Tag: Work Style

September is always kind of a weird style month for me. I mean, I’m full-on ready for some fall style…but it’s still in the 90’s! So instead of rolling out all the sweaters and booties I do a one-two-punch of style:

1: I put all the items that will soon be too summary to wear in the front of my closet so I can get one last wear out of them before packing them away until next spring/summer.

2: I try really hard not to buy anything new. Instead, I shop my own closet and try to pair things differently. This is extra hard, because by September I’m super sick of my summery clothes… but I know that just around the bend is fall weather!

{You can see my previous Work Style posts here}

Let’s take a look at September:

Week One

My Casual Friday was my favorite look of the week – we had one day that felt kind of fall-ish, so I was able to bring out the booties that I’ve been obsessed with (but haven’t been able to wear yet). I paired them with a simple striped tanktop that I bought over the summer at the J.Crew outlets and a secondhand Madewell sweater I found on Poshmark. This outfit was exactly my fall style and I anticipate wearing it again and again once the weather drops to the 60’s – 70’s.

As for my other outfits this week, I was on the fence about the ombre dress in the bottom corner. I had thrifted it and then never really wanted to wear it, so I forced myself to try it once to see if it should be re-donated. It’s okay. I don’t love it and I don’t hate it. For now, the dress has gone into my ‘look at these in the spring and decide if I should keep or donate’ bin. Yeah, I have a bin for that. Don’t you?

Week Two

My winning outfit of this week featured my DIY studded jean jacket. I love that darn jacket and I’m currently keeping it at work for those extra chilly days in the office when I need another layer. The pretty floral dress is a Leota dress from Poshmark and those sandals are my Eileen Fisher sandals from the Nordstrom sale. They are so incredibly comfortable and I’m sad to have just packed them away for next spring/summer.

While I don’t have any outfits from this week that I really disliked, I do have a funny story about those green sandals in the bottom left corner. My boss basically never notices or comments on my clothing (except once, he told me that I looked nice when we were walking into a meeting), but commented on my green shoes 3x the day I wore them. Basically, he was like “those are some green shoes” but it was clear that he for some reason hated them. Which made me cry laughing because he is the last person I would expect to give me style advice!

Week Three

Here’s an example of getting those summer clothes in – my pretty blue and white dress! I tried to make it a little less summer by pairing it with the bright blue sweater and cranberry colored shoes. This was the week that I went to that conference in Atlantic City, so for the rest of the week I just wore easy jersey dresses that wouldn’t wrinkle and would cover my tattoos.

Also, the ‘me looking up the nose’ picture makes me giggle every time I see it.

Week Four

I was doing a search on Poshmark for peplum tops (because I have one that I love to layer with a cardigan for both work and weekends) and I came across this soft Anthropologie blazer. I sat on the listing for a week or so and finally went ahead and made an offer. I don’t wear blazers to work often for my current job, but I thought this one might be just the thing to dress up a pair of jeans for Casual Friday or pair with a solid dress for a regular workday. I like it because it isn’t stiff or restrictive at all, the sleeves are easy to roll up, and it has that cute little peplum bottom. I had a seminar to attend on this particular Friday, so I paired it with a black t-shirt, jeans and red shoes for that event. Then, I whipped off the blazer at my car and switched the flats for sneakers to continue on my way to do some thrifting. I was basically day-to-night Barbie!

Every other outfit and wardrobe item from this week had been worn dozens of times by me…. All pretty tried and true closet staples. I did stick with some more autumn-like colors since October is quickly approaching. After this week, nothing hit the donation bin… so yay!

My plan was to share this post last week, but then I got all in a tizzy about the Anthropologie Labor Day sale and pushed it to this week. As you all know, I find it helpful to take a look back at the month’s outfits to decide which ones are working and which ones need a little help.

This month we had some winners and we certainly had some losers…

{You can see my previous Work Style posts here}

Let’s take a look at August:

Week One

It was easy to pick my favorite outfit of this week, because I’m totally obsessed with my new ModCloth x Dupenny Ikebana skirt (you can find it here). I don’t typically shop at ModCloth unless I’m looking for a swimsuit, but when I received a 40% off coupon in the mail I didn’t want to waste it. I paired the skirt with a simple black wrap top from Boden (secondhand, of course) and a pair of black Rothy’s points.

The ‘runner up’ outfit this week is definitely my Casual Friday outfit in the lower right corner – I love the whole combo of thrifted top, yellow beaded necklace and sassypants shoes!

Week Two

For week two we have a winner and a loser. The winner is the comfy, yet work appropriate outfit o’ neutrals there in the center box. I kept it simple with a black slub t-shirt, moss green thrifted sweater and jeans, since I was excited to wear my new Inverse Stripe points. I love the way all the muted colors play together and it was the perfect outfit for a rainy Friday at work.

The loser outfit is that navy blue dress in the bottom right box. It looks okay with the floral sweater, but that dress was pulling on my shoulders all day long. At the end of the day I totally felt like hulking out of it and ripping the thing off my body. As it was, I didn’t actually rip it… but I did throw it directly into my donation bag. The sweater is in ‘time out’ in a box where I stuck some of my I-don’t-love-you-but-I-don’t-want-to-get-rid-of-you-yet clothes. I’ll revisit that box in a few months and make some listing/donating decisions.

Week Three

Yeah, I totally should have put one of my WORK style photos in the center, but I kind of loved my running around town outfit that week. My friend handed me down some lovely black and mesh leggings from Athleta and they are so wonderfully soft that I could live in them. I paired them with a Lucky Brand Def Leppard shirt (also soft like the wings of fairies) and a lightweight Nike hoodie. Oh, can’t forget the slip-on sneakers – my first stop was the doctor’s office, so I basically wanted to be as naked as possible when stepping on the scale!

As for the losers this week, I have two. I decided about 2 hours into the day that I hated that blue and white top in the lower left corner. It’s a size too big and too flowy in the tummy area, so I felt like I looked about 5 months pregnant. NO THANK YOU. Also, the adorable Boden skirt in the top right block looks awfully cute in that photo (and has pockets!), but in person by the end of the day I felt like it was super unflattering on me. Something about the length along with it sticking out a bit in the front on my tummy. Sigh. Anyways. When I got home I stuck it right on my Poshmark closet, so hopefully someone else will buy it and love it.

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I enjoyed taking a look back at my June outfits last month, so I’m going to keep it up for my July work outfits too. As I mentioned previously, I share my daily look on Instagram, but I find it interesting to have a look at all my July outfits in one spot. This helps me decide which ones need to go or be hemmed/tailored.

{You can see my previous Work Style posts here}

Let’s revisit July!

Week One:

Just three outfits for the first week of July, since I had off two days to celebrate Independence Day! My favorite of the three outfits is the skirt/blouse/sweater look. I like the other two dresses too, but that skirt always makes me happy when I wear it and it has fabulous pockets that fit a whole cellphone!

Week Two:

The winning look for my second week of July was absolutely my Casual Friday outfit. This top is from my July Trunk Club box and the jeans are from an upcoming Mott + Bow review. I’m in LOVE with both of the pieces – they are comfortable and professional looking and they fit and feel GREAT. I topped the look off with a pair of red camouflage Rothy points and a long necklace and this one will be revisited time and time again.

As much as I like the dress in the top left photo, I have to admit it’s not actually very flattering. It’s got more of an Eileen Fisher oversized comfort kind of look. I’m not sure it’s bad enough to retire (aka re-donate) though. What do you all think?

Week Three:

This week is my favorite outfit week of the month! Once again, the Casual Friday outfit is the winner with those fabulous Mott + Bow jeans, red shoes and a fabulous open cardigan I picked up when I was in Hawaii.

I kind of love all the dresses from this week though and I have total ‘heart eyes’ for that orange shirt + thrifted pleated skirt combo! The landscape dress from the bottom right is one of my favorites, so I was pleasantly surprised how it looks when I changed out my typical cardigan with a new (to me) wrap sweater. I can’t wait to try the sweater with some other dresses/skirts in my closet!