French Classics

I saw this book, by French model Inès de la Fressange, on the blog A Lovely Being, and images from RDuJour. It's already available in a French version, and an American version will arrive in April. Unfortunately, neither seems to have the clean cover style of the image above, which is upsetting because the cover alone makes me want to buy it. I read style books like this as a guilty pleasure, but unfortunately it is a pleasure that always lets me down. It's all very nice to think of dressing like an ever-classy Parisienne, or like Kate Spade or the people from What Not to Wear, but I don't, and I don't want to.
I guess the premise of the book is that it shows the French classics worn by mother and daughter, who is 17-year-old Nine D'Urso. Perhaps it shows that there is no age limit on being a sexy and sophisticated rich Parisienne? Please excuse my bitter tone.
It's not that I don't think this style is beautiful (except the yellow text boxes, which remind me of my old Spanish textbook). In fact, I think a variation on the classic French style might be a perfect solution for my need for a work uniform.
Maybe not the mini or the cargo, of course, but the stripes, simple shapes and colors, some nice jackets and good expensive-looking fabrics could elevate more a more casual style to be work-appropriate. No?
As soon as it's spring, I am going to wear white jeans to work. Is that ok? I have them, I love them, they love me... but I'm too much of southerner to not get heart palpitations trying to wear them in the winter. Also the slush would destroy them, and that would be sad.

I'm Too Sexy for my ... Job

Mosey suggested heels and form-fitting clothes, and an attempt at wearing make-up, as a way to look more adult and professional at work. I agree, for the most part. But, my work environment has a few strange requirements. I work with people, (not paper or computers) some of whom come from cultures more conservative than mine, so I feel a need to dress with careful modesty. I have actually been hit on by homeless people waiting to get into a clinic in the building, when I've worn more form-fitting clothing, which made me extremely uncomfortable. (This picture is actually a great example of my kind of failure of biz cas clothing-- technically it's a business-like skirt and a button-down, right? but the shirt is too thin and her hair is all "I just got out of bed" and when you're that tall all skirts look short on you, and it just comes off all wrong.)

I also do a lot of walking around including, some days, being outside and on public transit a lot. Often it is impractical for me to, say, wear boots for my commute and then change into heels, as I'll be running outside a couple times a day. So was wearing the life out of my black winter boots, but it came back to haunt me and they got soaked this morning and I was miserable. So I have a pair of flats I leave in my desk drawer that I can wear when I'm in the office.

And to make matters more awesome, the temperature in the building is insane-- one week we brought a thermometer and one office was 90 degrees. We were dying even with the windows open to the winter winds, and we asked for it to get fixed. Now it is chilly inside, sweater-weather chilly.

Soooo, I have found a few biz-cas outfits that really work for me. Corduroy, black, or khaki pants + striped button-down is one of them. Add a cardigan for chill, roll up the sleeves for the sauna rooms, and button up modestly. I dug a knit blazer out of the bottom of a stack of sweaters and it worked really well on Friday, over a nice-ish drapey top I got at Unique.

And sometimes, yeah, I try to wear makeup. But I don't really have that down, as my makeup routine is much more geared towards going out. At night I wear black eyeliner and mascara (I started wearing makeup on a semi-regular basis in Egypt, actually, where super dramatic eyeliner is The Thing), and sometimes some red lipstick to look retro. I own chapstick, a couple eyeshadows (gold and tan), a reddish lipgloss I recently stole from my cousin, and sparkly "golden sand" eyeliner. I also own concealer, which I do use pretty regularly, and bronzer and blush which I inherited from roommates and never never use. None of this seems particularly appropriate. So I've been going to Sephora after work and thinking about what I could buy that would be more versatile.

picture credits: via This is Glamorous, German model Julia Stegner by Tesh via Fashion Gone Rogue.

Snow Falling & Looking Older for Work

One day a couple weeks ago it snowed one of those picture-perfect snows with big clumps of soft flakes. You could see crystals on your mittens and it wasn't so cold you want to cry. So I took this picture of the building across from my bus stop.

Also, today a coworker told me that I look too young to be professional. I "dress like a teenager" and look like I'm about 18. Granted, today I dressed a little young, but really? I try so hard to look professional. Usually I bore myself to tears with solid colors, dark modest straight skirts, and wool pants. Sometimes I go a little out there with a bright patterned skirt, or like today, a more fun shape, but this is a pretty casual field. My supervisor wears jeans. So anyway, I am not happy about this. I don't really know what to do to look older, that doesn't sacrifice my budget or sleep too much. Any ideas?

Work Clothes

First Day at Work

Now I'm back to work at a "professional casual" workplace. For my first day, I wore the black pants from Express (the "Editor" pants. My mom made me buy these in high school and I actually wear them all the time--they're insanely versatile, despite the fact that "Express girls" was a disparaging label given to the trendy high school girls who wore stretchy black Express pants at my friend's high school in California). I also wore a saffron or marigold or something short-sleeved sweater, from the Gap via the Goodwill back in South Carolina. I thought earlier that this color wouldn't look good on me, but I've found, since becoming a redhead, that I can wear different colors. Before, tan and taupe just kindof washed me out, and I didn't really like gold or yellow (I always thought it didn't look good when your skin, hair, and clothes are all about the same color) but now I can wear them. I also was skeptical of the concept of short-sleeved sweaters-- when it's sweater weather, you want sleeves; when it's short-sleeve weather, you want something light. But now it's the perfect weather for it, as long as you bring a cardigan, which I did. My nicest cardigan is a black one from Zara via a yard sale, and I was wary of black on black (what is one is more faded than the other or it just looks too black?) but I think it worked since the shirt was so bright. To finish it off, my everysingleday bronze pointy-toed flats (from Eddie Bauer, my new love, via Unique) and some gold and pearl earrings I took from my mom last time I was home. And to break a final fashion reservation, I didn't match my bag to my shoes or non-existent beld--I carried a tan (p)leather one with a kindof woven pattern that my grandma gave me.

un-glamorous work clothes

Now that I have an internship where I have to look professional, I have discovered that my usual wardrobe of (jeans + LLbean boots + plaid shirts) or (girly dresses + giant earrings) is not really "business casual." Clothes with holes (the alarming majority) are also out. Which is too bad, because I get lots of compliments on my shabby wardrobe. Therefore I am looking for a nice blazer, some kind of business shoes, and a nice leather bag. Let's begin:
from Les Anti-Modernes. I'm not even going to see where she bought it because I am quite sure I cannot buy it. But it is a "boyfriend blazer" which I don't understand. What does this "boyfriend" label mean? On jeans, it seems to mean: straight, kinda baggy, so ok, I understand that, but on a skinny blazer? I guess it just means "cut straight" not "could be your boyfriend's," unless your boyfriend is really skinny and quite stylish.
Another "boyfriend blazer"! This one is from JCrew, who has lots of nice expensive jackets. Unfortunately, that is the only nice thing about JCrew, who has been disappointing me A LOT lately with their stupid ruffles on everything and ridiculous styling. They used to be pretty, classic clothing but I think they have let the Michelle Obama endorsement get to their heads. I am not even anti-ruffle, I am just anti-Jcrew: ridiculous pricing for clothes made in third world countries, the absurd "we hand-sewed on these sequined flowers onto artisanal tweed from the finest mill in Portugal" prose in the catalog, the unattractive too-many-frilly-accessories styling, half-tucked in shirts, neon ankle socks, and so on and on and on. Rant over.
Ok, next I need some shoes. They have to be warm & look classy, preferably kinda retro. These are from etsy & are about $25 and more or less my size but I won't get them, because that is $25 + shipping for shoes I can't try on. Really I want the shoes that belong to my Policy teacher who I love & who is always super stylish & whose hairdo I try to copy when I go to work (only she has dark curly hair which is the opposite of mine) & who I want to be when I grow up. The other young women at the agency I "work" at also have great brogue-like shoes but they are short and so are used to wearing heels more. That's my problem with shoes-- a two inch heel makes me six feet tall.
Ok, losing steam! This is a boring shopping list anyway, but I need a nice leather bag. Zeb went to Unique (our favorite cheapo thrift store) on Monday while I was in class and I told him to find me a nice leather bag but he returned empty-handed. So since that's about all the effort I'm willing to put into shopping for a bag, I'll just post this one from the first blog I referenced, even though I don't really like it, just to give you an idea of what we're talking about here.