A styling ‘hack’ dubbed ‘the sandwich rule’ has gone on viral on TikTok – but some have said it’s just ‘learning how to get dressed’.
The term has taken the social media platform by storm, with millions of views on videos of people showing off their colour-coordinated outfit combinations.
The sandwich rule is the idea that the top and shoes of the outfit should match in colour to make the ‘bread’, while the bottoms should be a different shade to act as the ‘filling’.
It was a term first popularised by British fashion influencer Lydia Tomlinson on Instagram back in 2022 – and has now made its way to TikTok.
Lydia describes her method in the following way: ‘If you think about a sandwich it has the bread at the top, the bread at the bottom, and something different in the middle.
A styling hack known as ‘the sandwich method’ has taken TikTok by storm – but it has not been met without confusion
‘This in turn creates a balanced effect to the sandwich. The same rules can be applied to your outfits.’
Now members of Gen Z have taken to TikTok to proclaim that the clothing rule has ‘changed their lives’ and that their outfits have ‘never looked better’.
Han, from the UK, who is known as @styledbyhan on TikTok, showed her followers how to create their own sandwich looks.
In her video, she opted for a leather jacket to match a black mini skirt, while matching cherry-red shoes to text on her T-shirt – with a red bag to match.
Han, who has almost eight million followers on TikTok, gave a demonstration of the technique, saying: ‘Step one put on any skirt or any pair of trousers. They can be in any colour you want.
‘Step two put on any top that matches the vibe of the bottoms, but it doesn’t have to be the same colour. Now put on a pair of shoes that matches the colour of the top. If the top isn’t just one colour pick out the standout colour.
‘Add a jacket that matches the bottoms. Now add a bag that matches the shoes. The next step is to add jewellery – make sure the jewellery matches the hardware on the bags.
‘And that’s it you’ve successfully sandwiched an outfit. There are so many combinations you’ll be able to create.’
Han, from the UK, gave her followers a step-by-step tutorial on how to recreate the method
But while many in the comments asked Han where she’d bought her clothes from, others were left confused about the excitement around the hack.
One commenter said it was a method they’d already been using without realising, writing: ‘pov u used the sandwich rule your whole life.’
Another added: ‘It’s literally just matching’ while a third said: ‘I am a bit confused, how were you all dressing before?’
Another doubter of the method asked: ‘People are learning how to get dressed now?’ while another added: ‘Isn’t this just called making an outfit?’
Meanwhile Sara Siddiqi also gave a demonstration on how to best use the hack
In another video, Han went for a bright sweater vest with varying tones of pink, while matching her black bag to her shoes
However other TikTokers, such as Katy Gibbs and Anouk Quirk are also big fans of the method, with Katy saying her outfits had ‘never looked better’, while Anouk said ‘Sandwich outfit method for life’.
On her Instagram account Lydia went on to explain that the key to the sandwich method is all about ‘balance’, bringing some of the colour from the shoes into the top of the outfit, for example by adding a belt.
Balance can also be achieved by thinking about the weighting of the outfit and avoiding it appearing ‘top heavy’.
For example, an oversized blazer paired with skinny jeans and ballet flats can appear ‘disproportionate’, so adding knee high boots could bring more balance to the look.
