Black and white stripes

To me, a black and white stripe dress is such a classic item.  When I think of black and white dresses, I always think of simple 70's shift dresses - think Twiggy:

There were a lot of great striped dresses long before the 70's, but this is what comes to my mind.  Plus, with black and white photos, it's not clear if the dresses from earlier eras were black-and-white striped, or just dark-and-light striped.  Still, a couple more fun pictures:

And of course, who could ever forget the black and white striped trim on this dress:

My dress is from New York and Company, and isn't super high quality (for example, it is not lined), but I still paid full price for it - NYandCo is one of those stores where you barely ever have to pay full price because they have big sales and big coupons.  But I saw this dress on the mannequin and loved it.  They were sold out of my size in the store, so I made them strip the mannequin, and it fit perfectly.  (I do this surprisingly often - it is convenient to be mannequin sized.)  But then I got pregnant, and I didn't wear the dress once!  I finally fit back into it now, and am looking forward to wearing it more going forward.

I wore this particular outfit to a prayer service plus birthday party at my mom's house.
Oh, and I dressed baby girl in a black and white dress, with red tights and red turtle-neck underneath.  I couldn't resist.

(Dress: New York and Company, boots: Banana Republic, purse: Jimmy Choo, bought via Lollipuff.com, Nylons (yes, nylons, not tights): Target.)

Making a boring outfit interesting

Let's face it: black pants and a v-neck magenta sweater - boooring.
But at the same time, it is a nice combination.
So these are the little touches that I hope made my black pants with a v-neck magenta sweater just a bit more interesting today:
black-and-white shoes, and black-and-white earrings (sorry - no pic)
black super-structured blazer (my zac posen w/ it's interesting shoulders, pockets, and peplum)
interesting little details on the sweater (button cuffs)

Another time I wore this basic pants-and-sweater outfit I added a fun textured scarf for indoors but didn't wear the blazer, while today I just wore a warm black scarf mostly while outside and wore the blazer while indoors as well.

(Sweater: Martin and Osa!  Oh Martin and Osa, how I miss you.  Pants: Express. Shoes and earrings: White House Black Market (because really - where better to get black-and-white items?).  Blazer: Zac Posen, on super-sale from Saks Off Fifth, the Saks Fifth Avenue outlet (my favorite high-end outlet because it is truly high-end).)

A fun blouse

 

Yup, just one picture today.  :)  I wore my camel suit, but I pulled out one of my old blouses that is super fun.  The brown crinkly fabric and ties at the sleeves are just neat, and it went well with the suit.  This is an example of a nice-looking and fun item from a juniors department - sometimes they have great things, much more interesting than the items that are actually made for people our age.

If you've wondered how I always have just a tiny triangle of camisole showing - I pin my blouses to my cami.  Cotton button-downs stay put just fine, but for more silky blouses, I've found that pinning them just a tiny bit at the placket holds them in place perfectly, and makes it so I don't have to be adjusting myself throughout the day.  And then I have that just-right little triangle of cami showing through, and the collar stays where it is supposed to.

(Blouse: A Junior's department, but I don't remember where.  Cami: Forever 21.  Suit: J-crew factory.  Shoes: Macy's. Belt: Banana Republic - oh, I tend to buy some of my belts in size Medium because I wear them with low-rise pants that hit at the hip.  It's probably worth mentioning - it took me a while to figure out that I had to order belts in such large sizes.)

Red, white and blue

Red, white and blue is such a classic color combination, and I always love it.  I am finally starting to fit back into some of my pre-pre-baby button-down shirts, and this was always one of my favorites.  I like the bold blue and white stripes, the super-long sleeves that show so nicely under a suit jacket, plus the great tailoring.  And my red necklace and skinny belt are always fun.  I've been on the lookout for a replacement red skinny belt for years because this one is a bit low quality, but I haven't found a single one that has looked as good.

Sadly, the company that the shirt is from is out of business.  There was a short-lived store called "Martin & Osa" which carried men's and women's clothing targeted towards 20- to 30-somethings.  The women's clothing was pretty much exactly made for me, which is clearly why they went out of business.  The long-limbed short-torso-ed big-boobed solids- and stripes-loving market is not super large. 

One other thing I must say: I know I should have lengthened the pants on this suit.  I bet I could have gotten another inch out of it.  I think it's too late now - it would show if I tried to get it lengthened now.  But I'll have to remember this next time I buy a suit where the pants are just a tad short with heels - just get it adjusted right away, or it will never happen.

(Shirt: Martin and Osa, suit: J-crew factory, necklace: a claire's-like store, belt: I think I've honestly had it since junior high, shoes: Nordstrom - this shoe, and a few variations in different fabrics/leathers are on sale at Nordstrom rack now!  I highly recommend this shoe if you're looking for a nice work shoe - it's super comfortable (comfortable enough for me to teach in it for 3 hours, and then go for a 1.5 mile walk around campus) but still looks really stylish.)

Cropped pantsuit, take 2

This suit is really allowing me to wear blouses that have been hard to wear!  This is another one of those blouses that I loved - the fabric and drape are great, even though it's super cheap - but that were hard to wear.  This blouse has such great simple colors, but at the same time the stripes were a little too funky to work with a lot of outfits.  But with the cropped houndstooth pantsuit - it worked!

(Blouse: Old Navy!, Suit: J-crew factory, shoes: Ann Klein)

What's my style?

I just wrote a review for a new jacket I bought from Ann Taylor (I'll probably wear it next week and share pics then).  Ann Taylor asked me what my style was:

Classic: timeless & tailored
Modern: clean & streamlined
Fashion-forward: trendy & cutting-edge
Buttoned-up: structured & neat
Feminine: romantic & soft






I know I'm not "Feminine: romantic & soft" even though I have the occasional feminine dress.  But other than that...  classic? modern? fashion-forward? buttoned-up?

I like structured and neat clothing, find tailoring to be very important, like clean and streamlined looks, but also want to make sure that my look still seems on-trend, or at least not dated. ... 

Anyway, I've read from various Yahoo! headline articles and fashion blogs, and I think my friend N-- who read a book on it, that it can be very helpful to know your own style.  It can make shopping and dressing a lot easier.  So I thought I'd force us all to do a little exercise to characterize our own (target/ideal) styles.  Don't limit yourself to the Ann Taylor categories, but think of a few words that describe the looks you like best for yourself.

I think mine is:
Tailored, clean, but bold, and a little bit sexy. 
I like solid colors, color-block, and the occasional geometric print.  I like bright colors, black, and white.
I like items that are either very slim and fitted or that are explicitly flowy or wide - nothing in-between.

What's yours?  And does my description of my style seem right to you?  (It's always interesting to compare our own images of ourselves with how others' see us.)

A typical Wintery jeans outfit

Okay, so "Wintery" is relative.

Remember my skinny jeans rules?  This outfit follows all of them.  This is one of my winter go-to outfits, and I finally took a pic.  Actually, you have the Ace Hardware greeter to thank for that - he complimented me on my outfit when I walked in!  I figured any outfit that gets a compliment from the Ace Hardware greeter deserves to be documented.  :)

• (Jeans: Forever Karlie style by Frame Denim.  Frame is one of the newer designer denim brands and I love these jeans.  The Forever Karlie is extra long, so it gathers at the bottom on me.  And the fading is *perfect* - flattering but subtle.
• Sweater: Mango - my new favorite store for stylish but inexpensive clothing (I love the boxy but not huge shape and the stud detail).  
• Purse: Rebecca Minkoff 5-zip from Nordstroms (a lot of Rebecca Minkoff purses show up at Nordstrom Rack for a big discount), 
• Boots: Kenneth Cole.  These are falling apart now and I need a replacement.  But I try to *always* own a pair of casual but stylish chunky-heel black boots, preferably in a synthetic so I can tromp through rain, puddles, and back in the day snow and ice, without worry.)