I'll be joining the Spring Capsule Wardrobe Challenge for the first time. I had to design a capsule to work with my work schedule this week. This challenge will make an otherwise busy week a lot of fun. I already had fun just preparing for it. Here's my capsule:
10 individual items:
Black straight jeans
Dark denim pencil skirt
Grey brogue booties
Black tall boots
Black cardigan
Citrus polka dot cardigan
White tunic shirt
Graphic tunic-length dress
Citrus printed jersey top
Blue boat neck top
5 Accessories:
Black and white belt with bike buckle
Citrus+black+grey+yellow beaded necklace
Red silk scarf
Black bag
Turquoise ladybug pin
The hardest part of the planning for me was to reduce the accessories. I generally use a few basic pieces, but play with accessories to make my outfits look different every time. I had to think more interms of patterns and textures for the challenge.
Below is my current plan. Let's see if I'll have to deviate from it at all... 11-15 represent accessories. I'll stick 15 whenever I feel the need for an extra accessory.
Printed shift dresses make a big statement since two years and I see no shortage of them this year. In fact, the colors and the patterns get even bolder by the year. I love the shades of yellow, blue and purple in big geometric prints this season.They are very easy to style creating an instantly artsy look and also very practical to maintain. In my busy daily schedule, I love that they don't require ironing and could bemachine washed. They are a great addition to your wardrobe if you like wearing leggings and sandals in Spring and Summer.
Brown of the dress didn't come out well in the pictures.
I paired these pants with a black boyfriend cardigan and a nice blouse last Sunday. My two years old son looked at me and the first thing he said was "I wanna take it off!"... my husband started laughing already at this point. After a quick moment it was obvious that he meant my cardigan as he was pulling it. I asked why and his answer was "It doesn't fit!". Can you believe this guy? I explained that it was Sunday and we were home anyway, but he concluded "I don't like it!". What can I say? He is definitely my son! His reaction didn't make me take it off, but at least it made me laugh and think. Maybe it was better for the light color to come back on the top. I asked him again if he liked what I had on today and he said "It is nice, Mommy!". Needless to say, he was instantly granted apple juice after that.
We had a day full of art and antiques today! First, we visited a friend's art workshop so that I could learn a few new techniques and pick some ideas for projects to do with my son. I'm looking forward to building mobiles and marbling paper with fadeproof ink. I'll post these techniques and ideas later as we try them out at home. Then, we headed to see some antiques. If you live in San Diego, La Mesa is a great area for spending a rainy Saturday exploring beautiful antique shops, enjoying good Mexican food and lounging with live music at local cafes. Hubby and I are very excited to find a few beauties from the 50s to gift. 50s are hands down my favorite decade when creativity really boomed post war and resulted in fascinating designs. That said, I probably wouldn't have liked to live then for many reasons. Do you have a favorite era? Would you have liked to live then?
Business Casual or Smart Casual has been a part of my wardrobe since ten years when I started my current job. As a part of it, I fall back to jeans and pair them with dressier items to make them work appropriate. Since this week was astressful week which is meeting light week with a lot of writing to do and less visitors (that's what I thought!),I decided it was the perfect week to issue a challenge for myself and wear jeans everyday. I wouldn't call this such a stylish week, but functional one. I have weeks like this often when I have a deadline or two where I dress around comfort or efficiency. When I dress in jeans for work, I generally use same couple of pairs. This week I pushed myself to wear different types of jeans just to see if they pass. So the goal was not just to wear jeans, but also change the style of jeans and make it work in an academic venue. Long story short, here's what I did:
MONDAY: Bootcut jeans with a more casual wash (Mine are A-Pocket from Seven)
This is usually the type of jeans that come to the playground with me not to work. But I think it worked in this particular outfit with flats, patterns and bold colors. The rest of the pieces are moreeye-catching so it is harder to see the wash details of the jeans.
TUESDAY: Dark wash straight jeans (Mine are Seven Straight Leg Trouser Jeans)
This is the easiest choice for many reasons. The dark wash is easy to pass as work appropriate.
WEDNESDAY: Bootcut Grey Trouser Jeans (Mine are Jordache by Heidi Klum)
This is the second time I wore these jeans in a smart casual outfit in my blog. First time was two weeks ago.
THURSDAY: Light Colored Skinny Jeans (Mine are from Ann Taylor)
I think it was ok since the tunic looked like a shirt and the accssories drew the eye upwards like Monday.
FRIDAY: Wide-legged trouser jeans (Mine are from Yaso)
These jeans can almost be called as trouser jeans so I used it like any other dress pants.
An important detail about making jeans at work is to press them properly. I press my jeans like dress pants after each wash and in this way they look extra sharp when I pair them with dressier items.
So how did I do? What would you change? Do you wear jeans to work? What style is your preference when you do?
End of the "wear jeans to work" week. I'm so glad.
This was a long day with a lot of meetings, visitors and I had to give a seminar in the middle of it. I was able to save my most trouser like jeans for today so I think it worked out.
This jacket and shoes are from completely different places and times, but they have the same fabric. I don't know if it is considered matchy-matchy. I just like wearing them this way. Since the rest of it was neutral, I felt like I could add two bordeaux accessories.
Also I was able to use both a necklace and a scarf for two days now. This is something I've never done before and I like it. The trick is to tie the scarf a little lower. Do you have other tricks to share on wearing necklaces with scarfs?
I'm not so proud of this outfit, but a challenge is a challenge. The pictures are taken after a long day, so apologies for the wrinkles. How about you? Do you wear light colored or white pants to work?
This is the first time I wore skinny jeans to work other than an occasional black pair. I don't think I would like to do it again. Especially not these jeans. The color is too light for me.
Angie at YouLookFab asked a question on the YLF forum about red bags the other day. Everyone seemed to agree that a red bag is a must have. I love red bags and I have accumulated a few in my collection over the years. However, I don't wear them often enough. This got me thinking... I think the reason is I'm in love with another color! When it comes to bags, yellow takes the front seat for me. Different shades of yellow add different effects to an outfit just like red. Dare I say that yellow is a neutral? I think it is most of the time, at least for my closet. I find the color yellow more versatile than white and more cheerful than red, my other two favorite colors for a bag. So it's yellow for me!
Today was the third day of my "a pair of jeans a day" challenge week. The challenge worked for me so far except the fact that I forgot my student was presenting at a TV studio today and I would be in related photos for the news. Not a big disaster thanks to the cropped blazer. All in all, I'm getting bored of wearing jeans. Two more days to go! I can't wait to wear something different over the weekend.
For todays outfit, I used the grey jeans that I wore two weeks ago with a light brown Absolu blazer. The jacket has a beautiful floral texture which helps to break the neutral colors along with the stripes in the knit top. I still felt the need for colors and visual interest so I added the orange earrings, yellow snakeskin bag and the brogue flats from Urban Outfitters.
Too many different styles together? It worked for me. This blog is making me notice that I use pattern mixing more than I thought I was. How many patterns do you mix at a time?
Not that I need a new watch, but I love this edgy design!
I'm sure I wouldn't wear it with the jelly flats, but they were on sale and I couldn't resist the urge of putting them together here. 80's did make a comback, didn't they?
I don't smoke, so this is my non-smoking suit today. I tried to create a long sleek tuxedo-style line in simple black and white. I added a colorful handbag to go with it.
The little rose pin in the front is my earliest purchase in life. It was gift from me to my mother on Mother's Day when I was eight years-old. I secretly saved for it and bought it at a local "bijuterii" shop on my short walk from school. My Mom liked it and wore it on a beautiful red dress couple of days later when going out with Dad. I remember being psyched to see her wear it.
The second accessory is my hand-made necklace that didn't sell in my Etsy shop so I'm wearing it myself to complete my tuxedo look.
Looking for something that looks like something? Looking for a budget item for a special purpose? Would you like to discuss something on motherhood? Legacy of Pearl is happy to open your questions like these and more to discussion here.
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