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 grey. Show all posts
Showing posts with label grey. Show all posts
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Work Wear We Love: The Vest
We are semi-scarred from a childhood involving hand-me-down sweater vests, and recall with horror and revulsion the tux-inspired gold-threaded satin-backed vests of the early 90s (shudder). We have suddenly, however, begun to adore the waistcoat-style vest as an alternative to the blazer for workwear. We picked up a version by AB Studio on clearance a couple of weekends ago at Kohl's, which fits like a dream, with five buttons, a deep v neck and interesting collar detail.
Much like choosing a blazer, selecting a vest requires thought about your body type and what would be most flattering. Most of us will be looking for something more than one button, to create that "locked and loaded" hourglass. If you are concerned about your hip area, look for a vest that skims and covers them rather than a cropped version. If you are slim and straight-up-and-down, look for details like princess seaming, nipped-in waists, shiny, light-bouncing fabrics, and bustline emphasis in order to create additional curves:
We think vests are a particularly adorable addition to a circle-skirt and slim-fitting shell t-shirt combination, but they are equally adorable over wide-legged tweed trousers or dark-wash jeans. They really help to flatter any woman's figure as they all essentially work to create that curvy silhouette most of us are after!
Do you like waistcoats? (We love pronouncing that word-- WESKIT!!!) If you've been wearing them, what are your favorite outfit pairings?
Happy bargain-hunting and have a wonderful weekend!
Much like choosing a blazer, selecting a vest requires thought about your body type and what would be most flattering. Most of us will be looking for something more than one button, to create that "locked and loaded" hourglass. If you are concerned about your hip area, look for a vest that skims and covers them rather than a cropped version. If you are slim and straight-up-and-down, look for details like princess seaming, nipped-in waists, shiny, light-bouncing fabrics, and bustline emphasis in order to create additional curves:
We think vests are a particularly adorable addition to a circle-skirt and slim-fitting shell t-shirt combination, but they are equally adorable over wide-legged tweed trousers or dark-wash jeans. They really help to flatter any woman's figure as they all essentially work to create that curvy silhouette most of us are after!
Do you like waistcoats? (We love pronouncing that word-- WESKIT!!!) If you've been wearing them, what are your favorite outfit pairings?
Happy bargain-hunting and have a wonderful weekend!
Thursday, October 22, 2009
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:
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!)
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!)
Thursday, June 25, 2009
What We Wore Thursday: Dressing Down
We don't mean casual exactly- we were just trying to take this dress we wore to a wedding a few weeks ago and dress it down enough for the office, since it was one of the only things available in our scant at-the-man's-house-wardrobe!
So we added the jacket from the suit we wore to the interview yesterday, and our beautiful new red stacked heels (see this post if you're not familiar!)
So we added the jacket from the suit we wore to the interview yesterday, and our beautiful new red stacked heels (see this post if you're not familiar!)
Here's a fairly decent representation of the outfit in its entirety:
Outfit Thursday June 25 by ThriftyStylist featuring Miss Me shoes
The jacket is really much more grey and the dress clearly has a different print, but you get the idea. We would feel a little boring in all of these neutrals if it weren't for the fantastic shoes!
Do you ever wear something that isn't really for the office but make it work with structured layers? We have been dying to do so with our lace-overlay dress from the consignment shop trip with a cardigan or blazer, but with the nude lining we're not so sure. Thoughts?
The jacket is really much more grey and the dress clearly has a different print, but you get the idea. We would feel a little boring in all of these neutrals if it weren't for the fantastic shoes!
Do you ever wear something that isn't really for the office but make it work with structured layers? We have been dying to do so with our lace-overlay dress from the consignment shop trip with a cardigan or blazer, but with the nude lining we're not so sure. Thoughts?
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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