How Anna Nicole Smith Set Me Straight (a/k/a Cheryl Tiegs Can Shut Up Any Time Now)

This is another "bear with me" post.

So, Cheryl Tiegs criticized Ashley Graham for being a successful and gorgeous size 14 model and landing Sport Illustrated because her appearance "glamorizes" a supposedly unhealthy example. Because she believes Ms. Graham should have a waistline less than 35 inches (which she does, actually - 30 inches according to some sources, so way to pay attention, Cheryl).

Cheryl Tiegs' first statement made her sound willfully ignorant. Her second "clarifying" statement on the matter sealed it with superglue that she is willfully ignorant, and suffering from some serious "thin privilege." She stated that she just wants everyone to be healthy, noting that anorexic, bulimic, and overweight people are not healthy. Why is this ignorant? Well, you could say something was either inappropriately added to or missing from her incredibly bad attempt at back pedaling.

What's superfluous (if you want to go that route)? "Overweight," because she's first listed two legitimate medical conditions and equated them to weight that may or may not cause, or be a symptom of, a health condition. What's missing (if you want to go that route instead)? I'll tell you what's missing - underweight. And it has risks, too.

However, Ms. Tiegs, who at 5'10" and 120 pounds (I'll even go as high as 123, per this source) was technically underweight at the peak of her modeling career, benefitted from her small size (please, someone tell me that wasn't popular in the 1970s and 1980s so I can laugh in your face) so of course she would never have seen it as an issue.

Let's do some math. Per the height/weight chart I linked earlier, Cheryl is/was 9 pounds under the lowest weight in her 5'10" range. By the same chart, Ashley is 8 pounds over the highest weight in her 5'9" range. I know from personal experience that those weight ranges can be bull$hit (see below), so I'm certainly not going to hold either of them to it.

Yes, both underweight and overweight can be dangerous. But at the same time, they can both also be healthy. Seriously. For example, even though I fight fibromyalgia, I have consistently beautiful blood pressure, stellar overall cholesterol levels, and the good cholesterol levels of someone who spends two hours a day in the gym. And I'm beyond overweight and somewhere six states over from obesity.

While researching for this post, I found an article where Ms. Tiegs mentioned she once got as high as 170 pounds. She says, "I was not at a healthy weight for someone like me." That's right, Cheryl. For someone like you. For someone like me, 170 pounds is uncomfortably underweight.

I have a deep and abiding lack of patience for willful ignorance, and that's what Cheryl Tiegs has consistently displayed throughout this whole kerfluffle (kerfluffle is a seriously underused word, by the way). She's taking what worked for her and, intentionally or not, projecting it onto the rest of the world. She doesn't want to know what's good for anyone else, she's just going to slap onto everyone what's good for her. And that projection, that willful ignorance, that narrow-minded type of role model, was what made my younger life hell. All I saw in the 1980s were super skinny models and actresses, it felt like every girl and young woman in the world weighed 120 pounds tops, I had well-meaning people (friends' parents even) tell me, "You have such a pretty face, if only you were thinner..."

And I focused on those height and weight charts like you wouldn't believe. I remember in the late 1980s the height and weight chart said I should weigh, top range, 165. And I fixated on that f*cking number, never ever, even once, being able to reach it. My freshman year of college, I got to a point where I barely ate, passed out in choir, managed to wriggle into a size 10 skirt and blouse (although everything else I owned was a 12), and still weighted 167 pounds. That number haunted me because it was 2 f*cking pounds too much. And of course, it wasn't sustainable. I started putting on weight.

My first semi-wake up call (it honestly didn't fully kick in until my early 30s, but the first cracks appeared here) came via Anna Nicole Smith getting tapped to model for Guess Jeans. I was no longer at "fainting weight" (which should never ever be an actual thing). I miserably went home one weekend and Mom put that Sunday's Parade magazine down in front of me, and there on the cover was an article about Anna Nicole Smith. "Look, she's a size 14, like you, she has the same measurements as you. And she's a model."

And I then had something to cling to, someone who finally made me feel like I might be almost normal. Unfortunately, I was still an unsure, awkward, anxiety-ridden kid, and while it made a crack, it didn't completely break down the crappy self-esteem wall.

That wall didn't fall completely until my early 30s. I lost so much weight that I'd lie down and feel like my shoulder blades were cutting through my skin. And I still weighted 172, still wore a size 12, sometimes a 14. My first marriage had ended and I wanted to be the best role model possible for my then 4-year-old daughter, so I was doing a lot of self-reflection. And there it was, I finally realized that this was me, and it was more than okay, it was awesome. I purposefully put on three more pounds so I'd be more comfortable. There it was - at 175 my back pain was still controllable but my weight wasn't uncomfortably low. I felt great. And I realized I'd settled in at a clothing size slightly smaller than the Guess model who'd made me finally start feeling like I might be beautiful about a decade earlier.

And this is what I looked like at 175, 10 pounds over what the stupid 1980s weight chart wanted me to be. And I felt amazing.



*Me, being amazing in my 30s

What the hell was I thinking In my teens and 20s, thinking that some stupid number or ideal overruled what I was?

That's another reason why I'm reveling in my now. Am I in fibro pain? Yeah. But do I feel awesome otherwise? Hell yeah. You've been reading this blog, right? I feel awesome. I look awesome. I am awesome.



*Me, being awesome last Thursday.

I tell my daughter to never focus on a number, focus on where you feel like you glow and your body feels like a good fit. That's all that matters.

I'm sure Ashley Graham feels great. And she damned well better, she's incredibly beautiful and confident and so stunning it's not fair. I'm sure Cheryl Tiegs feels good, and good for her, because it works for her. Hell, look up Tess Holliday, that woman is achingly beautiful, as well as a size 22 supermodel, and it so very works for her.

Cheryl Tiegs, however, and so many others like her, need to stop forcing their ideals regarding "health" on others. Ashley Graham is no more unhealthy for weighing 170 than Cheryl Tiegs is for weighing 120.

In the meantime, I hope that Ashley Graham on the cover of Sports Illustrated or Tess Holliday in some ad campaign helps some young girl or mature woman go, "Hey, we wear the same size," and that the girl or woman realizes that generally being awesome is the most beautiful thing ever.

And if we could just all stop judging each other based on size now, that would be f*cking lovely.

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Another "Statement"

I cannot say enough about statement necklaces (when used wisely).

Like on February 9, when I'm wearing an otherwise tame outfit, a statement necklace can get just the right amount of oomph. I just have to make sure there's an appropriate style matchup.




Once again, CLEARANCE TAHARI SUIT! This time a pantsuit. But I digress.

I had a black pinstripe suit, a black faux wrap top, and I needed something to give just enough of a "perk up" to the outfit, like a "just perfect" jolt of coffee. In other words, a too subtle solitaire pendant would have been 1/4 teaspoon of Sanka flakes in warm water. But something bright and glittery with tons of colors would have been like a 7-espresso shot Mocha latte with a 6-ristretto chaser. I needed middle ground.

(By the way - I'm farm-raised, and part Swedish, two things that guaranteed a life-long love of coffee so thick it can be poured on pancakes, so there's the background on those analogies.).

This was perfect. Different shades of blue progressing to black, in sleek, geometric designs. That, my friends, was the perfect cup of Sumatran blend with just enough cream and two Splendas I needed for the outfit.

For the sake of argument, by the way, I tried on the February 9 necklace, and indeed, it was far too much and too unstructured for clean-lined pinstripes.

For a non-coffee analogy, a statement necklace doesn't have to scream to make the statement. A strong authoritative voice will do just fine, thank you.



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Did I Mention Clearance Racks Can Be Amazing?

Because clearance racks can be amazing.




Another Tahari from the Dillard's clearance rack.

I know I'm safe with Tahari when I go clearance. I know the feel, I know the cuts, I know they flatter. That's how I avoid the "there's a reason it's on clearance" trap, which usually ends in frustrations, attempts to return, and trips to Good Will in hopes someone can benefit from my bad choices.

So once you know you have a cut and style and brand that works for you, you should be in safe clearance land.

And since Tahari, I know well, I can wait until they hit clearance for up to 1/4 of the original price. Then it's just a matter of the right accessories.

Boo ya!


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Date Night!

For Christmas, my daughter gave us a coupon for free babysitting so we could go to dinner and a movie (plus one movie ticket, because she's cool).

Tonight (or this afternoon, rather, because we're old and too tired for late nights), we're cashing in. We're going to do some shopping that does't involve toys, see a movie with an R rating, and eat steak without panicking about paying for steak for four. Ah, bliss!




I dressed up for my husband (and for me). I so love this man, it's unreal. We will hit 11 years this April, and I not only am just as giddy as the day we married, but I love him even more every year.

Long boot cut jeans from Lane Bryant (current style unavailable), and the Caycee Twist Top from Kiyonna (although this color isn't currently available). Plus a statement necklace and neutral wedge boots. When we go outside, instead of a jacket (it's hitting 60+ today!), I'm to wearing this nice bulky Lane Bryant sweater (no longer available).

More importantly? I am just damned happy. Seriously, I've got a good life. I have a great job, a loving family, amazing friends, and I know life is good.

Like I've said before, I am currently losing weight. It seems to be taking hold this time, and I'm admittedly happy about that. I've lost just around 30 pounds, although I have a heckuva long way to go yet.

But you know why I'm happy about that? Because my knee is hurting less, my back is hurting less, my fibromyalgia is already feeling a bit better. And the promise of less daily pain is moving closer from it's place in the far-off horizon. That's making so happy I could cry.

What I realized this weekend is, 95% of why I'm happy is not related to "because I'll look better." I will have access to a better variety of clothes, and that's awesome, but I'm not really worried about a smaller waist, small hips, less puffy face, nothing serious along those lines. As a matter of fact, I'm even slightly (although not significantly) worried about the weight loss from that standpoint. For example, without weight puffing my face out am I going to get jowly? Are my 43-years' worth of wrinkles finally going to really show?

I don't know if it's because I've finally reached a level of maturity where the vanity doesn't matter (which is doubtful, because come on, I started a fashion blog, I've obviously got some vanity going on) or what. But something has changed in the last couple of years, and apparently solidified in the last couple of months. I went from "I'm overweight, but still pretty" to "I'm pretty." Period.

And I feel pretty not even because of my looks (although thanks to my parents, I really had great genes to work with), but because I find something great and to be grateful for in my life every day; every day gives me hope, gives me confidence, makes me want to be a better person. I know I have flaws and/or eccentricities in both my body and my personality that I can embrace and love and work with.

If this weight loss turns out to be a false start, that's totally okay. I'll be disappointed because even this simple shave off the top of the pain levels has been tremendous, but... I will be okay. I love myself. Possibly for the first time in my life, I really, truly love who and what I am (not in a selfish, narcissistic way, I don't believe people like that truly "love" themselves, but that's another topic).

This doesn't mean that the daily grind never gets me down. It can. But it never means that above it all, I'm not happy. I am. Sometimes I'm just also tired and grumpy, or I'm down and need something to cling to so I can remember the "happy." And I never, ever, unlike in my misinformed youth, think that "If only I were thin, this would be easier." Because I know it wouldn't be.

I've been thin before. I was so thin that when I'd lie down, I felt like my shoulder blades were cutting through my skin. It didn't make me even the tiniest bit less insecure, less anxious, less scared, or more content. So if "thin" doesn't make it better, "fat" certainly doesn't make it worse.

And now, enough of this. I love you all, but I love my husband more. So ciao now, I'm going on my date. :-)

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Another Casual Friday

I don't really have anything new to say, I jut really liked my casual Friday.




NYDJ trouser jeans, my Simply Be textured mock turtleneck, Lane Bryant leather jacket, Tommy Hilfiger laceless oxfords, and a long chain/bead necklace to break up the blank white space.

You know I used to be scared to ever wear a blouse that even hinted at popping out underneath a blazer? Even that teeny tiny white line by my left hand would have freaked me out. I don't know what I was thinking.

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Be Unexpected (a/k/a "SAUCY!")

So, I pulled out a gray suit today that I haven't worn (okay, been able to wear, I'll admit) for a few years.

I used to always wear it with black and white. Or if I was feeling saucy, red.

Same with a pair of nice gray wool pants I used to own. "White shirt! Oooh, I think today I'll do a red jacket instead of my black jacket, bwahaha! Look at my sass!"

And there's nothing wrong with that. It's just ... Expected I guess?

Now that I've got this suit back in rotation, I'm not wasting any more opportunities with it. I mean, gray is a neutral, dang it! It pairs with nearly everything (except brown, unless someone can enlighten me about why I'm wrong, and that's okay, because I'm eager to learn new stuff).

What I'm sayin' is, there's a ton of options with gray. But you usually just see a few standards with it - black and white, or if someone's got their sassy pants on, red. The very occasional pink or bright blue.

So instead of any of the above, I present to you ... GREEN!




(I am thrilled to have this suit back in rotation, by the way. It's an Anne Klein I got on sale when the design was being discontinued, so the whole suit cost about $60, and I lurve me some awesome deals, bwahahahahaha I say again!)

TL;DR - PLAY WITH COLOR AND HAVE FUN!

Bonus tip - Notice the tie neck blouse? No necklace required. Yet the rest of the look still remains uncluttered enough, you can wear a more playful earring than usual.





I typically don't wear an earring this big and dangly to work, but I am today because:
1) my hair is long enough now I can pull it off without my ears screaming "LOOK AT AND VALIDATE ME!" and
2) I'M FEELING SAUCY!

Oh, and most importantly, they're still not overwhelming because of the overall jewelry restraint.

And yet SAUCY!

Damn, I'm such a rebel.

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From Example to Object Lesson

So I get a pass for the 3-day weekend. Took a mini-vacation with the family, and it was awesome.

Yesterday, I woke up before my principal photographer, who didn't have school that day (nor did her little brother), and my secondary photographer (who didn't have to drive anyone to school that day) decided to sleep in.

Yesterday, I was okay with that. I had a bust. I pulled a lot of pieces out of the closet I thought would look awesome and ... It didn't. I had too much going on. Cowl-neck blouse, a statement necklace that was too close to the same color, a tuxedo jacket with leather piping, and a pencil skirt with leather panels. Plus a pair of really kick-ass heels. It was too much. It was busy. There was no rest when looking at me. I thought, "Ah well, that's okay, we can miss a day when the day is this much of a cluster."

But then I did it again today.





I got it more right today than yesterday, but it's still wrong. The problem? The skirt is nicely tailored, the jacket is nicely tailored, and the shirt is ... boxy. Way too boxy. Everything else is a nice clean line, and then I have something blousing all over the place. This outfit needed something more like a nicely cut white wrap, or a ribbed turtleneck.

Ah well. Learn from my fail, my friends!

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Not So Much a Rant as an Observation. Really.

Let's start this off with a smile, because it's gonna get uncomfortable.

"Why start a plus-size fashion blog?" you might ask. My quick answer is, "I had a lot of professional women asking me where I shopped." I've found out that at least a couple of times, there was more of a reason why these women were asking "where" than was obvious. And I should have known, because it involves why I've searched so hard for these clothes myself.

It's not just finding plus size clothes; you can find lots of plus size clothes now, in far better selections than when I was a teen. Of course, that was the 80s, and we should be rethinking sartorial choices we made for all sizes back then. But plus size for professionals? That's taken a bit more work and selectivity. And it's been necessary work; I'm trying to fight against biases via wardrobe.

It's not as shallow as it sounds. It's a piece of a larger puzzle. Stick with me.

This April marks my 20th year in this industry. I have seen my part in this industry happily evolve from being one of three women in a room of 50, to working in a department of 30 that's about 50% women. In the perspective of social changes, that's pretty rapid progress.

Not that I don't still see trends. There can be some "touchy feely" sides of this line of legal work, and over the last 20 years, that's largely where I've seen the women end up. Which is one of the reasons that I previously worked my butt off with some serious self-study to make myself one of the only women I knew tackling a certain subject matter area. (I'm a rebel, yar!)

In other words, when I see biases, I do my best to personally shatter them.

Women are still making some significant headway in this, and all, industries. Which is obviously fantastic. But overall, women still have a ways to go. As you hear a lot nowadays, you'll know we've gotten there when there's no longer a need to talk about it.

Now, let's do an experiment - Plug obesity into the equation. Suddenly, you have a whole new bias to overcome. You're not only "touchy feely," you're also "fat and lazy." This can get you doubled down in the worst way in the workplace.

I've personally fought that stereotype, too, although for years it was more an undercurrent than something spoken (although it was specifically spoken once). And I've seen other women suffer it, too (in many, many job settings, not just my industry). Especially ones who wear more "standard" heavy-woman clothing. It didn't matter how smart they were, how damned good they were at their jobs. They had the double whammy of "woman" + "overweight" and that was that.

Because of stereotypes, because of biases, an overweight woman in the workplace can end up being everybody's mother and nobody's boss if she's not careful. She has two reasons to be dismissed as a serious contender for something more.

My weight (although yes, also my gender) is one of the reasons why:
* I make every effort to work 150% harder than anyone else in the room;
* I try to dress immaculately (except the "ironing" thing, I still can't bring myself to do it);
* I've worked extremely hard to overcome some serious social anxiety and become a "people person";
* I make significant efforts to be responsible and responsive, to be someone who can be trusted and relied upon by the janitorial staff all the way up to the CEO;
* I've horded so much knowledge and data and trends it would take an Alexandrian Library to hold it all.
Anyone who sees everything I've done and everything I do and still thinks that because I'm an overweight woman that I'm not worthy can jam it into their asses.

And I've been through a helluva lot to get to this point. Over a decade and a half ago, it was a man holding his hand in my face and saying that my law degree didn't qualify me for a place at the "man's" negotiation table, but I could go grab a pitcher of water. In the last few years, it was someone passing me over for a job because, "It's obvious you can't take of yourself, how could you take care of a staff?"

Both biases suck. And it's really, truly, more of a whammy for a woman than a man.

Think about it. How many overweight men do you see in positions in power as opposed to overweight women? Not that the men don't still feel pressure and scrutiny over their looks, and not that they're never discriminated against for their weight. But an overweight man is still much more likely to make it to a position of power than an overweight woman.

I am personally doing all I can to also overturn that stereotype, to help bring the appropriate significance to the underestimated.




This is a face that has seen a lot. I have dark circles under my eyes. I have crows feet. I have a divot in my nose from the removal of a suspicious spot. The 99% of my nose that remains is large and obvious. I've got some gray hair sprouting up within the dark brown. These are all socially acceptable "non-standard" traits. I've come to love these things that set me apart. But you know what else I love? The cheeks that are larger than some think they should be.

Weight is never a measure of a person's worth. So until a person's weight, too, is something society no longer feels it needs to talk about, to judge, to demean, I'm going to keep fighting with every weapon in my arsenal. Fashion - a tailored, crisp, and professional look - is one of those weapons.

Some might say this use of clothing is just a bandage for a larger problem. I can see that. Realistically, I know that I'm just counterbalancing a socially unacceptable look with a socially preferred one.

But if people see a suit with a good cut and it subliminally re-focuses them long enough for me to hit them with my brain, then fine. If it helps me hammer through some of the weaker walls while I take a blow torch to the steel barred gates behind them, I'm going to use it.

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Another Casual Friday (Badass Edition)

Although despite being Casual Friday, I had to do some minor adulting. I didn't need to go full-suit, but I did need to look somewhat intimidating. (I've heard I can occasionally pull off "intimidating," although "quirky" is more standard.)




So again, I went to my go-to jeans, NYDJ. Ah, I picked up these glorious denim trouser jeans several months ago, and they're just glorious! Dark wash denim, nice cut and hang. Very happy.

To help with the "intimidating" bit, I pulled a moto-style blazer I picked up at Lane Bryant over a year ago.

My aim was to sit across from folks and have the "professional, yet badass" look. I find when I need to be badass, it helps to dress badass.

I swear, sometimes lawyering is like acting, and you've gotta costume appropriately to get your mindset there.

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Mixing and Matching

Men tend to have it easy in the workplace. A man could buy two or three suits, and a ton of different shirts and ties, and be set for two weeks without looking like a repeat (maybe I'm oversimplifying, but that's sure what it feels like).

Well, women can do it to an extent, too. It's definitely different, but there's some basic principals to make some things stretch.

For example, I wear the skirt in this picture a lot.



I like the fit, I like the length, black goes with everything, it makes me happy.

It's part of a suit I purchased a while back.

I also love this jacket. I got it from Nordstromrack.com, and got it for a heckuva good deal. Probably due, in some part, to the fact that the matching skirt had already sold out.

Just because you have a suit, though, you don't have to wear those pieces together all the time. If the material itself is similar enough and the styles don't clash, you can mix the suits up a bit and make more looks than you'd originally counted on.

And I tell you this because I never used to realize this. I wasn't kidding in an earlier post when I said I tend to get very matchy-matchy. That applied everywhere. If things match you must keep them together because the established pattern is aaaallllll and just be protected! But I finally started experimenting and holy cow the world didn't end and I even got compliments!!!

Would I put a ponte knit jacket with a cotton skirt? Nope. Would I have put this jacket, with its pleated detail at the waist with a chevron patterned sweater skirt? Nope. But do I care that I don't have the skirt that matches this jacket? Nopety nope! I now realize I have options! [cue jazz hands]

Now, all of you who knew this already may roll your eyes at me at your leisure.

I'm still calling this a personal victory.

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Making a Statement

So nothing I'm wearing today is available anymore, but they're not the point, so that's okay.




So first off yes, I wear a lot of black. You pretty much can't go wrong in a professional setting with black. But I do always try to put at least a little bit of color with it.

So that's what I did here, mostly with the jacket (ah, my beautiful Tahari, your jackets always look so crisp!). Although to be fair, the wide-leg pants (Lane Bryant's Lena collection from about 18 months ago - since the jacket's more tailored, wide leg pants are a good complement) also have pink pinstripes, but you can't see them in the photo.

Still, we've got black pink black. It needed something else. So I made a statement.




With a statement necklace. Haha, see what I did there? Damn, I'm funny. (Imagine those last three sentences said in a completely deadpan, but not Steven Wright deadpan, that's about three steps too far.)

It's got pinks like the jacket, grays to pull out the black, and (hard to tell) but a spot of pale yellow.

It breaks up the look a bit, just gives it a bit more of a pop, but since the rest of the outfit is unassuming, it doesn't get overwhelming.

The great thing about statement necklaces? You can go as cheap or as expensive as you want. There are some great Kate Spade New York pieces that can run high $60ish, but look amazing. This one was $15 at Target, and looks pretty kick butt in its own right.

Options, folks! So many options!

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Layering

So, the weather has been throwing me constantly lately. Since I didn't know whether I'd be warm or cold in the office, I did some layering. Cause I'm all thoughtful that way (occasionally).

I'm highly temperature dependent, and not knowing if it'd be a balmy 50 degrees again or snow (spoiler alert, it snowed), I wanted to do some good ol' hedging.

But I digress.




Now I know it may sound dumb that I particularly went for layering. I have the appearance of layering a lot, but I'm also often wearing something sleeveless or short-sleeved under the jacket. I didn't want to do that today.

Although it looks nice with the jacket, doesn't it?

Got my old staples the Torrid Jetsetter pants in tall, the 28" Simply Be blazer, and my Aerosol's Domino shoes.

Lo and behold, snow or not, I did hit a point today where I just got too hot in my office. I suppose when you pull three extra people in for a meeting and shut the door for privacy, you have some overheating potential.

But that was okay, I was prepared, by golly!



I really like this blouse. It's a recent acquisition from Lane Bryant, Printed Supplice Top with Elastic Waist. Since I have a waist, I figured why not? And I really enjoyed it.

I also really like bright blue with black, and I kind of wish designers would put them together more often.

Someone get someone on that. Right away.

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More SHOES!

Just so you know, I'm going to be revisiting shoes a lot.

As I've mentioned before, twice before even, I have special snowflake feet.

The "I love nice things!" part of me revels in this because I get to buy pretty (and sadly, pretty expensive) shoes for completely and utterly justifiable reasons. But as you can tell from my parenthetical, I also have some guilt over this. There's that bit of me that remembers my early professional crap-now-I-have-to-pay-those-student-loan years and my post-divorce-raising-a-toddler-while-trying-to-buy-a-house years, as well as the fact that I was raised by during-and-post-depression era parents who tried to instill in me the need to save and spend carefully (note I said they tried, but that's another story). And I'm spending up to $200 on a pair of shoes?

That said, I also know I got my arches from Dad, who had to actually spend more money than he wanted on shoes, especially when he got older.

And of course, being an attorney, I feel the need to justify frickin' everything. I spend 40 - 70 hours a week doing that, and it's hard to just put the brakes on it.

After that incredible tangent, let's re-route back to the main road and the point of this post - Incredibly comfortable work shoes.

I have to tell you about Cole Haan. Because these are heels I can wear, not just tromping around downtown, but tromping around massive airports. I used to go to Minneapolis (a pretty danged big airport) on at least a monthly, if not weekly, basis. And obviously when I went for work, I had to be dressed up, which usually dictated heels. And it's tough to jam an extra pair of comfy walking shoes into a briefcase.




Yeah, particularly the bottom pair is well-loved. Air Talia open-toed by Cole Haan. Cold Haan, I'm a true 11 (while they are one of the few place to carry 10.5, 10.5s are a shade too small). The pair on the bottom has been to every square inch of the Minneapolis airport with me on multiple occasions (not to mention a ton of other airports on more discrete occasions). Nike Air Technology! I'm serious, a lot of Cole Haan's heels have some kind of Nike magic worked into their DNA. So get one of the lower wedge heels with that killer action in it, and the heels don't feel like heels at all.

The upper pair of wedges are dressier (the stacked heels on the other drops them just slightly down the "dressy" scale), but have just a slight rub against my bunions (bugger), so they don't go airport-tromping with me as often. Still, they are 99 times more comfortable than the vast majority of shoes out there. I cannot remember the name of these shoes, but they also see a lot of action, particularly when it's raining and I don't want my toesies soaking.

While neither of these specific shoes seems to be available right now, there are a ton of other amazing wedge options on the Cole Haan website.

Cole Haan also has some pretty amazing flats. Flats can work very well with skirts (iffy with pant suits), but are also awesome on casual Friday's when you have a pair of jeans or during the week if you have a nice pair of ankle pants with a jacket.




I'll admit, the middle pair, I only wear on weekends and not to work. But I liked them so much, I'm putting them in the pic anyway. The red ones on the left, I've worn as my "color pop" with ankle pants, ankle jeans, regular jeans, and all through the week. They're slightly on the casual-and-breezy side, so I won't pair them with more tailored outfits, but they looked great for breezier work days, like when I'm doing an unstructured jacket with skinny pants look, or when I went on a more casual day trip to Kansas City to get my continuing legal education credits, with ankle jeans and a blue-and-white summery tunic.

The pair on the right work very well with more tailored looks, given their overall subtlety and more tailored look. When I was at the height of torn-meniscus pain, these things (and their fraternal-twin neutral color pair I bought at the same time) did the job extremely well with my tailored dresses and my skirt suits. I made that cane look classy, dang it! Or so I tell myself.

These, too, no longer appear to be available, but there are a ton of other great ballet flats here.

And definitely watch Cole Haan's sales. That's how I picked up the sparkly weekend shoes for only $35.

Finally, Cole Haan has an outlet site where some of the shoes are a little cheaper. Never hurts to give that a look, too.

At the end of the day, though, if you have to pay full price for a good pair of Cole Haan's, you won't regret it. Especially if you have special snowflake feet.

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JEANS!

Okay, I cannot believe I forgot about these in my "General Tips" post.



[I'm covering my company's logo on the shirt, not doing some weird salute-y thing.]

JEANS! I've generally mentioned jeans before, but I forgot to name one specific brand that carries a plus-sizeline that's pretty danged good - NYDJ.

NYDJ stands for "Not Your Daughter's Jeans" which is pretty appropriate, heh. But they are comfy comfy comfy and fit great! And they run slightly large, which is always fun. They also run slightly pricey which is ... Well, it is what it is.

Here's the sneaky part. If you check Nordstrom Rack, you can usually get them half price. It isn't the same selection, but it's still really good stuff. You can't get the same color I'm wearing here, but you can get the same cut in a typical blue denim still.

And uh, iron yours for a crisper look. Learn from my fail. I know I should iron, but I hate it with the white-hot passion of a thousand pissed off suns and it ain't happenin' anytime soon.

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I'm Not Sure I Have a Point Today

Because not every day needs to be a runway day to feel good.





Black pants (Tall Jetsetter straight trouser from Torrid.com), mint green tank with just a bit of detailing (Dusk to Dawn gathered tank from Kiyonna which, by the way, is currently on sale), gray marl jacket (Mix and Match 28" blazer from Simply Be), a pair of heels from my Sunday post (Head Role from Aersol's), and a simple, long pendant (silver leaf pendant necklace from World Market) to break up the Line in front a bit.

Not too fussy. Not too casual. Just comfy, but still professional.

And maybe that's the point. It's not always necessary to have a point. Sometimes it's fine to just be.

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Color Pop

So occasionally, I just like to throw some unexpected color into an outfit.




In this case, I used shoes to do it. So I did a faux white wrap top, just-shy-of-navy jacket, and a black and white chevron sweater skirt. Nice enough combo stopping there, but I went with red d'orsay kitten heels to just shake it up a bit. And let's be honest, what self-respecting Kansas-born woman doesn't own a pair of red shoes? May as well just work with the jokes, baby.




But I didn't overdo the pop. No red necklace or anything, because I don't want to get too matchy-matchy (something that, because of my natural inclination to want to have everything in a set order and pattern, I have to really fight against, so I really do deserve extra points for this).

So, the bummer part is, none of these specific pieces appear to be available anymore (Simplybe.com top, Igigi, jacket, Eloquii sweater skirt, J Renee kitten heels, for what that's worth). Not they were the point of the post, but I like to include links when I can.

The real point is, don't be afraid to look for either complimentary or contrasting colors on the color wheel, and accessorize accordingly. Sometimes shaking up the pattern is more fun than sticking with it.

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Dresses Are Also Great When You Oversleep

Like I did this morning. Oops!




It's another one from my buds at Kiyonna (Ballet, I think it's called? I can't entirely remember). This one isn't available anymore, but they still have all kinds of fun dresses. :-)

And looksie, I wore it with the gray croc Aerosol's from yesterday's post!

And pearls, because if you wear a black dress, pearls are always cool. Real or not. Which guess which these are? (If you answered anything but "not," I like where you're going, but I'm unfortunately not there yet. Somebody tell my husband when my birthday rolls around?)

Very little thought. And that works well for me, since it's debatable if I was even actually awake before I'd finally downed an energy drink and three cups of coffee, let alone thinking.

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