Go Red

As I was getting dressed Friday morning I heard the news anchor say it was the day to wear red for women's heart disease awareness. And I thought "thank you nice anchor lady for helping me with the daily morning question of what the heck am I going to wear today." I tried out my phone camera in one of the work bathrooms - not great, but a decent backup when I don't snap a pic at home.



cardigan - August Silk via Nordstrom
belt - Target
pants - Gap via Crossroads
shoes - Michael Shannon via Off Broadway

On Thursday I had gone to the dentist for a filling it turned out I didn't need (at least they caught that little factoid before they started drilling), so for my dentist-trauma I treated myself to a stop at Crossroads used clothing store. I have been needed black pants and I found a pair of like-new Gap dress pants for a mere $13.50 - score!

I feel pretty

Every once in a while I come upon an outfit that just makes me feel pretty and confident - and this is one of them. The cut of the skirt, the drape of the blouse, the length of the necklace - all combined to make me feel awesome. I love when that happens.



blouse - Macy's
necklace - QVC (this is a really long necklace that I usually wrap about 5-6 times to be fairly short, this is the first time I wore it wrapped just twice - I really like it - it has a Coco Chanel feel to me)
skirt - Esprit
tights - ??
shoes - Etienne Aigner

Comfortable vs. Flattering

Tuesday:



jewelry - Kohl's
top - Kohl's
skirt - Banana Republic Outlet
tights - ??
shoes - Nine West via Marshalls

I don’t know if it is the weather (cold, rainy) or my workload (insane, stressful), but I just want to be really, really comfortable at work. Sure, I still break out the super high heels, but when it comes to my clothes I want to be able to move and breath and not be reminded of my remaining extra weight. Enter the too big bottoms. I have a bunch of skirts and pants that are a size or two too big. As such, they aren’t that flattering, but good heavens they are comfortable. Take this skirt, it hangs low on my hips and makes me appear larger than I am, but when I add a super soft turtleneck I’m almost as comfortable as I am in my pjs.

So what’s your take on comfortable vs. flattering? Do you suffer in the name of looking thin and stylish? Or are you willing to look a bit heavier than you are, and possibly border on sloppy, in the name of comfort? What are your favorite items that combine the ability to be both comfortable and flattering

Hip to be Square

Mondays are a good day for pants, and it's always a good day for plaid. I saw my Isaac Mizrahi blouse, with its subtle square pattern, and thought it would be perfect with the pants. I remembered seeing Meg wear a scarf like this and decided it would give this outfit some punch. Sticking with my plaid/square theme, I pulled out this black and white check scarf (with tiny skiers) and I was all squared away - ha! What can I say, it's Monday, stupid jokes amuse me :)





scarf - Gap
blouse - Isaac Mizrahi for Target
pants - TJ Maxx
loafers - Nine West via Marshalls
book - law school, I felt this outfit looked very scholarly/academic so I figured a book was an appropriate accessory :)

Sunshine Day

The last few days have been full of sunshine and blue sky and I couldn't be happier. I feel my productivity increasing and my mood lifting. Too bad all next week the forecast is rain :(

I ran some errands yesterday and resisted the urge to just throw on an old college sweatshirt.



cardigan - Kohl's
tee - Wal-Mart
jeans - Old Navy
flats - Marshalls
earrings and necklace - Kohl's

On Friday, I went through several variations of this outfit, and finally settled on this. The cardigan is more teal than the picture shows, and it is incredibly comfortable. I have finally gotten rid of some of my Christmas vacation weight, and was happy to welcome this skirt back into my wardrobe.



blouse - Wal-Mart
cardigan - Kohl's
skirt - Esprit
tights - ??
shoes - Marshalls

Pattern and Texture

I had such good intentions last weekend about planning my week's outfits. Then it rained all weekend and it made me just want to cozy up on the couch, and not a single outfit got planned. Oops. Which is how I ended up wearing the exact same thing today as I did last Thursday. How very boring of me.

Yesterday I did try something new. I was inspired by Kristen’s post Monday where she did a fabulous job mixing patterns and textures. Kristen’s outfit turned out much better than mine, but this is definitely something I am going to try again. I have so many black and grey items in my closet and this is a nice idea to make outfits with more interest. So thanks for inspiring me Kristen! This weekend’s forecast includes some sun, so hopefully I will have some energy and finally, for once, actually get around to planning my week’s outfits like I always mean to.

Wednesday’s attempt at pattern and texture mixing:



The tights have an almost snakeskin pattern to them, but they were really a pain to try and capture in a picture...


Cardigan – TJ Maxx
Skirt – Banana Republic Outlet
Tights – Kohl’s
Shoes – Michael Shannon via Off Broadway
Necklace – gift
Earrings – Kohl’s

Patterns and Flower Pins

Today I tried some pattern mixing. I'm no sure if plaid with argyle is a bit much, but I'm spending my day in my office so not many people are going to see it :)



vest w/ blouse attached - Kohl's
pants - TJ Maxx
shoes - Ross

Over the weekend I found this pair of black pants hanging in the laundry room - I had forgotten all about them. They are a cotton fabric, and a bit casual for work, but I figured add some heels, and who'd notice? I combined it with one of the other looks from last week's outfit evolutions and I was good to go.



pants - Gap
shoes - Nine West via Marshalls
belt - Marshalls
cardigan - Costco
pin - H&M, gift

A couple years ago my mom bought me this magnet that attaches to your pins so you can wear them without having to stick the pin into your clothing. She picked this one up at QVC, and I adore it. It is a really strong magnet and it makes it easy to wear pins even on delicate fabrics that you wouldn't want to stick an actual pin through.