Hello I am so bored of work from home outfits, possibly because now it is my favorite season and I have nowhere to go to wear my favorite fall clothes! So this week I decided to dress as extra as I felt like being, regardless of the practical side of me that says we aren’t going anywhere and I should probably just put on some activewear. Here are 4 outfits because I am bored, bored, bored.
Continue reading “4 Work from Home Outfits because I am Over It.”The Fall 10×10 has ended and here’s a recap of what I wore…
During a 10×10, you take 10 items of clothing (including shoes) and remix them into 10 different outfits over the course of 10 days. It’s a great way to try wearing old favorites in new ways. Here were my picks again:
I ended up pretty happy with my selection, which included 2 shirts, 1 dress, 1 jacket, 1 sweater, 2 pairs of pants, 1 skirt, and 2 pairs of shoes (I don’t usually include basics so I used a couple t-shirts as layers as well). I also got a new pair of leopard loafers of Poshmark halfway through the challenge so I threw them in too, as a way to figure out how to style them (they’re old Madewell but Madewell’s current version is here). See how I styled my 10 selections below.
Wahoo! I’ve picked my 10 clothing items and am ready to mix and match them to make 10 outfits over the next 10 days. This is perfect timing for me because my summer school class starts tomorrow, and this challenge will guide me through the first 10 days of teaching. Here are my picks:
I have three t shirts, one blouse, one dress, one skirt, and one pair of jeans.
As one of my instagram friends pointed out, I am dumb, and this is only 8 items. I had a pair of sandals on my feet when I took this picture that I knew were going to be part of the challenge, but even so, I’m only at 9 items of clothing. Suddenly I have decision fatigue and am drawing a total blank on what my tenth item should be! Suggestions welcome. I think a light cardigan would be good but I don’t have one that totally “goes” and I think going out shopping for one is counterproductive to a challenge about working with what you have.
For now, I’m just working with 9 items. Here is my day 1 outfit, the wildest thing I could think to do to start the day–make a shirt into a vest.
When I put this on I was all “noooo this is awful” but you know what I photographed it and then I thought it didn’t look so silly and now I’m accepting this idea of shirt-as-vest. So, this challenge is already a success for me! I’m excited to pick an outfit for tomorrow for my first day of teaching as well. Be back then with what I decided one!
I love 10×10 challenges because they make me really reach to try to find new and creative ways to wear my stuff. If you’re interested in starting one yourself, click here.
This season marks my three year anniversary of dressing using a capsule wardrobe, and I have no idea how I got dressed before I made the change! If you don’t know what a capsule is, it’s based on the idea that too many clothing options lead to decision fatigue, and dressing with less options will maximize your wardrobe. Caroline, over at Un-Fancy, suggests 37 pieces, and the idea is that they should all focus on a similar style and color palette. Here’s a get started guide if you’re interested.
When I first got a capsule, I was in love with allll the colors (teal, seafoam, lavender, blues, red, pinks, yellows….to name a few), and I basically quit color all together, because I realized that if you buy only neutrals everything matches. Lately I’ve been missing color, though, so I am working on incorporating more color into my capsules. Here are my picks for this spring and summer:
My ideas for how to bring color back into my life are pretty apparent in this pic:
-Select only a couple of colors
-Pick colors that pair well
-Focus on adding color with accessories
-Steal Home Depot paint chips to keep myself on track (taping these up next to my closet has been helpful and reminded me of what colors I should focus on)
I’ve been enjoying this tomato red and yellow so far. Here’s a link to my pretty yellow sandals, red purse, and all the bandanas.
If you return to grad school after working an office job for a couple years you might have this conundrum: how do you style all the great business clothes you accumulated? I still have two nice suits sitting in the back of my closet, guilting me because they’re not getting enough use. So today I’m here to focus on how I dress down my dress clothes, starting with the pencil skirt.
My formula for dress clothes tends to be pairing one fancy piece with a bunch of other casual clothes. So today, I went with a chambray button up and lace up sandals. I do the same things with suit jackets (with a t-shirt plus jeans). I also like buying things that look like dress clothes but are super comfy, for example, pull on pencil skirts! (Like this one I’m wearing, and this one, which doesn’t have side slits).
Do you have any clothes that suddenly seem too fancy? If so, what are your strategies to make them work?
Starting the Style Bee/Un-Fancy Spring 10×10 style challenge on Monday. If you have lots of clothes and feel like mixing them up is difficult, you should join! Pick 10 wardrobe items and style them into 10 outfits over the next two weeks. Here’s what I’ve got: jeans, culottes, a sun dress, three shirts, two sweaters, boots, and sandals. My wardrobe is very black and white right now so I tried to pick some stuff to lighten it up.
Is this a common grad school anxiety? I think it is. If you’ve come straight out of your undergrad, you probably want to look older so that you don’t get hit on by some guy in the dining hall line who asks, “so, are you a freshman?” (#truestory). Some ideas:
-Messenger bag or tote>backpack. Some suggestions.
-Mix one business casual piece in with your casual wear (in this case, oxfords).
-Sweat pants/workout clothes are awesome and you have every right to wear them but they may increase the risk of the aforementioned junior-guy-hits-on-you scenario.
-Glasses have been shown to boost your perceived credibility.
You could also just decide you don’t care if someone mistakes you for an undergrad! But on days when you do care, the above can be helpful.
OOTD here’s what those Old Navy dress pants look like. Spending today working on the three presentations I have to give next week, & one of them is in front of the department…ahhhhh.
Sometimes actually getting dressed on the weekend helps me get things done. Things this outfit & I achieved yesterday:
-car wash
-brunch
-delivered a stack of books to my office
-bought snacks for the Super Bowl
-wood conditioned the house cutting boards
-dyed my hair
-stained the couch with hair dye 😭
-cleaned the bathroom
-made stir fry for lunches this week
But I forgot to grad school…oops.
What to wear to grad school visit weekend, part 3.
If you’re already in, you still want to look a little nice. Put a blazer on it!
PhD in Clothes 