Lately, I am absolutely in love with the color combo of red, black and white, sometimes with a touch of grey. In the past few weeks I’ve worn variations of this combo here, here, and then again with today’s outfit. It’s such a classic.
This combo was perfect for work. It’s pretty comfortable but still professional. I know that in some work places, you can’t really get away with sandals. But it seems that, at least at the school I’m working at, almost everyone wears sandals at least some of the time. Now that it’s finally starting to get a bit chilly, though, I need to start looking for some professional closed toe flats.
And let me just mention that wearing pearls and a good silver watch automatically turn an outfit up a notch professionally.
Blouse: Great Plains (Nordstrom)
Cami: Old Navy
Bolero: Ann Taylor LOFT
Capris: Erik Stewart (thrifted)
Sandals: Clarks Rime
Purse: Morelle City Bag
Pearls: Coryell Design
Watch: Target
I’ve mentioned before that I think balance is essential to create a put together look. For this outfit, I focused on balancing drape and structure. My green blouse is about as drapey as it gets – it has a very Grecian look. To balance that out, I wore a structured waistcoat over it. I then wore dark washed boot cut jeans and some heels to finish it off.
I love how this look came together. I felt professional and comfortable all day. But here’s a question for you. Yesterday, I was trying to organize my catalog of outfits by categories of casual, dressy and work-appropriate. But this outfit doesn’t fit neatly into one category. The jeans make it not appropriate for many workplaces (though not mine, but the blouse and waistcoat make it too dressy to really be casual. How would you categorize this outfit?
Blouse: WYL (Nordstrom)
Vest: Ann Taylor LOFT
Jeans: Express Stella
Shoes: Clarks Apple Sky
Purse: Morelle Charlotte (Etsy)
Brooch (on purse): Ann Taylor LOFT
Earrings: Target
Cuff: Thrifted
Do you ever have one of those outfits that looks pretty good in pictures, but ends up being not so awesome in real life? That’s how yesterday’s outfit was for me. It involved two pieces that I had really been wanting to wear in a new way, my teal drapey blouse, and a black and white printed skirt that I hadn’t worn in awhile because it’s a bit small on me. I thought that the skirt could work because I’ve lost a few pounds since then. However, this outfit just didn’t work. I had to constantly adjust everything every time I sat down and got up again, which gets annoying really quickly. The skirt is still a bit too small, and wasn’t too flattering. And while the drapey blouse is beautiful, I just don’t think it worked well here. Oh well.
Do you ever have off days like this, where an outfit seems great in theory but turns out otherwise? I had debated not posting this outfit, but then it occurred to everyone probably has a similar experience at some point. And I think it’s good to look at what went wrong and learn from our mistakes.
So what did I learn from this outfit? For one, if something is too small for you, don’t try to force it to work. Either get rid of it, or keep it with other clothes that don’t fit now but might fit when your body is a bit different. Lesson two, listen to your instincts. As I was getting ready to head out the door, I was feeling really dissatisfied with this outfit, but I didn’t want to take the time to put together something else. If I had, I would have been a lot more comfortable yesterday.
Blouse: WYL (Nordstrom)
Skirt: Ann Taylor LOFT (thrifted)
Belt: Thrifted
Sandals: Dansko Nicolette
Purse: Morelle Oyster
Necklace: Target
Earrings: Sara Westermark
Bangles: Jill Popowich
So yesterday I had an interview. Everything I have read advised that you should wear a suit, so I got one on sale at Nordstrom. I’m not exactly crazy about wearing a suit, or about how it looks on me, but it is what it is (and the blazer really doesn’t fit as badly as this photo makes it look).
That’s what I planned to wear. However, when I got to the school, I found out that the air conditioning was being fixed. I made the decision to switch to my back-up plan because I thought it would be a bit more professional to sacrifice the blazer for the sake of not pouring down sweat. I think I still looked professional, and I actually like the second incarnation of the outfit better.
I felt a lot more comfortable in this outfit. That blouse is silk, and so amazingly soft. I kept things to a classic, black and white with a pop of color palette. I kept the jewelry simple and classic with pearls and a nice watch. I went a little fun with the shoes by going with black patent heels. Overall, I like how it turned out.
What you don’t see here is my interview tool kit, which I took along with me to prevent any problems. I threw into a tote bag: a book to read in case I got to the location too early, a lint roller, compact, tissues, stain remover, back-up heels, a back-up blouse, mints, deodorant, an umbrella etc. While I didn’t end up needing much of this, it gave me great peace of mind to know that I had it. And just to clarify, the tool kit stayed in the car during the actual interview.
The interview went pretty well. I’ll keep you updated, and you’ll be seeing some more interview looks on here soon.
Blouse: Micheal Kors
Waistcoat: Ann Taylor LOFT
Skirt: Semantics (Nordstrom)
Shoes: Clarks Apple Sky
Purse: Easy Spirit
Peals: Coryell Design
Earrings: Coryell Design
Watch: Target
Daily Outfit | Diana | 
October 22, 2009 7:00 am | 
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