Ladylike CosmoPrep

This is what I wore to have dinner at a friend's house with DH. I had not seen the host in the flesh in at least 5 years. Another guest I had not seen in about 7 years. it was wonderful! We forgot the time completely and I did not crawl into my own bed until 5am. This was definitely not possible while we were in graduate school (DH and I were in grad school together from 2010 to 2013).

This dress is from Old Navy. It's a drop waist dress that is truly 3 sizes too big in the hips. I  have one of those stretchy belts on so that I could raise the dropped waist to just under my belly use the extra fabric to blouse over my belt and raise the skirt from below the knee to just above my knee. I added the red scarf and tights thinking of Ornella's style. My combat boots finish off this look.

What do you think of this?

So I am learning how to take inspiration and make an outfit. This is the pin that inspired today's outfit. I don't have a cheetah print skirt (yet) so I had to use what I had to evoke the feeling of this outfit.

I am learning to let my pins inspire my outfits rather than trying copy them. At this stage even if I have all the pieces to copy I still may not be able to wear the outfit as pinned. (No sense in inviting disappointment) I am very happy with this interpretation. My hair is freshly washed so it essentially sent me the "resistance is futile" memo - I had to do what it wanted to do. I thought  my hair today was an artsy addition to the outfit.

I am wearing:

• Navy Apt. 9 knit jersey waterfall cardi tied as a wrap top
• Apt 9 cheetah print scarf
• Be band in white
• ON basic white tank
• ON cords in deep teal
• Land's End suede boots in toffee

I was scrolling though my Spring Inspiration board on pinterest and was inspired by all the pics of emerald and kelly green. I had to adapt an outfit I wore about this time last year (pic #2). The blouse no longer fits properly and we're still dealing with below normal temps and 6-8 inches of snow on the ground, so the footwear is not the most inspiring (combat boots). In pic #1 I'm wearing:

• an old navy sweater,
• LOFT straight leg jeans, and
• Liz Claiborne tote
• old navy tank (no maternity clothes today).

I like #2 better but #1 will do for now.

Last week I had a continuing education luncheon to attend. I pulled out old faithful, my favorite blue old navy cardigan. I when I want to feel great and don't know what to wear I always start with this sweater. I wore it with a skirt this time (pic #1) because pants are a little tricky for me just now and I wanted a nice smooth line. (I believe I have Natalie to thank for the skirt tip).

I have included photos of other ways I have worn this cardigan. Picture 2 has been worn so many times, but I never get tired of it!

Happy Monday and thanks for stopping by.

This is what I pulled out to wear. I loved the black and white graphic print paired with the gray. The vivid violet  sweater I think makes it all me. My appointment turned out ok seems like everyone was running behind this morning.

I am wearing:
Evan Picone graphic shell
Gray ON rockstar jeans (super stretchy!)
Timberland combat boots
Violet Sweater

Happy Tuesday!

Many of my looser tops have batwing, dolman, or kimono sleeves making jackets or sweater difficult to wear over them. As a result I hadn't really thought about what jackets will work best with what. This was a pleasant surprise.

Here I'm wearing tee with a banded bottom from Old Navy. Without the jacket the look was cute but too unstructured for my taste when I added the jacket (which was hiding in the back of my closet) the outfit worked for me. I think this is more in the mode of my old style so I'll enjoy it for as long as I can. I'm wearing:

Old Navy Maternity tee
Mossimo printed jacket
Banana Republic flocked skinny jeans
(trusty) Timberland Bethel buckle combat boots

This is what I wore on Valentine's Day for dinner. I thought green was a little unorthodox but I have been in love with emerald for the past year. The shirt is normally tunic length (not any more ;-)) It was designed to be belted. Before I am sure I would not have styled this top like this. Actually before I was a little confused about this top because it's not really structured. I bought it because I loved how it looked like a stained glass window (I spent a lot of time studying Gothic cathedrals in college). I am not sure how much time I have on this top (maybe a few weeks?) but it was comfortable because it's stretchy.

Let me know what you think. Feedback is always welcomed.

Normally I love lots of structure with a defined waist and tailored details. This, although not outside of my comfort zone, is definitely not the look I have honed on YLF for the past year.  My inspiration was a clothing line I used to wear when I first started high school called Multiples. All the pieces were knit jersey and many of them could be worn multiple ways because they didn't have a lot of structure. I thought the fun I remembered having with those piece then, was a good starting point for this new wardrobe. I've accepted the fact that I'm going to lose my waist. With such a short torso, bust line and tummy will eventually merge. So I decided that waist surrender would be the best way to go. Although I am not sure dropping my waist for this outfit actually counts as surrendering completely, I won't tell if you don't :-).

So I am wearing one of my new flowy tops from Old Navy. I have a copy of this one in a flat gray. The material is a soft drapey knit jersey and is a size XXL. As a result I needed to do something, hence the belt, to keep the top from looking like a potato sack. As it get warmer I will wear it with a basic tank in either white or black. Currently I have my white cuddle duds thermal v-neck paired with this. I wasn't sure it would work when I pulled it out this morning but I wanted to be warm without the benefit of a sweater. I think the look works and provides the drama that I like without a lot of accessories. I am also wearing Old Navy skinny cords with timberland boots and my boot socks (Thanks Astrid!).

The second photo is what I wore outside to run today's errands. I feel like there is a military theme (combat boots and coat -- the belt is arguably my holster ;-)). Perhaps my new evolving style could be called "urban renegade"?

Do you think this shift in style is me? Why or why not?

Happy Valentine’s Day Ladies of YLF!

I have missed the forum these months I’ve been away. I thought I would make my re-entry with an outfit that I’m wearing to run errands.  I’m wearing a cozy lavender/gray JLo sweater from Kohl’s, skinny (Rockstar) jeans from Old Navy, with my black Timberland Bethel Buckle combat boots.

You may notice that I’m a little rounder and if you have you’ve got sharp eyes. I’ve been MIA because as of today I am 4 months pregnant! I am very excited and expecting the little one sometime in late July or early August. I’ve been absent from the forum because I had a really tough first trimester with nausea and fatigue as constant companions for about eight full weeks. (Glad that’s over!)

I looked pretty much like myself wearing my regular clothes (except for the I-feel-really-skinny-today jeans) until late last week then pop – all of a sudden my little bump was there. I am not afraid to tell you there was about 12 hours of sheer panic where I had no idea how to dress my evolving body. 

After recovering, having a loaded baked potato and turning in for the evening ;-) I pulled myself together the next day and started the process of going though my entire wardrobe piece by piece to check the fit. My biggest problem right now is I have a lot of tops with absolutely no stretch (yay structure!) so they aren’t getting worn for a good long while. My second problem is because I have a short torso the shirts I have with stretch are going to look inappropriate really soon because they won’t quite cover my belly in about 3 weeks (my best guestimate).

I have a few tops that are both oversized and stretchy, even fewer that are simply oversized. I have been forced to experiment with new or slightly altered silhouettes because my regular silhouettes of choice are temporarily unavailable. Ironically pants aren’t an issue because I’ve always preferred roomier fits and tended to size up.  I’ve been experimenting with a bellyband and pants in different cuts and sizes. My go-to jeans are my BF’s and up-sized skinny jeans (with lots of stretch -- go Rockstars!), of course leggings work just fine but it’s not warm enough to wear them outside just now.

 Until my new cache of longer looser tops (some maternity some not) arrives I have assembled some tunics, chunky sweaters, stretchy tops, dolman and kimono-sleeved tops to get me through the next week or so.

I would appreciate any ideas or suggestions you have to turn my current offerings into a reasonable facsimile of a maternity wardrobe. Thank you in advance for all of your suggestions (big or small!)

I know I've been missing in action, but since my assignment ended last week I have been ridiculously popular with employers (not that I'm complaining!).  So preparing for interviews and getting my elevator pitch together has been my complete focus for the past week.

I realized belatedly that I've rarely had formal interviews in depths of sloppy winter. It's not just cold here (it was bitterly cold last week). It's messy with salt and slush.

So before I get into what I wore I am curious about the forum's take on what to wear to a professional conservative interview when temps are subzero with even colder wind chills. Do you favor warmth over style or do you have a strategy for getting the best of both worlds? I'd love to get your thoughts on combining the best of both worlds.

So I am wearing layers today and they were warm (no long johns needed) . I did not need to worry too much today because it was in the tolerable 20's today which was a major improvement. However it was slushy and sloppy -- so there were tall boots to protect my pant hems that were worn to my destination and promptly left in the car. I'm wearing:

• Le Suit jacket in black
• Talbot's button down shirt in white
• Old Navy cardigan in cerulean
• Apt. 9 long length trousers in black
• Nickel's patent heels in black