Fall Style: Blazers and pants

I may have mentioned in my Closet Purge post that I am wearing a lot of blazers and suit-like outfits these days; mostly it's due to having so many meetings these days at work, but blazers are also an easy cop-out on weekends to having to buy more fall jackets.

This is what I wore yesterday:



Pretty much everything is from Gap or Old Navy. The cobalt blazer is this one, the pants are the modern bootcuts, and the button-down is actually this military style jersey. I've decided I like this better than a stiffer cotton button-down, which tends to square my torso off in terrible ways.

But the parts of this outfit that make it interesting, IMO, are the necklace and the shoes. The necklace is what Gracie over at Fashion for Giants teasingly (and affectionately) calls the "blogger necklace", the colorful statement style that has definitely been making the rounds on many blogs. I picked two of them up as part of a Groopz deal that Kimberly from Fab Finds under $50 linked to a while back, and I've been wearing both all summer, and getting many real-life compliments on them. Even though the turquoise is a summer color, I used the inspiration from a Nordstrom display to wear it for fall too.




(Next time, I am going to try it with my trusty striped blazer.)

The other item of note are my flats. I have been thoroughly unimpressed with the shoes out for this fall; I've bought many and returned just about all of them, only keeping one pair of black studded flats so far. But these flats have been sitting in my closet for a few years now, an impulse purchase from the Ann Taylor Factory outlet, picked up for about $10. They've been mostly unworn because their style hasn't quite fit with my dress obsession or any casual looks on the weekends. But since hurting my back last week I've been wearing mostly flats with shorter-length pants, so I pulled them out and gave them a try. Good thing I didn't purge them; they look professional and cute with my new blazers look.



All in all, I thought this worked well for the season. I was actually one of the better dressed people at my meeting!



(Our new fish doormat says hello. A birthday gift from my parents to my fisherman-husband, heehee.)

Work with What You Got

Last summer this was one of my favorite dresses. Because it was a heavier knit, I was able to wear it all year long. I always get compliments when I do; it's a flattering shape.

When Target released more versions of this dress in different colors, I snapped it up. Now I have purple...



and a fabulous, unexpected green (a color I have very little of in my closet; really it's green, not teal).



What I love about this dress is that it does exactly the opposite of most of my other clothes: it doesn't hide my shape, it celebrates it.

I am a pear. I have a big rack, a flat dupa, a high waist, small shoulders, wide hips and thighs, a short torso and long legs. This dress highlights every aspect of that in a positive, flattering way. The dolman dropped shoulders puts extra fabric and width at my small shoulder, making my silhouette more balanced. The fabric on the top and bottom gathers right at the wide belt section, making my waist even more pronounced. The skirt's tulip shape emphasizes the widest part of me, my hips and thighs, making them part of the whole look all the way down instead of an extra body bit marring the sleekness of the silhouette. And the length stops right at the top of my knee, showing off all of my curvy calves (my best body part, imo).

I feel sexy, confident and kickass in this dress.

Is it any wonder I bought three of them? (Man, it comes in yellow. YELLOW!! If only it was in my size, I might have gotten that instead of the purple. Maybe.) Best $27.99 per dress I ever spent. They're only sold online, so if you buy from Target always go through eBates. Target rarely has coupon sales like other clothing stores, but at least with eBates I will get cash back.

Sometimes I forget that even though I am overweight, I don't always have to hide and misdirect attention away from my unflattering bits. Sometimes I can just say, "Yeah, this is me, and I rock."

Do you have any clothes that make you feel that way? What about them works for you?

Summer Business Uniform

Sometimes it is worth paying full price for a brand-new item. My Lands End navy striped blazer has become my go-to item this summer for any business meetings where I need to be in "business formal" in theory but I can dress it down a bit in practice (i.e., not a full suit but nice pants and a blazer).



This was yesterday for a whirlwind set of meetings at two different hospitals. It's in the high 80s and getting warmer every day, so I needed to beat the heat and still look professional and like myself. The pants are navy Gap modern bootcuts, the top is a light purple LOFT tee semi-tucked a la Angie, the necklace is a new favorite silver circle pendant from LOFT Outlet, and the sandals are my trusty nude Clarks from last year. Between the stripes and the seme-tuck, it looks on trend, but not too trendy, I think.



I just adore the detail of the chambray on the interior of the cuff. It's on the underside of the collar too, but I am not fond of the popped collar look so no one gets to see that.

It is still full-price at Lands End ($80), but they have a coupon for $20 off any $75 purchase online, and in Sears (where I bought it) they also have other sales going on. (They're not paying me to plug it, although they should. I am a walking advertisement for this jacket this summer.)









And several other outfits that I never got photos of...

Do you have a favorite item this summer that you can't stop wearing?

Where did this week go?

Is it just me, or somewhere around late Wednesday, Thursday do we enter some kind of sci-fi time tunnel and pop out on Saturday morning, rubbing our eyes and all confused about how we got here?

Ok, just me.

I always have such good intentions about the end of the week, where I think I am going to catch up on appointments I need to make, comment on all the blogs I have saved in my Firefox tabs throughout the week, maybe even make one last recipe on my list (since we're usually tired of my Sunday foods by then). But then chaos hits, usually at work, and on Friday morning I am reading Helen's and Shelley's regular Friday posts and wondering why my plans have been laid waste and I am disheveled and disorganized.

The good news is, at least I looked good on those days!



I ran out of ideas for the clothes from my sister, but I decided it was high time to pull out some winter favorites and enjoy them. I'm not going to a lot of meeting these days, so it's hard for me to be inspired enough to go for the dressier side of business casual when I am at my desk all day. So my pretty dresses and skirts are getting forgotten. Until Thursday, when I wore this.

The dress is my lovely ponte knit from Nordstrom with the lace pattern. It's fitting a little looser these days, HURRAY. I returned to my old foolproof formula for dressing and added a long cardigan; it's not quite a boyfriend style but it covers my dupa nicely. Black Target tights and my mushroom platform stretch boots from Franco Sarto finished the outfit.

It made me happy.

Also making me happy is my new office; I have added lamps all over it instead of using the fluorescent overheads, and while it still needs one more light so it doesn't feel too dark, it's so soothing and quiet it makes the stress flying out of my inbox in my computer more manageable. I am  waiting for the maintenance person to come hang all my boards and art and then I will take photos for everyone.

What made you happy this week?

Friday: Dressing up a Kickass Kohls Dress

Yes, it is yet another Kickass Kohls dress. Like the first two, this one is the Apt. 9 brand, but red alert, we have a new dress shape! This is a sleeveless number with a high neck, almost like a sheath but still with my preferred waist detail.

This is what it looks like under the jacket. I wore it buttoned and belted for work.




Friday was full of meetings so it was a dressy day, hence the power outfit and jacket. (Also, I got the dates mixed up and thought it was Erin's Stay Fabulous or Get Slapped Friday holiday. That's next Friday, whoops!)



Anyway, I added a bunch of details to dress this up, move it into spring-wear and still keep it fun: my prep-school pearls, red patent Franco Sarto heels, my power-outfit pewter mesh BR bracelet, a black patent Target belt, and nude micro-fishnet hose (the awesome Assets by Sara Blakely/Spanx brand at Target).

OMG, this was the first time my legs have seen daylight in 2010. You guys, I even, you know, shaved. ;-D Yes, I totally dared Mother Nature with this outfit, and it did backfire. It's Saturday morning now, and it's been snowing since 6am. SIGH.

The last detail I added was my fab turquoise purse (bought last year! I am so ahead of the trends, LOL!). It looks a little too matchy with the outfit, but I had on a black trench over the dress, and I had to carry two black tote laptop bags (one for my laptop and one for the projector for my presentation) so the two turquoises were pretty far apart once I was out and about.



I had planned on wearing one of the Kickass Kohls dresses today casual-style for you, but with the snow that is not happening. It's a jeans and rainboots day, for sure.

Friday: Power Dressing and Spring Infusion

It's everyone's favorite ruffled teal dress!



Even George is mesmerized by it!

Angie at YLF posed a great question on Thursday: what types of clothes make you feel powerful? She and I have a similar problem with suits; I know they are supposed to women's power garb, but they usually make me feel stifled and ordinary. I feel like a cog in a machine in a suit, and they tend to make me squirm and fuss all day.

Put me in a sheath dress, heels and a cuff bracelet, and it's a whole other story. I stand taller and prouder, I feel strong as a woman and a professional, and my confidence blooms. I'm not hiding my light under a bushel like I am in a suit; I am consciously confirming that yes I am a woman, and I am capable and unafraid.

That's what Friday's outfit was all about. I had to attend a morning meeting with someone who has been treating me outrageously rudely and condescendingly, so much so people in the meeting are looking at her with dropped jaws, and her behavior is getting talked about by everyone in her department. The last time we met, she literally *dismissed me* from the room at the end of the meeting, and I was so flabbergasted I complied. On Friday, I wanted to be prepared for her onslaught, so I put on my best power armor: sheath dress, cuff bracelet, and heels.

It worked. She treated me like something not worth wiping off her shoe, and I remained unfazed and calm. I got the points I need to make made, and I didn't kill her in the process. She tried to pretend she didn't remember my name when I arrived at the meeting, and the disbelieving guffaws and open comments to her from everyone else in the room about the impossibility of that made me guffaw quietly to myself.

Let that be a lesson to everyone: don't fuck with me when I am dressed like this.



:)

The second thing I wanted to mention about this outfit is that it made me realize I am slowly transitioning into spring. The base dresses, shoes, skirts and pants, sweaters etc, are remaining the same -- it is after all still in the 30s -- but the layers are shifting. My puffer coat has been cleaned and put away for the season already, and I rarely am using an outside scarf anymore. Tights are moving into sheer hose (I will be shopping for patterned hose now), and my turtlenecks are getting pushed aside for long-sleeved layering tees. I prefer a short-sleeved over-sweater like the one today, and my patent belts are coming out to play. We are nowhere near the point of bare arms or spring colors yet, but like the snow line slowly creeping further north in this awesome picture from NASA, spring is steadily making its way into my wardrobe.




The outfit details:


Dress: Suzi Chin by Maggie Boutique, Nordstrom Rack
Cardigan: pointelle cascading, Target
Layering tee: dark grey 3/4-sleeve scoopneck, J Crew Outlet
Necklace: black dangling beads, Kohls (?)
bracelet: pewter mesh braid, Banana Republic
hose: sheer high-waist Spanx
belt: black patent and elastic, part of a dress from Ann Taylor
shoes: Bandolino pumps, DSW