Fashiontribes.com Fashion Blog - Style, Beauty, Luxury Lifestyle & Shopping: Chic up Your Weekend Casual with Cozy Knits, Fab Flats & Ace Accessories

Compared to cocktails, a date or the even the red carpet - where all you have to do is think huge: hair, heels & jewels - pulling off casual chic can feel like it requires an advanced degree in fashion. Too casual just looks sloppy, and no one wants to hang with anyone who wears heels to a BBQ (or, while we're at it, poolside) or mega makeup & blowouts at the beach.

The trick to off-duty style is to spice up the key ingredients: yes, forgo heels, but instead of a tennis shoe, opt for a cute ballet flat in a racy animal print. (If activities like hiking & being country-fabulous are on the menu, try something from Cole Haan's G-series or Nike Air: the fashionista-approved exterior cleverly conceals comfy sneaker technology & the fact that the fabrics are annoyingly practical.) Up the sex appeal of a classic jeans & clean white tee combo by a) making sure the fit of the jeans is picture perfect (the test: do you feel sexy & fabulous in them?), b) the tee is feminine & flattering, and c) choose toned-down but high quality jewelry such as an oversized man's watch, solitaire diamond necklace, & matching hoop earring. And since this is the season of the knit, give the barn jacket a miss this year & snuggle up in a cozy, chunky sweater coat - for once you'll be as warm as you are cute.

The key ingredients in a fall casual chic look: