Category Archives: Work appropriate

A belated ode to my mother

Pattern Mixing in Orange

Closeup

Gingham shirt – Gap
Orange Bustier – Black Salt
Skirt – Asos
Belt – J Crew
Shoes – Envy via Amazon
Pearls – purchased 4 years ago in Hawaii

I was blessed and cursed with a mother who is naturally chic. When I was a teenager, I used to give her a terrible time about her propensity for wearing all black because none of my friends’ moms wore all black all the time. She’s the sort of woman who always looks like she’s headed somewhere important, whether or not she is. Now that I’m in my 30s, I can appreciate that she formed a lot of what my style is today, even if I prefer orange to black as a neutral. Today’s outfit is an homage to my mother, with my own spin on it. Whenever I need to look my best, I always try to channel her.

This is one of my favorite pictures of the two of us. We were on vacation together, I’m wearing orange, she’s wearing black, and we sat in the same pose without realizing it until we saw the picture later. So I dedicate this post to my first and favorite fashion icon, my mother.

Mom and I

Sunshine and mint

Yellow and mint

Yellow and mint 2

Yellow and Mint 3

Shirt – Everlane
Tank – Target
Sweater – H&M
Jeans – Gap
Shoes – 80%20%
Belt – J Crew (cut down from a size L)
Necklace – Stitch Fix

This outfit was sort of lazy, as I wore this necklace all weekend, and I took pictures of a similar outfit when I was trying to take pictures of my box of clothes. Since it’s Monday, I had no particular inclination to be up and out, and it’s supposed to be incredibly warm this week, so I opted for layers. This outfit feels cute and pulled together for me, but not especially spectacular. However, it is an easy sort of uniform to throw on and I can take off layers if it gets too warm when I’m headed home.

In more awesome news, I finished my spring semester, and while I’m not feeling like I did the most amazing job ever, I finished it and didn’t give up when I was feeling frustrated and overwhelmed. I get 4 days off before the next one starts, and I have a huge project I really need to get some time for, but for this week, I’m feeling like I can get stuff done. I’ll be plus one partner at the end of the week, and that should help out immensely with my stress levels.

Next month’s goals are to survive, finish my work credit essay and get it in, and to get some summer clothes. I started making an active effort to pay attention to my clothes in August, and it shows in that all the clothes I really like are fall and winter clothes.

Borrowing fierceness

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Blazer – H&M
Catwoman shirt – H&M
Tank top – Target
Skirt – Kill City
Leggings – Black Milk
Boots – Doc Martens
Necklace – gift (apparently I wear a ridiculous amount of jewelry I got as a gift from one person)

I’ve been having a really rough week. Between finals, and feeling overwhelmed and the person I count on to make sure I eat and that the cats eat being out of town on business for another two weeks, it’s been really hard. I haven’t been sleeping well, and I’ve spent most of the week just trying not to let the panic get me. For the most part, thanks to a pretty spectacular support system, it’s working. I have no idea how I managed for years without people who pick me up for dinner or spend the evening watching Drag Race with me.

This morning I woke up feeling like I just need one more burst of energy to push through this week. To motivate myself, I thought perhaps I needed to dress the part. I have a friend, who runs Black Salt who looks effortlessly edgy every single day. The superhero/supervillain I would be aspires to that. So, in order to kick this week’s ass, I decided to channel her, and so I’m borrowing fierceness. It inspired me to drag out my tripod, so at least that’s a start. Now, if only I can find the remote for my camera.

Trying to stay chic in the heat

High waisted shorts


Shirt – Target
Cardigan – H&M
Belt – H&M
Shorts – Funktional
Shoes – Sam Edelman
Necklace – Modcloth (no longer available)

It is HOT here today, and so I decided to wear shorts. I’m not 100% sure this is totally work perfect, but I work in the arts, and I’m hoping that it looks polished enough that no one cares. I didn’t wear shorts for a good 10 years, so they still feel weird to me. Also, high waisted things are something I’m really enjoying, even if I am not always totally sure that I’m doing it right. I did go buy a ton of bright skinny belts to make my outfits more fun, so I’ll be using those way too much for the next while. Today’s picture was the first one I managed to do with my tripod, so yay for small victories! Now I just need to find some places to stand with attractive backgrounds. Also, once it cools off a bit, I am going to post about my experience with Stitch Fix (full disclosure: this referral code will give me credit if you use it). I got a ton of gorgeous stuff, and then it was too hot to actually take reasonable pictures.

Black white and red all over

High waisted black and white

Shirt – Old Navy
Skirt – Banana Republic Factory
Sweater – Gap
Belt – H&M
Shoes – Frye Regina Ballet Burnt Red
Necklace – gift

I’ve had this skirt in my closet for at least a year, but never wore it because the fit was always off. I just realized this is because it was supposed to be high-waisted and not drooping awkwardly on my hips. Problem solved! I am trying to wear more t-shirts, but I really need to find some that aren’t sheer, which drives me crazy. This outfit is the first in a long time that I’ve loved way more in pictures than in the mirror, which is a much better indicator of whether I like it or not.

Toned all the way down

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Shirt – Banana Republic Factory
Trousers – Calvin Klein
Sweater – H&M
Necklace – Macy’s (10 years or so ago)
Shoes – Envy
Bracelet – gift

As I’ve been thinking more about how fit works, I’ve been trying out different things. I actually bought these pants 2 years ago, and they didn’t fit. I didn’t realize at the time that they didn’t fit, I just thought they were 4 inches too long. The truth was that they were hanging 4 inches too low. Last month marked 3 years since I got my gallbladder out. For most of my adult life, I was terrified of food, because food was always equal to pain. It’s taken several years to work past that. As a result, I am about 20 lbs heavier than I was two years ago, which is a super healthy weight for me, and means that clothes actually look nice instead of falling off me. The result is that, for the first time in my adult life, I can fit into standard sized clothes. This is amazing, and I am really trying to embrace it, even if I think it’s ridiculous that my size is not an actual number.

The awesome thing about working on figuring out what looks good on me is that the effort I put in is causing me to get better and faster at getting dressed. Today I wanted to go back to bed, so no bright colors, and subtle everything. Also trousers! Half tucking makes me feel like it’s 1991 again, but this shirt only worked that way, and from what I understand, the 90s are back anyhow. I’m trying to embrace them and wear all the things I didn’t have the nerve to the first time around.

Black dress

Goth 2 Boss

Dress – Asos (sadly sold out, I wish I’d bought it in white too)
Tank top – Target
Cardigan – Gap
Shoes – 80%/20%
Tights – Target
Necklace – Jewelmint
Belt – Ann Taylor

At the end of this month I have a full week off school. I’m planning to go through and do some revamping of things and fix a number of things I’ve been meaning to get to. One of those things is actual discussion of fit on clothes. I’ve been incorporating a lot more black into my wardrobe lately – it’s sometimes nice to feel slightly more subtle. I bought today’s dress on Asos in a size 2, which fits my waist but doesn’t come close to buttoning up over my chest. As a result, I wasn’t wearing it, but I really love the shape, so I gave it another shot today with a tank top underneath and love it. I bought the shoes on a whim, and I find I wear them all the time to work, they seem to fill the role of something in between converse and heels. Another ongoing goal with myself is to not get stuck in the mentality that I need the cheapest possible option for clothes. I’m also hoping I can schedule time to actually post here instead of just outfit snapshots on twitter and instagram. We’ll see.

Crayola

Crayola crayons and stepping out of a comfort zone

Dress – Modcloth
Cardigan – H&M
Tank – Old Navy
Necklace – Modcloth
Tights – Target
Shoes – 80%20

While it’s no secret that I love color, I’ve been working lately on occasionally being more subtle with my use of it. Also, I have been trying to avoid the uniform trap of leggings + tunic + blazer/cardigan. As a result, there’s been a whole lot of me trying to wear dresses as a regular thing. This time last year I almost never wore dresses, so I’m excited that I managed to make them a huge part of my wardrobe. I am always amazed at how easy it is to throw a dress on and look polished. The shoes were a purchase a few weeks ago, and it turns out they perfectly fill a spot in my wardrobe where there is a need for nice black shoes, but my pointy four inch heels are too much.

As my sidenote, I am fourteen months away from being done with school, and I don’t know what I’ll do with all that extra time.

Gingham and hearts

Always wearing patterns

Gingham shirt – J Crew Factory
Hearts sweater – J Crew Factory
Denim skirt- Victoria’s Secret c. 2004
Shoes – Target
Necklace – Jewelmint

I bought these shoes for a specific outfit, which I wore once and then ended up not loving. However, the shoes ended up filling a gap I didn’t realize existed. My new goal for the next few months is to buy all the tailored shirts. I had avoided them for a number of years because I didn’t really like how they looked on me, but it turns out I just wasn’t wearing them in a way that’s flattering to me. I read a question on Metafilter this week about tucking in shirts, and I thought about how it has taken me the better part of the year to get comfortable with tucking in shirts. I assume this is because for years I thought that tucking in would make me look like my mother. This is partially correct, but as my mother is very chic, I don’t think this is such a bad thing. For today I feel fabulous and chic.

Stars and Lava

Difficult pieces

Sweater – H&M
Leggings – Black Milk
Skirt – Modcloth
Belt – H&M
Necklace – gift
Boots – Aldo

I bought this skirt from Modcloth on clearance and on a whim. I figured that at $17 I could find a way to make it work. It’s been 3 weeks, and I finally decided to take on the challenge (mostly because I needed to distract my thoughts away from dressing around a sweater I haven’t received yet). The cutouts on the skirt are fantastic, but it’s completely unwearable without an under layer. I’ve been incorporating more black into my wardrobe, which has been as much of a challenge for me as I feel incorporating color is for other people. I have a backlog of outfits I’ll post this weekend, but for today, I’m giddy that I managed to make this one work.