Cover Story
How does Maxine Wylde get dressed each day?
Colour-clad, cool-girl outfitting is here to stay.
The reigning queen of dopamine dressing and local TikTok royalty, Maxine Wylde is likely a familiar name on your fashion radar. Relatable content and high-achieving outfits collide on Maxine’s grid to serve feel-good escapism on a daily basis.
The content creator and self-taught stylist has reached icon status on our social media streams, standing out from the crowd in lurid colourscapes and risktaking textural combinations. It’s hard to look at Maxine’s artform and re-embrace your ton-sur-ton or all-black Melbourne uniform. That’s the kind of emotion her clothing curation evokes.
When dressing for events, I think more is more!
Thankfully, Maxine has inspired a next generation of fashion savants to dress with confidence, personal style and rainbow-charged hues. ‘Wylde’ feels apt when it comes to describing Maxine’s flair for mood-transforming costuming, and we’re about to unveil exactly how it’s done. Today, Harrolds checks in with the headturning creative to rationalise your next foray into colour, warm-weather dressing, and the pair of heels that could unlock your alter ego.
When it comes to getting dressed each day, how do you build an outfit from scratch?
I love basing an outfit around one of two things: either picking a fun colour palette/colour scheme and working around that, or if there is a new piece in my wardrobe I want to style, I’ll base the outfit around the hero piece. For example, when styling some gorgeous Mach & Mach heels I got from Harrolds, I wanted to create an outfit that complrmented the shoes but was also super fun and very me, so I went for a cool-toned colour palette to make for a cohesive colour scheme overall.
How does this approach change when you’re event-dressing?
When dressing for events, I think more is more! Events are for celebrating and being happy, so I definitely take the dopamine dressing very seriously and wear something a bit more extravagant than I would in my day-to-day. For me, this typically looks like layered jewellery and some over the top accessories.
We spy a new pair of darling Mach & Mach heels in your shoedrobe, from Harrolds. What are your current favourite ways of styling the showstopping pair?
They are such a standout pair of heels! Honestly, you could wear them with anything and they would bring the outfit to a whole new level. I am loving styling them with cool colours and also chrome and silver elements. I love these heels for their versatility — you can pair them with a powerful suit set for some serious lady boss vibes, or with a gorgeous slip dress and you have a very chic, subtly-embellished fit.
What are some of your go-to fancy heels labels at Harrolds and why do you love them?
Oh, what don’t we love! My absolute favourites are Mach & Mach, Amina Muaddi and Manolo Blahnik, of course. We all need a Carrie Bradshaw on standby.
Your TikTok and social media career only continues to move from strength to strength. How do you sustain vibrant, fresh and relatable fashion content so that it doesn’t grow boring or repetitive?
Oh, thank you so much! So kind of you to say. I honestly think it’s because I love change and a good refresh, whether its a wardrobe clean-out, re-arranging of my apartment, buying a stack of magazines to source new inspo etc. I love finding new perspectives, new muses and new pieces to keep me inspired.
Between outfit building and content shooting, what fills your days? Where can we find you and how are you structuring any given weekday?
Content shooting definitely keeps me busy. But I recently got a gorgeous groodle puppy, and he has saved my life in terms of giving my day structure. I am one of those people who thrive in chaos and having no real plan for the day ahead, so having a puppy has definitely grounded me and forced me to be present as well as adding the structure I needed in my life. So, if I’m not creating content, I’ll be walking Murphy, heading out to get a cup of coffee (my other true love, second to shoes) trying to squeeze in a workout, or spending time with my family & friends!
Coming into spring-summer, how will your dressing style adapt? What have you seen lately in the realm of colour, fabrics or trends that appeal to your signature ‘Maxine’ aesthetic?
Well, if you follow along my daily GRWM TikToks, you’ll be well aware that I love my layers. I’ll be trying my best to strip some of those layers back and focus more on fun tops instead of trench coats and blazers. One trend that I’ve been rocking for a while is dopamine dressing, so that is definitely here to stay/ The other trends that I have surprisingly enjoyed are low-rise denim and cargo pants. Teenage me hated anything low-rise.
What’s on your Harrolds wish list right now?
I am loving anything metallic lately, so definitely this By Far bag. Paris Georgia is never not on my wishlist, and I’m a sucker for a good pants set! Also, this colour is wow!
When dressing for events, I think more is more!
You’re a Melburnian. Where are some of your cult café’s and dining destinations?
I definitely am. I love anywhere I can get good food and good coffee. Gabriel in Fitzroy is one of my all-time faves for that winning combination. My partner and I also love searching for the best pizza in Melbourne, with our go-to being Takeaway Pizza in Preston.
And how about spaces to unwind or practice some self-care?
I’m finding my self-care routine lately is simply collecting myself at the end of every day, having a nice hot shower, putting a hair mask in, doing my skincare, having a big glass of water on my bedside and getting some good sleep. It has really calmed me at the end of every day and I’m finding I’m feeling more present the next day.
