Bringing A Little Color To The Workplace

So after a week of wearing all black, I'm ready to feature to feature some color, and I thought I would veer back to some work looks since it had been a while since I've included office fashion on the blog.

Shoes:  Sugar (Available at Kohl's here)

Sweater:  Torrid (Available here)

For the first look, I took a summery, almost bohemian outfit - the pleated maxi and embroidered top and added a black suit jacket to give it a little more polish.  This is definitely one of those looks in which you could easily walk right out of the office, lose the blazer, and head out for a comfortable casual evening.

Skirt:  Eloquii (Available here)

Top:  Target (Available here)

I love the ease of the top left out, but tucked in, my legs look a mile long, which, given my height, never happens, so it's kind of fun!

Tote:  Target (Available here)

Earrings:  Prabal Gurung for Target

Blazer:  The Limited (Similar here)

Bracelets:  Target, Express

With today's second look, I faced the sometimes brutally cold office air conditioning with a red drapey sweater which I paired with a white dress and beige booties to help keep the overall look lighter and more summery.

Dress:  ASOS

Booties:  Target

Earrings:  New York & Company

Necklace:  Ann Taylor

Bag:  The Limited

Glasses:  Valentino

I have a tendency to only pair this dress with black and to highlight the zipper detail to create edgier looks, but the red sweater brings a softness to the dress that feels just right for the office.

Which look do you prefer?  How do you add color to your professional wardrobe?

For the skirt in other looks, see here and here.
For the top in another look, see here.
For the blazer in other looks, see here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here,  and here. 

For the dress in other looks, see here and here.

Skirt Week 2: 50s Flair

Skirt Week continues tonight with my laser cut midi skirt.

Skirt:  Eloquii (Available here)

The first time I wore this skirt I mentioned that I was thinking about hemming it to more of a true midi length.  My tailor did a fabulous job in making this skirt feel like it was made for me.

Blouse:  The Limited (Available here)

Sandals:  Payless (old)

Clutch:  The Limited

For work recently, I decided to style this skirt with a retro vibe, playing up the classic 50s shape.  I paired the skirt with a button down-top and low-heeled black sandals.  The yellow clutch adds a pop of color and a slightly more modern vibe.

Glasses:  Valentino

Earrings:  Etsy, Francesca's
Ring:  Francesca's

The lace print glasses have a bit of a cat eye shape which worked well with the retro feel of the look. The lace print on the glasses also perfectly complemented the skirt.

I really like how the shape of fuller midi skirts like this work with my shape.  This retro style definitely works well with curves.  Since my upper half is larger than my bottom half, the fuller skirt also helps balance me out. 

All that said, this is a style that I prefer to only wear on occasion.  I felt pretty in this outfit, but I generally prefer to style my pieces in a more modern way.  I plan to wear a longer crop top and booties with this skirt next for more of a modern fun and flirty style that feels more "me."

Are you a fan of full midi skirts like this style?

For the skirt in another look, see here.

For the first two looks from Skirt Week 2, see here and here.

UNCONDITIONAL BODY BEAUTIFUL - PART 3: MY JOURNEY ON MY LEGS

The ladies participating in the #UnconditionalBodyBeautiful series are back with the third part in our series towards loving our bodies unconditionally!!

Dress:  labworks from Target

Today, we're talking about our legs...our gams, stems, pins... Whatever we call them, we all probably have some kind of relationship with our legs. 


My body type tends towards an endomorph with some mesomorph tendencies, meaning that I gain weight easily, but I also tend to build muscle tone quickly, especially in my legs.  When I work out regularly, I very rapidly begin to see increased muscle definition in my legs.  In my 20s, when I worked out often, my legs were often referred to as dancer's legs or even Xena legs.  I absolutely LOVED the reference to Xena, Warrior Princess, but when I was at my thinnest, I sometimes bemoaned the fact that my muscular legs were never very slender.

Jacket:  Old Navy Petites

Heels:  Target

As I gained weight, my legs also became thicker.  The muscle tone remained, but it was now covered with a layer of fat, making my legs appear even fuller.  I hated this for quite some time and avoided shorter skirts and shorts because of cellulite or anxiety over larger thighs.

In the last year or two, as I have learned to appreciate my curves more, I have learned to love the shapeliness of my legs.  I embraced wearing shorter skirts as I did in my early 20s.  As a petite, I find shorter skirts flattering.  And as I often try to disguise my belly fluff with looser fitting dresses (you won't likely see too much of me in bodycon looks), I find the shorter hemlines help balance the overall look.

I'm still not much of a shorts gal.  Their ride-up factor has always annoyed and intimidated me, but I have definitely embraced shorter hemlines, as I did with today's look, and as I've done here with these other styles:

Tickled Pink:  Fringe Shift

 

12 Days of Holiday:  Solid Gold

Date Night In Black & White

Black for Spring:  Cutouts & Lace-Ups

I'm Thankful or...Cozy Knits & Lace

I Resolve To...Show More Leg!!

eShakti Holiday:  70s Child

I have learned to love my fuller thighs and thicker calves.  The fear of showing cellulite has decreased as I realized that women of ALL sizes can and often do have cellulite.  A little dimple here or there shouldn't limit me from feeling the breeze on my legs on a warm day!

My legs take me where I need to go.  They allow me to dance, and kick, and cycle.  I am fortunate to have legs that are fully functional, and I appreciate that more as I have gotten older. 

Clutch:  Cameo de Bore (Sold out; Other styles available here)

Necklaces:  Target and The Limited

My legs were somewhat of a gateway body part towards loving the rest of me.  Once I realized that I could love my legs and that I could show them off in short hemlines, it did not seem as intimidating to show off my arms or to start embracing other features.

A bit of advice towards self-love is to find one body part that you love and then work from there to starting accepting and loving the rest of you.  For me, it has been about showing a little more skin - showing my legs rather than hiding them, wearing tank tops that show my arms, or trying out a crop top.  Once I realized that the world didn't stop spinning because I flaunted my chubby thighs, it became easier to expose other parts of my body without as much fear of reprise.

Necklace worn as bracelet:  The Limited

The more I wore what I wanted to wear without worrying about adhering to rules about what I should wear, the more I have learned to love my legs.  As in any relationship, there are the bad days, but my relationship with my legs has become quite healthy and generally positive.  My legs are curvy, muscular, and thick.  They are short like the rest of me.  They help me do the things I love to do, like shopping or dancing.  My legs are awesome, and I love them!

Have you employed any strategies to love your body more?  I truly do think that learning to love ourselves in our completeness is a teachable skill, but it does take affirmative steps.  We have to change the negative voices to positive ones!

To catch the first two installments of #UnconditionalBodyBeautiful, see here and here.

For this dress in other looks, see here, here, and here.
For this jacket in other looks, see here, here and here.

Don't forget to check out this month's segments by the other amazing bloggers participating in the Unconditional Body Beautiful series:

Toodaloo Katie
http://www.toodalookatie.com/2015/03/unconditional-body-beautiful-part-3-my.html

Katherine Hayward, My Life With Cerebral Palsy
http://katherinehaywardmylifewithcp.blogspot.com/2015/03/my-legs.html?spref=fb

Just Me, Leah
http://www.justmeleah.co.uk/2015/03/unconditional-body-beautiful-3-legs.html

Natty Nikki
http://www.nattynikki.com/2015/03/uncondtional-body-beautiful-part-three.html


Josofab's Curvesity World
http://www.josofabscurvesity1.com/?p=63

Beca:  Under Construction
https://beckamaynewbeginnings.wordpress.com/unconditional-body-beautiful-series-3-legs/

Fall Double Feature: Mad for Plaid

I hope you've been following my series in collaboration with Irene from Petite Plus, Meow! We've had so much fun this past week discussing fall trends!

Today, Irene and I are talking PLAID!

Whether you prefer it preppy, grungy, classic, or punk, plaid is back in a big way for fall this year.

My office job often dictates my clothing purchases and outfits, but a girl likes to play too!  So today, I styled glen plaid for both work AND play!

Glen plaid is a classic, but it can definitely read conservative - more conservative than I like. 

Blazer:  The Limited (Available here)

For work, I wanted to keep the look conservative but I wanted to add in some fun and individual elements, so I decided to play around with pattern mixing by adding a floral top to a glen plaid blazer. 

Pants:  The Limited (old)

Even though this blazer has a classic silhouette and print, it's got this amazing spade print lining and faux leather elbow patches. 

The flirty crop top adds a fun touch.

Top:  Target (Similar here)
Clutch:  The Limited

I kept jewelry minimal with just earrings and a couple rings, but I made sure that each of the pieces was interesting and "me."

Earrings:  Target (Available here)

Rings:  eloquii and NY&Co. (Available here and here)

I stayed simple on bottom with black skinny pants and added burgundy heels and clutch for a pop of fall color.

Heels:  Target

While my work look is a little preppy (with just enough whimsical elements added to get me through the work day), my evening look has a somewhat edgy feel.

Top:  The Limited (Available here)

Bracelet:  The Limited (old)

For play, I layered a sheer glen plaid top over a nude bra.  I threw a faux leather moto vest over top and added cutout ankle booties.  

Necklace:  Target
Booties:  Payless

A coated tweed clutch and pewter and silver jewelry complete the look.

Clutch:  The Limited

Rings:  Torrid
Bracelet:  Ann Taylor (Available here)

I took the "play" pics over a couple different days, so there are a few subtle differences in the pics.  Remember those "Find what's different" games we did as kids?  Today's blog post has a built-in activity!!  :-D

Always feminine, Irene paired her mid-length plaid skirt with a cozy sweater and ankle booties for a ladylike look with a little sass.  I love that we are both using roughly the same color palette but creating very different looks. 

Irene of Petite Plus, Meow!

See more of Irene's look over at Petite Plus, Meow! or follow her on Facebook.

Are you mad for plaid?  How would you style this trend?

For more looks featuring these pants, see here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

Check out all the other fall looks from this collab here, here, here, here, and here.  Last installment tomorrow!