Long gone are the days when crochet was for blankets that your grandmother knitted you, or for clothes that screamed born before WWII. Now, crochet can be found in short-shorts, halter tops, sweaters and more, and it’s a fun way to stay warm and be creative with layers – since crochet lets your other clothing layers show through.

My friend Sarah gifted me this white crochet sweater and my mind started racing with all the creative outfits I could make with it. My favorite outfit has been the all-black, head-to-toe blackout ensemble with this shocking white top layer. It seems super sophisticated yet casual, adult yet 80s-teen, to me.

To create this look, I tossed on the crochet sweater over a black Forever 21 camisole tucked into black Forever 21 yoga pants. Together, these two items will set you back less than $5 at Forever 21. Man, I love mixing and matching basics!

These black wedge ankle booties are from Payless. For a seamless look, make sure you add black socks and tuck in the yoga pants to your boots. For a DGAF/80s look, you can pull the yoga pants up higher and show a flash of ankle. It’s not”floods, it’s hip…or so I tell myself.

I wanted the shocking black and white contrast to be the focus of the outfit, so I kept jewelry to a minimum. I wore my everyday silver Tiffany’s double-band ring on my right hand. On my left hand, I added this super-funky cat ring from Meowingtons. This ring is so fun. It has a cat with emerald-green sphinx eyes wrapped around your finger in a ring. I love wearing it with otherwise simple outfits so I can make a bold statement.

How do you wear crochet and make it still look 2016? Let me know in the comments!