While many companies (including those in the building where I work) allow their employees to wear jeans on Friday, at my office we cannot. We are, however, allowed to wear jeans on the workday before a holiday. Unfortunately, this does not include Arbor Day, Flag Day, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Armed Forces Day or any of the other hundred "holidays" my calendar says there are. Therefore, I get to wear jeans to work about 7 days a year.
It is urban/office legend that years ago, wearing jeans on Friday was allowed. I have heard hushed voices in the hall talk about people who "took advantage" of said relaxed dress day. Now, I'm not really sure what "took advantage" means, but based on what I have seen in the days leading up to Christmas, I've got an idea.
The rule I abide by when I'm lucky enough wear jeans to the office is: Dress as you would on any other work day, but swap out your slacks or skirt for jeans. If you wouldn't wear, oh, let's just say, a Dallas Cowboy jersey over your black slacks on Tuesday, then please don't wear it over jeans on Friday. Of course, any jeans worn at the office should be of a dark wash and nice cut (if you have not tried the "Ginger" cut by 7 for All Mankind, I highly recommend them).
As I was not allowed to wear jeans today, my ensemble allows me to tout the glorious invention that is Hollywood Fashion Tape as well as expound on the durability (and wearability) of a 4 inch heel with 1" platform.
Since "
shopping my closet" I am pulling out all sorts of things that I have not given recent consideration to. Today's kelly green, cropped, henley-style sweater is from the Victoria's Secret catalog circa 2005 (2005 is of course before all the catalogs I received went straight to the recycle bin without being opened). The color is fantastic and even though it is 100% cotton (yes, cotton) it has held up great against several years of machine washing. Plus, the little gold buttons add a bit of fancy. I paired the sweater with basic black cropped pants (from Old Navy's "wear to work collection" of all random places) and my absolutely fabulous, multi-colored snakeskin strappy heels -- more on those later.
I have a short torso -- my waist is right under by ribcage. The problem with a short torso is that the shoulders of tops fall longer on the body than intended. I have spent countless dollars having my tailor shorten straps of tank tops or take the hem up on the bottom of shirts so they don't hit too low on my hips. Tailoring aside, I mostly rely on my Hollywood Tape. This stuff is great! By pulling the sweater up a touch and taping it, I am able to avoid revealing too much (if you know what I mean...and I think you do).
Today's shoes are nothing if not attention-getters. Even the most mousy, tight-lipped secretary commented on them. One lady challenged me to run around downtown a la Anne Hathaway in "The Devil Wears Prada." I told her I was more than capable to run in heels, but the heat and humidity outside prevents me from proving it. Most people do not believe me when I tell them I am quite comfortable in my towering shoes. I have no desire to wear ballet flats or kitten heels. I am 5' 4", but thanks to my shoes I stand tall at a glorious 5' 8".
The shoes I wore today are similar to a multi-colored snakeskin peep toe I owned years ago. They were a low profile (re: no platform), peep-toe, with a "birdcage" open weave. They were shades of greens, blues and browns. I bought them on a whim and soon realized they went with almost everything. Hence, when I saw these BCBG "Angels" I just had to have them. They really do work with a variety of clothing and will turn up in numerous future blog entries.
Well, it is the end of the week. On most weekends I shop. It is not always the spend-the-entire-day-at-the-mall kind of shopping, rather my car tends to drive me to retail stores in between errands (it is, after all, a high performance vehicle). This is my first weekend of the 90 day shopping embargo. When Sunday night arrives, I anticipate having a very clean house, a book read and perhaps I will have mastered the challenge of writing haiku. Okay, maybe not the last one, but I will have to find ways to keep busy and out of stores this weekend.
It is urban/office legend that years ago, wearing jeans on Friday was allowed. I have heard hushed voices in the hall talk about people who "took advantage" of said relaxed dress day. Now, I'm not really sure what "took advantage" means, but based on what I have seen in the days leading up to Christmas, I've got an idea.
The rule I abide by when I'm lucky enough wear jeans to the office is: Dress as you would on any other work day, but swap out your slacks or skirt for jeans. If you wouldn't wear, oh, let's just say, a Dallas Cowboy jersey over your black slacks on Tuesday, then please don't wear it over jeans on Friday. Of course, any jeans worn at the office should be of a dark wash and nice cut (if you have not tried the "Ginger" cut by 7 for All Mankind, I highly recommend them).
As I was not allowed to wear jeans today, my ensemble allows me to tout the glorious invention that is Hollywood Fashion Tape as well as expound on the durability (and wearability) of a 4 inch heel with 1" platform.
Since "
shopping my closet" I am pulling out all sorts of things that I have not given recent consideration to. Today's kelly green, cropped, henley-style sweater is from the Victoria's Secret catalog circa 2005 (2005 is of course before all the catalogs I received went straight to the recycle bin without being opened). The color is fantastic and even though it is 100% cotton (yes, cotton) it has held up great against several years of machine washing. Plus, the little gold buttons add a bit of fancy. I paired the sweater with basic black cropped pants (from Old Navy's "wear to work collection" of all random places) and my absolutely fabulous, multi-colored snakeskin strappy heels -- more on those later.I have a short torso -- my waist is right under by ribcage. The problem with a short torso is that the shoulders of tops fall longer on the body than intended. I have spent countless dollars having my tailor shorten straps of tank tops or take the hem up on the bottom of shirts so they don't hit too low on my hips. Tailoring aside, I mostly rely on my Hollywood Tape. This stuff is great! By pulling the sweater up a touch and taping it, I am able to avoid revealing too much (if you know what I mean...and I think you do).
Today's shoes are nothing if not attention-getters. Even the most mousy, tight-lipped secretary commented on them. One lady challenged me to run around downtown a la Anne Hathaway in "The Devil Wears Prada." I told her I was more than capable to run in heels, but the heat and humidity outside prevents me from proving it. Most people do not believe me when I tell them I am quite comfortable in my towering shoes. I have no desire to wear ballet flats or kitten heels. I am 5' 4", but thanks to my shoes I stand tall at a glorious 5' 8".
The shoes I wore today are similar to a multi-colored snakeskin peep toe I owned years ago. They were a low profile (re: no platform), peep-toe, with a "birdcage" open weave. They were shades of greens, blues and browns. I bought them on a whim and soon realized they went with almost everything. Hence, when I saw these BCBG "Angels" I just had to have them. They really do work with a variety of clothing and will turn up in numerous future blog entries.
Well, it is the end of the week. On most weekends I shop. It is not always the spend-the-entire-day-at-the-mall kind of shopping, rather my car tends to drive me to retail stores in between errands (it is, after all, a high performance vehicle). This is my first weekend of the 90 day shopping embargo. When Sunday night arrives, I anticipate having a very clean house, a book read and perhaps I will have mastered the challenge of writing haiku. Okay, maybe not the last one, but I will have to find ways to keep busy and out of stores this weekend.
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Daniela! I have the short torso thing too...my delightful shopping trip last weekend has left me with a pile for the tailor. Loving the blog! So much fun!
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