The used bookstore is the best place to spend a lunch break besides Goodwill, if you ask us. So many lovely tomes at half price or less... Delicious! One of the most fun sections to browse in our local shop is Fashion. As you know if you've been reading, a major challenge of late has been the adjustment of trying to look more professional (and sadly, less young/punk/hippie/fun) in the workplace. While obviously anyone can put on a twinset and pearls or a suit and white button-down, we are seeking ways to put forth a confidence-inspiring facade while still retaining a significant amount of personality (i.e. you'll never catch us dead in a navy double-breasted skirt suit, no matter how "professional" it may be). So we were excited to find this guide, called Chic Simple Dress Smart Women: Wardrobes that Win in the New Workplace.
We've had some good scores at Goodwill since reading the book-- unfortunately no suits, but some great wool pencil skirts, blazers and blouses that are much more professional than what we usually wear. Which prompted a VP to ask if it was "for Halloween." AUGH. Here are a couple of the looks:
Of course we didn't pay any of this ridiculousness. All from Goodwill except tights and shoes (purple- Payless; black- Famous Footwear.) and striped shirt (which has more pinky purple in it- from Kohl's?)
(Oh, yeah, and we lopped off 6-8 inches of curls in favor of an angled bob that has to be flat-ironed every day or put up. Madness. But, on the other hand, it's far more polished than the long hippie chick curls we were rocking.)
The idea is classic and still feminine, more serious than sexy (this can be difficult when you have DDs, as Suzannah of what not to wear points out), while trying not to lose too much of "us". While we lament the fact that purple hair and multiple piercings just don't get taken seriously in an office, even an academic-ish office, (sigh. Miss the lip ring.), it's clear that something had to be done to up the game, because much of our wardrobe came from the juniors section at Filene's Basement or the Vicky's catalog and it's a little bit tooo sexy (or just plain tight).
This book's philosophy is to pare your wardrobe down to essentials and accent pieces instead of buying a whole bunch of crap you're not going to be able to-- or probably shouldn't-- wear.
They suggest four suits as the basis for a full wardrobe, while fully acknowledging that many of us can definitely not afford that to start. Nevertheless, thrifting is mentioned as an alternative to buying new, expensive suits. We hope that the days of "ew, someone else wore that" are gone as we move in to attempted-planet-saving mode!
Happy thrifting and reading!
Showing posts with label professional. Show all posts
Showing posts with label professional. Show all posts
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Work Wear This Week
We had a bit of Polyvore fun with recreating our work outfits this week. They say "dress for the job you want, not the job you have," and that advice has hit home recently since we have been trying for a job title change to something involving "manager." We want to cover up and look more professional than we usually have in the past, while at the same time still enjoying putting outfits and colors together...
Silk blouse, Victoria's Secret, Jan 2010, $35 (now on sale for $33.99!)
Tiered ruffly skirt, TJ Maxx, 2007(?), $15
Lace tights, unknown, about $5
Black pointy leather boots, Off Broadway, Summer 2009, $30
Black ruffly cardigan, H&M via Goodwill, $4.49
Work Wear- Wednesday by ThriftyStylist featuring Petite Collection sweaters
Teal-green featherweight sweater, H&M via Raspberry Beret, Summer 2009, $17
Plaid pleated skirt, Free People via Goodwill, December 2009 $4.99
Teal tights, Vera Wang at Kohl's, January 2010, $9 (do not recommend- not opaque, ran immediately)
Same black boots as above, $30
Grey blazer, Calvin Klein (interview emergency Spring 2009), $49.99
Pink wool straight skirt, J.G. Hook via Goodwill, November 2009, $4.99
Grey tights, drugstore or Payless (?), about $5
Magenta ribbed crewneck sweater, Victoria's Secret, Winter 2008, $14.99
Peeptoe slingbacks, Hot Kiss via Famous Footwear, summer 2008, $15
Earrings and necklace featuring vintage jet glass by me
Clearly, we still gravitate toward a matchy-matchy aesthetic, and, with very few patterns in our wardrobe, tend to colorblock one solid with lots of black if we're not matching. Not so fashion-forward, evidently... but we still really love each of these outfits! We'll keep trying to be more adventurous in our remixing and in purchasing printed garments!
How do you reconcile your personal style with needing to look professional? Any tips and tricks?
Happy outfit-planning!
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Interview Panic!
The Thrifty Stylist was blindsided by a sudden interview when we had only size 8 suits at that time to our name (jackets fit OK but we're fairly sure camel toe isn't exactly a great first impression... for THIS sort of occasion, anyway). So... we headed to Filene's Basement to see what they had to offer us. Sad. There was no longer a suit section per se, just racks of separates and a few suits under different designer labels. We despise shopping by designer (as we mentioned regarding Macy's).
We almost went home with a true monstrosity; since there were no petite pants, we were resigned to skirt suits, and there was only one even close to our size: a double-breasted, hideous-colored, VELCRO-belted travesty-- of which the skirt fit but the jacket made us look like a little girl playing dress-up in a linebacker's closet (one with no taste)...
So... we headed back to the separates rack in desperation and tried on the last Calvin Klein jacket that matched the skirt in our size... and it fit! Even though it's technically a couple of sizes too small. And it only has one button. And it was waaaay not thrifty (~$120 for jacket and skirt). But hopefully it'll last us, even if it is one of our least favorite colors.
Orchid button-down was $5 at Goodwill; it's from Chadwick's.
We can't recall where we got the shoes, but they're not very attractive so we couldn't possibly have paid more than $15 for them. They're interview shoes only.
In order to make it a little teeny bit less obvious that we're dressed for an interview while at our current job today, we hid the jacket, rolled up the sleeves of the shirt, and threw on that purple tie-dye scarf we mentioned, from Marshalls (free with a T-shirt!)
...and these fabulous peep-toes which have served us well but are obviously on their last legs:
These were another not-so-thrifty purchase at $120, from Marshall's. We would normally never, ever pay that much for shoes unless they're really high-quality boots. But, we did. They're by Rebecca Sanver (?) and they're lovely plush velvet. And that trim! Oh how we love them.
We're seeking opinions (although we're at 3-to-1 in favor so far) on whether to leave the collar out of the jacket. It's supposedly the preferred method but we kind of enjoy it inside a little more, as it doesn't scream '70s to us quite as much. Please leave comments before 3 pm EST when we head off!
What horrible lighting! The suit is most definitely grey and the shirt orchid. We're fairly sure olive and pink would instigate nausea in our interviewer.
Please opine! Your thoughts are most appreciated :)
P.S. We are heading out to get some black tights to hide the tattoo later, and wearing our hair up in as professional a french twist as we can manage since we overslept and had no time to flat iron. Le Sigh.
We almost went home with a true monstrosity; since there were no petite pants, we were resigned to skirt suits, and there was only one even close to our size: a double-breasted, hideous-colored, VELCRO-belted travesty-- of which the skirt fit but the jacket made us look like a little girl playing dress-up in a linebacker's closet (one with no taste)...
So... we headed back to the separates rack in desperation and tried on the last Calvin Klein jacket that matched the skirt in our size... and it fit! Even though it's technically a couple of sizes too small. And it only has one button. And it was waaaay not thrifty (~$120 for jacket and skirt). But hopefully it'll last us, even if it is one of our least favorite colors.
Orchid button-down was $5 at Goodwill; it's from Chadwick's.
We can't recall where we got the shoes, but they're not very attractive so we couldn't possibly have paid more than $15 for them. They're interview shoes only.
In order to make it a little teeny bit less obvious that we're dressed for an interview while at our current job today, we hid the jacket, rolled up the sleeves of the shirt, and threw on that purple tie-dye scarf we mentioned, from Marshalls (free with a T-shirt!)
...and these fabulous peep-toes which have served us well but are obviously on their last legs:
These were another not-so-thrifty purchase at $120, from Marshall's. We would normally never, ever pay that much for shoes unless they're really high-quality boots. But, we did. They're by Rebecca Sanver (?) and they're lovely plush velvet. And that trim! Oh how we love them.We're seeking opinions (although we're at 3-to-1 in favor so far) on whether to leave the collar out of the jacket. It's supposedly the preferred method but we kind of enjoy it inside a little more, as it doesn't scream '70s to us quite as much. Please leave comments before 3 pm EST when we head off!
What horrible lighting! The suit is most definitely grey and the shirt orchid. We're fairly sure olive and pink would instigate nausea in our interviewer.
Please opine! Your thoughts are most appreciated :)
P.S. We are heading out to get some black tights to hide the tattoo later, and wearing our hair up in as professional a french twist as we can manage since we overslept and had no time to flat iron. Le Sigh.
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