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...

Work Wear- Tuesday by ThriftyStylist featuring Forever21

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

Turquoise rose/feather hair clip, Summer 2009, SweetXcessories (Etsy), $7

Earrings - similar style by me (DesireeDesigns)

Work Wear Thursday by ThriftyStylist featuring GAP tops

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!

What We Wore: Scarf Experiment

We had originally planned to wear the purple jeans, but it was just too much going on. The dark-wash trouser jeans worked out much better. The scarf was an afterthought when the sweater, tee and jeans were too boring, and instead of looping around the neck we decided to try the Kasmira-suggested approach of using a brooch to secure a scarf. We really used a hair elastic underneath, but to cover it we used our purple hair clip/brooch silk flower from Claire's ($2.99). We loved it! What do you think?

Raspberry crew-neck sweater, Victoria's Secret clearance, $12.99. Scarf, free with tee from Marshalls. Black tee underneath, $7.99 from Marshalls (also came with free, different, scarf :P)

Shoes are black boots (big surprise) from Famous Footwear (big surprise):

leather and suede boots, "Extreme" made in Brazil, under $30

Jeans are from Old Navy, The Diva cut, $30.

We felt pretty cute all day, even without any cleavage (trying to get people to take us more seriously at work?), even fighting the muffin top (sigh, can no one sell a jean that doesn't ride down in back?).

Happy experimentation!

What We Wore: Neutrals that Are NOT Black!

We have already received a staggering number of compliments on today's outfit (along with repeated questions about whether or not we have an interview!), so apparently it is a success. No pictures today, sadly, but we recreated as best we could:

Outfit 10-22-09 by ThriftyStylist featuring Miss Selfridge

Planning began with the new blue shoes, $11. We don't seem to have much in the way of skirts at the moment, so the obvious choice was the Vicky's floral circle skirt ($30). Instead of doing all black for the rest, as we normally would, we made a concerted effort to try some other neutrals! For some pattern-mixing, striped grey tights (in a 2-pack from Marshall's, $5 for both). To tie the tights in, our grey Calvin Klein suit jacket (an emergency splurge at $79.99). To pick up the white in the skirt, a v-neck tee from Vicky's ($10), which we promptly spilled coffee on (sigh- this is why we so rarely wear white). We threw a bit of turquoise into the accessories to add a bit more interest to the all-grey-and-royal (cuff bracelet, gift from mom, chandelier earrings by us, flower hair clip from Claire's clearance, $2.99).

The shoes are indeed super high, so we wore our black velvet ballet flats in on the way to work, which still looks cute but not quite as killer.

We are ready to cast off the shackles of our black-centric, patternless wardrobe and move into a new era where we don't eschew all other neutrals. Don't hold your breath to see us in brown or navy anytime soon, though :)

Happy playful outfit-building (and crazy fun Polyvore-set creating!)

What We Wore: Favorite Colors (and Too Much Black)

Our tastes haven't diverged much in the past 15 years or so... while we now love purple and teal best of all, now, at one time it was purple and green (and black, always the black. It's been ubiquitous). We owned purple and green docs and occasionally interchanged the pairs (a la Punky and her Chucks). People often looked at us as though it was possible we had lost our mind, and that was just fine by us (remember, these were the days when your socks and shirt were supposed to match, along with your shoes and bag and belt. Gag).

Since we don't buy much in the way of patterns, we usually have to base an outfit on black + one color, unless we can find two colors that really complement each other. We believe bright (kelly/spring/clover) green and bold purple are two such colors. Witness today's (reproduction of our) outfit (no time for pictures this morning!):

Outfit 10-09-09 by ThriftyStylist featuring Forever21

Of course this is merely a representation and not the "real" stuff... The real stuff:

Skirt, corduroy, tiered, with ruffles, TJMaxx, $15
Green v-neckT-shirt, Gap via Goodwill, $6
Black ruffly cardigan, H&M via Goodwill, $6
Purple tights, Claire's, $4.99
Hair clip with purple rose and peacock feather, SweetXcessories at Etsy, $7
Black Spanish leather flat pointy boots, no brand name (the footbed has a red heart on it?), $30 at Off-Broadway Shoe (down from $200+!)

Here are the actual shoes:


"Moar" shoes (for Eednic at FashionablyELate!):



They're kind of like elven cowboy boots. If that makes any sense. Anyway, we love 'em. They're so awesome.

Hope you like it! What are your favorite colors? Do you try to match things based on colors in a pattern, or are you OK with "colorblocking" hues that go well?

Happy Long Weekend (to my U.S. readers- Just plain Happy Weekend to everyone else!)!

What We Wore Tuesday: Shawls-R-Us

Just a quick daily outfit post for you!
Wish we had more info on these pieces... sorry...



Teal ribbed sweater, most likely thrifted, ~$7
Black linen ruffle-bottom long skirt, TJMaxx, under $30
Turquoise butterfly-print scarf/shawl, Marshalls, $7.99
Unseen: Black pleather faux-Fryes by Mudd, Famous Footwear, ~$20
Barely visible: Teal flower hair clip, Claire's, $2.99 on clearance
Earrings by us- vintage jet glass (gift= free) and silver filigree balls. Cheep.

Evidently we felt pretty matchy-matchy, much like Monday. Sometimes a girl just wants to rock a theme, can you blame her? We were mostly excited about using the new handbag from the Target mini-spree... Here we have a terrible, terrible photo for you, with coat and purse, in which we look like a psychotic bag lady or something (but at least you can get a better sense of the awesome ruffle situation on the skirt)...


Coat: Brocade from Target, $29.99 several seasons ago- faux fur collar removed, buttons replaced with vintage from Etsy.
Bag: Faux leather from Target, $10.98

Let us know what you think!
Happy Day :D

What We Wore Tuesday: Hibiscus and DOTS

By dots we don't mean polka, we mean those little semispheres of candy stuck to rolls of paper that we used to eat as a kid. The colors in this outfit remind us of those wretched little sweets, although we are not actually consuming any fibrous bits with it (thankfully!)

We're being AWFULLY adventurous today, venturing not only into print-land, but also wearing three (count them! 3!) colors besides neutrals today! Usually it's black and one solid. We're not sure whether the print on this Skirtology skirt is overwhelming our petite but curvy frame... we loved it at the shop (and especially loved its $8 price tag) but maybe it's a tad big? Is it making us look shorter and fatter? Hmmm... This might be one for passing on to a taller friend, even if it is quite lovely.

We do love the turquoise and hot pink, though, even if it took us a while to come around. This is a cropped sweater we found at Marshalls in the junior clearance for $8. We love the saturated color. Our man calls it our "miniature sweater" but it really does fit... we think anway! Layered underneath, a short-sleeved knit top with lace ribbon detailing at the gathered shoulders (we let the lace peek out around the cardigan for a little extra girliness). And... we kicked up the candy-liciousness (although you can't quite make it out in the photo) with those purple pumps we discussed earlier. (Turns out they're microfiber, not actually suede, but they were cheap and had never been worn and they're luscious so we're not complaining).


We think we'll definitely be trying some more outlandish color combinations in the future... Trinny and Suzannah (of the UK original What Not to Wear) say that any colors can go together as long as they're tonally matched-- i.e. have the same quantity of black in their shades. Who knew?!

For accessories, we picked up the pink in the sweater with hot pink and black chandelier earrings by us (of course)

And then echoed the print in the skirt with our David Anderson leaf bracelet again:


...as well as matched the turquoise with a beaded cuff (we absolutely adore coordination), also a gift from mom but not vintage... which we've now tried to transfer from the phone approximately ninety-seven times and have now given up. But it's quirky and fun, trust us- you can sort of see it in some of the outfit pics.

Wish list: tights in super fun colors. This outfit would have been kicked up to 11 with some hot pink, turquoise or (gasp! What have you done with Desiree?) yellow tights. The black are so blah, even with the purple shoes.

What do you think of our foray into more-adventurous-land?