to reveal a colorful pair of socks. “It was ridiculous,” she laughs.

The influencer grew up dancing and planned on moving to Los Angeles after high school to pursue a career as a professional dancer. “But, at the same time, I decided to work at Kith,” she explains. While she worked at the fashion-forward retail store, she was surrounded by streetwear and sneakers. She began tapping into this streetwear side of fashion by posting styling images on her Instagram, where she quickly amassed a huge following. Now, some of her photos garner over 50K likes.

Below, Figueroa breaks down more about her personal style and offers tips for pulling off looks that are equally eye-catching. Make sure you follow her account @wuzg00d on the app for plenty more cool ensembles to come.

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The“No Rules” Theory

“I don’t have any rules, [and] I think that’s the point of bold styling — there are no rules,” Figueroa says about her fashion philosophy. In fact, she believes dressing, in general, is about trying new and unexpected things. “People are usually like you’re not supposed to mix patterns. But, the fun part about bold styling is breaking those rules.” The only so-called “rule” the influencer stands by is to not follow the rules at all. Take her suggestion to heart this fall and don’t be afraid to try out fresh outfit ideas. Thinking about teaming a striped sweater with leopard print pants? Go for it! Or, perhaps mixing together bright contrasting colors? There’s no outfit too bold.

Figueroa’s How-To Tips

Though Figueroa doesn’t follow any rules, she does have some wise words of advice for those eager to be more adventurous with their fashion choices. Her first tip: Don’t be afraid to go outside the box. “When people are shopping, they’ll sometimes gravitate towards a piece, and then they’re like ‘oh no, I’m not going to buy it because I don’t have anything to match it,’” she notes. “It’s that mentality that keeps you in the same comfort zone and not branching out. And I think every time you come across those [items] where you're thinking “that’s kind of out of my style [realm] or I don’t have anything to match it,” just buy them and build on those risk-taking pieces.” Eventually, Figueroa ensures you’ll accumulate more funky items, and you’ll have lots to play around with.

Her second suggestion: Look for what you might not typically wear. “Find that one pop of color or something you wouldn't normally buy, whether it's through a hat or a bright colored shoe or jewelry,” she recommends. “Just adding that one statement piece to your usual outfit is a good way to start being more adventurous.” After a while, the style guru says you’ll start to feel more comfortable with wearing bold items.

Anatomy Of An Outfit

So how does Figueroa pick what to throw together? Here’s her take: “The reason I love [this outfit] so much is that it's a complete clash of different patterns and colors,” she explains. “I would describe it as a pretty unconventional way to put the pieces together because the top is this rainbow-colored mesh long sleeve and then I have squiggly pants that are brown and black.” Usually, when it comes to styling a colorful top like this one, the New Yorker would couple it with a bright-colored bottom and bright shoes. “But, I decided to clash it with darker colors because it looked really cool together with squiggles and the patterns on the top — it worked really well.” Start with a singular bold item, and style it based on emotion rather than logic — if you’re excited about the styles and wear them with confidence, you can pull off anything.

Below, shop the picks Figueroa flocks to. You’ll be well on your way to conquering bold style.