Semi-Sick Day

Like a lot of folks, I have migraines.  While I don’t have as many triggers as I used to, I still have several – dehydration, going too long without eating, lack of sleep, overheating, barometric pressure changes.

I have a point.  I promise.

Today it rained like crazy, after days of crappy and humid heat, followed by two sunny, mild days. So guess what happened.

Thankfully it was a weekday – if it’d happened on a weekend, I would have slept through the initial warning signs too far to recover.  As it was, I slept through the auras, but I woke up while it was still just “pain over the right eye.”  So with a migraine pill, a bottle of propel, plenty of caffeine, and some salt (I hate pickles for breakfast, don’t judge), I managed to head off the full-bore deal.

Why should you care?  Because it directly impacted my sartorial choices for today.  You see, like I’ve alluded to in previous posts, I use clothing for lots of reasons – as an armor, to reflect my mood, to gain respect … Today, it was a costume.  If I dressed crisp and bright and happy, I’d be more likely to act like I was crisp and bright and happy.

And hence, we get this:

As an added bonus, since it’s almost Independence Day, I look extra patriotic!  Woo hoo!

I started building around the pants.  Because whose mood isn’t brightened by red pants?  These are the Kady fit ankle pants from Eloquii.  They are comfy and fit quite nicely. Which again, is a helluva mood brightener.

With red pants, though, you want the rest of the colors to be low key.  So I went with a white, sleeveless, overlay blouse, also from Eloquii.

The jacket?  An out-of-circulation denim blazer I’ve had in the closet for years.

I like the blouse more than I hate my arms, so here's a jacket-less photo.

Anyway, put it with a pair of low-heeled blue wedges similar to the denim blazer color, and boom. Mic drop. Done.

Well, I guess not quite.  The collar of this blouse just screams for something fun, doesn’t it?

I can’t find this necklace online anymore either, but here is the gist- It’s a statement necklace without an overpowering statement.  The gold sparkly part with the subtle color of the “gems” still gives some substance without being overwhelming.

So I may not have felt well today, but I good ‘nuff costumed up to have a good, productive work day.

After all, as much as I want to feel crisp and bright and happy, I don't want to feel overwhelmed.  

Hot Weather Sucks

So, we're in blazing summer now.  Even though I'm a summer baby, summer and I do not completely get along.  I'm a wimp when it comes to heat.  But barring a move to the Antarctic, I'm gonna have to deal.

It's hard to look professional when you look like you're doing a riff on Ted Stryker landing in Airplane!  So when it hits triple degree heat, you want short sleeves, light cottons, etc.

So here's a sampling of how I've been coping.

The Whimsy Wrap Dress from Kiyonna.com. Paired with the Solar Orbit Necklace from Thinkgeek.com (because I'm a geek, in case you'd somehow missed the obvious signals, but it's subtle geek - I mean, it's a nice, colorful necklace, right?).  And Ardent pumps from Aerosoles.com.  Comfy, light material, professional.  Love it.

Here's I've got a long-sleeved, tie-neck shirt from Eloquii.com, but it's a comfy, light cotton.  Not hot at all. I paired it with a nice navy pencil skirt from Simplybe.com's career wear section. With once again, shoes from Aeorsoles. 

I didn't do a lot with jewelry on this one - with the tie neck, I didn't need a necklace, so I just did earrings.  Cute earrings!  Unfortunately, I can't link them because I don't remember when or where I got them.  Bah!

Anyway, shifting on - Black can be hot in the heat of the summer, but it can still look nice. Unfortunately, these specific pieces aren't available anymore - this is an old Joanna Hope peplum top from Simplybe.com, and an old Lord & Taylor printed pencil skirt.  The top is a light jersey and the skirt cotton, so it still stays relatively cool.

  Finally, let's shift one last time.

Both pieces are from Eloquii.com.  The white cotton tie-waist blouse is, naturally, light and airy and comfy.  The textured blue column skirt is just awesome.  Both pieces are simple, but just detailed enough to not be boring.    

Huh.  and I just realized, I did a LOT of blue in this post, so I'm going to throw one more in after all to mix it up a bit.  And this mixes it about as much as it can possibly mix it...

The dress is a Suzi Chin for Maggy Boutique I picked up on clearance a few years ago.  The asymmetrical cut waist, and all the bright colors - Yeah, it's loud, but it's summer!  And it's fun!  And I totally wore it on a Friday, because that's when you can be most fun at work in the summer, if you don't have any crazy meetings.  The shoes, by the way, are Uggs.  I swear.  Uggs.  Who knew they made sandals, and who knew they'd be cute?  They're the Char two-piece sandal, if you're interested.

One more thing?  My legs are typically just one shade off of chalk-white.  They're embarrassing.  I can even be sunburned horribly on my arms and back, and my legs will be all, "no thanks, we enjoy our ghostly pallor and creating uncomfortable complexion dichotomies, so yeah, go away sun."  And they throw up some kind of incredibly complex and heretofore unknown to man sun-blocker so effective scientists are still trying to reformulate it 44 years after its discovery.  (Did I take that joke too far?  Oh well.)  So this day, I tried out Sally Hansen leg makeup.  It works!  And it didn't rub off on anything, but still washed off with just soap and water later.  Good stuff.

I'll try to not let so much time pass before my next post.  I'm also going to try to find a better mirror (or at least clean this one), so bear with me.

Business Travel Part 4 – Time To Go Home

So you almost didn’t get a picture today, because I overslept by an hour, packed my hotel room in a flurry, hopped in a cab thinking I’d be 5 minutes late for my morning meeting and … Apparently the metro is closed in DC. Did y’all know that? I didn’t. You can imagine was the uptick in motor traffic was like then.

Thankfully, when I showed up at 9:25, everyone was understanding, and I wasn’t even the last person there. Doesn’t that automatically make it better? It should. Someone codify that.

And I kid. I’m a professional, but oversleeping and being late like that (I typically build in plenty of time for DC traffic, which would have saved me here) was pretty unprofessional. So I apologized (and meant it – that part’s important), and then got down to business so I could minimize my disruption as much as possible.

There, professional, non-sartorial advice today. You’re welcome.

Now back to this blog's intent … Here’s my travel-day, business meeting dress.




Not knowing I’d oversleep (which makes dresses handy), but knowing I’d have packing, cab ride, meeting, meeting, cab ride, airport sitting, airplane sitting, driving home … I wanted comfortable. In other words, it was not a suit-wearing day. Not that suits can’t be comfortable, but there’s just a natural uprightness I feel when I wear them, like I costumed to be a badass.. But these were informal meetings and there was a lot of “active” time. It was another comfy dress day. I don’t know why, but dresses can just be infinitely more comfortable than a suit on a plane. Of course, I still bring a jacket (not in the picture because I didn’t need it), because you never know what meeting rooms and planes are gonna do temperature wise. Doesn’t matter if it’s June, plan for layering.

If you went to the link, you already know that this is another Eloquii. I’m kind of in love with Eloquii right now. You can find career wear that’s got just enough edge to stand out (but not inappropriately so) in a fairly conservative industry. Remember this post? Also an Eloquii. Plus, they have a lot of great sales, which does not suck at all.

The cut of this dress is actually pretty simple, and very comfy. The tie waist gives it the right amount of shape. And I never tie tie-waists too tight, because then I not only get uncomfortable (which defeats the purpose), but I also look kinda ridiculous. It’s a relaxed professional look, don’t make it tight and stodgy!

So there ya have it! I’ll take a couple of days respite now to get my act back together (and see if I can seek out a new selfie stick so I don’t end up posting a ton of bathroom pics, because that just seems gross), and more posts next week!


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Business Travel Part 3 - Yeah, I Don't Blend In

Today was a very sociable day, and a picture day. Seriously, so many pictures, some expected and some not.  I may even end up in a very respected industry magazine, which for a geek like me, will rank up there just below the time I received a thank you credit in a book in the same line as my favorite economist. And ... yes, I should should stop with that line of geekdom now.

Anyway, knowing some of the pictures were coming, I wanted to be sleek, but still comfy. And of course, again, I needed something that packed well.

Today, I went with a nice gray wool.  A light wool, though, so I didn't look ridiculous in June.  I have an Eloquii suit that really, truly, did the trick today.

My picture (I really need to up my detailed selfie game) doesn't do the jacket justice, so here, go to this link and have a closer looksy.  Now on the website, the model didn't turn the collar down.  Of course, it looks awesome on her.  She's a model, so duh.  I did turn the collar and lapels down, because I wanted to bring some more attention to the blouse and my "I could be a 1950s housewife and rock it, but I choose not to" pearls.  Were I wearing a more staid blouse, I would have popped the collar like a good 1980s frat boy and worn it like on the website.  Damned if this jacket doesn't work really well both ways.  It's a great, tailored cut, and the almost peplum-like detailing where you'd expect pockets is visually interesting in a good way.  

The matching skirt for the jacket is here, by the way.  

And Eloquii is doing a 30% off sale with a promo code (on the website), so check stuff out, the work wear is solid enough to be professional, non-standard enough not to get stodgy, and very well tailored.  

The blouse, alas, is long gone from sale racks unless you find it on ebay.  Which is a pity.  It's just a simple chevron Jones New York tank I picked up on clearance a few years ago, but the thing is so comfortable and so well cut, it deserved a bit of highlighting in the ensemble.   Plus, because it's almost jersey-like but 95% polyester, I don't think it's possible to wrinkle it on the wrinkliest day of the year with an electrified wrinkling machine (to paraphrase Homer Simpson, which I probably do too often).  

Anyway, total effect, if I do say so myself, is professional, solid, sleek (especially with my still-kinda-new-but-already-beloved-bangs), and eye catching.  

I mean really.  With my height and stature, I ain't blending into any crowds.  I may as well make the most of it.  

Business Travel Part 2 - Conference Time!

Tonight will be short, because I did my "laser-focus to the exclusion of all my surroundings, including an appropriate bed time" in getting some work done, so tomorrow is already looking to be a day of coffee and Monster energy drinks without finely crafting a blog entry of perfect humor/savvy/sartorial importance.

Let's get to the pic and some practicality:




(And as you can likely tell, it took me all of one day to break my damn selfie stick. At least the hotel has a full-length mirror.)

So when you're out of town on a trip, you want stuff that packs well. Duh, of course you do. You know what packs really frickin' well? Denim.

So this, my friends, is a denim (okay, technically "chambray") suit. Be sure to check your dress code policies because you get something like this. Some businesses don't allow denim in any way, shape, or form. But I'm am not thus constrained, and even if I was, I'm conferencing, baby, so I have freeeeeeeeedom to denim the hell out of it. This little baby is another Tahari ASL you can pick up at Macy's for a reasonable price.

You know how Tahari usually runs on the big side? If you do go for this suit, go a size smaller than your usual Tahari even. I did, thinking I was buying a suit for 10 pounds from now, but it fit perfect.

I put it with comfy shoes, because you just never know when you're going to end up taking a walk to the CVS a few blocks from the hotel. Like I did. There's not always a lot of suitcase room on business trips - you want to conserve space for conference binders and any work you had to bring with you. So I made sure the shoes I packed were "I can go a few blocks" walkable.

These are Spring Steps, the Lorka style. And holy crap, they're awesome! My only advice? If you're like me and shoes with the zipper in the back rub your ankle a bit, these will hit the rub spot. It's an easy fix, though - cut some small patches of moleskin (you can find it in any CVS or Walgreen's or whoever there's a "stuff for your feet like insoles and wart medicine" isle), and put those on the sweet spot on the back of your ankle. With that quick fix, my feet in these shoes are invincible. Invincible, I tells ya! And no one is going to notice.

As an aside, as you may be able to tell, I recently cut my bangs. Hell, I wish I'd done this a while ago. I can now part my flat, stupid hair in the middle and not care if it just hangs there, because I no longer feel any pressure to make it puff it artfully around my face so my cheeks don't look Godfather-Brandoesque and my forehead doesn't look like a billboard. That shit took work, people. This is a "part it, flat-iron the ends, and I'm out" kinda haircut, and I'm enjoying it.




My stick straight hair finally has purpose and meaning! Huzzah!

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Business Travel

So now is when I unceremoniously announce that the interview series has concluded. For a week now, I have been in a new position at a great company with really amazing people, and I'm incredibly blessed and lucky. I'm not kidding. As I drove into town the night before my first day, there was a friggin' rainbow over the city. Just try to tell me that's not a good sign.

The last few weeks have been a whirlwind. After four post-Memorial Day days on the new job, I am out of town for a conference. So how about we talk travel/conference business wear? Travel needs to be comfy, conference (depending on the formality) can be very daunting. And traveling light can be a challenge. So why not?

Let's start with travel, especially when you know you have a meeting at the end of the taxi ride.

Since I've been up since 3 am (love early flights), I wanted some comfort today. But I also had a 3 pm meeting. Of course, I ended up calling into the meeting, but I didn't know that starting out the day.

The Igigi dress from this post is beautifully comfortable. I wore it with a denim blazer I bought from Lane Bryant several years ago and Cole Haan wedges (because again, comfort).

By the way, airlines are nuts right now. It doesn't matter what you're used, to, plan extra time. I was very close to getting booted on my flight for being late Even though I was only 10-15 minutes behind my typical schedule. There goes the $30 extra I paid for priority boarding. Blergh.

So, about six hours after getting up, I was still doing okay. I was relaxed and comfy and feelin' awesome about being in one of my favorite cities (I love DC, I just do). I may have been tired and slightly sick, but I still had my sass on.




The sunglasses? Why yes, the devil(ish attorney) wears Prada. Discounted Prada sunglasses because I can be cheap, but Prada nonetheless.

Unfortunately, whether it was due to dehydration or lack of sleep, the sass dissipated and was replaced by migraine/queasy city Before lunchtime hit. I managed to avert a full-blown migraine, but it still kind of shot the day as far as being anywhere near other people. I ended up calling into my first meeting and sitting in my room with a cooling pack and a Diet Coke (sweet, caffeinated elixir of the gods), and getting some work done.

So my apologies - by the time I got to outfit picture-taking ... Well, this is what you're getting.




I may be worse for the wear, but my dress and jacket still look great. I wish I wasn't slouching though, so you could better tell how great. My mom was right, as she usually is. Standing up straight makes a huge difference.

Anyway, the rest of the week? I've got two conference days, then another travel day. So the next two days will be suits, and the day after that, another dress for travel. More to come.

In the meantime, please forgive the obvious "blergh" of today's posting.

In case you are unsure of the definition of "blergh," it's this:




PS - With the new job, I will not have regular access to my photographers (i.e., whichever family member I can shake down for pics before they go to work/school), so you'll be seeing a lot of the selfie stick. I'll do the best I can to get shoes and everything in the outfits as I can.


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