Monday, September 9 day 9 of year 19

Monday blues?  Not in this happy dress!  I bought this dress for a wedding four years ago and it somehow got lost in the back of my closet for the last couple of seasons.  I used to think it was too dressy for work but realized that if I wore a smaller heeled shoe, it would look more work appropriate.  It's from Talbots.  I found it at their outlet in Cockeysville for next to nothing.

The dress has a back zipper which makes it fitted and it's lined.  The front pockets are awesome.  The collar is the most detailed part of the dress.  It's like a mock turtleneck which is nice because then there are no peekaboo issues at school.  The shoes have a small kitten heel and eyelet detail across the top.  They are from Payless.  Yep, Payless.  I don't go there often but every once in awhile I can find something.

Friday, September 6 day 8 of year 19

Cropped pants and a tunic?  It must be Friday!  This top is Jones New York and the pants are from Express.  I found this top digging through a wooden crate of clothes at DeBois Textiles www.deboistextiles.com in Baltimore.  This store is a combination of 4 stores.  It has a high-end vintage store, a fabric remnant store, a vintage store and a dig-in-a-wooden-crate-for-what-you-want store.  I'm not kidding, each crate has a sign such as "women's tops" and the crate is full of tops.  You just lean over the side and dig until your heart's content.  This tunic was buried in one of those crates with the tags still on it.  $4?  Oh yeah!

Because the top has a deep V neck I wear a bandeau bra with it.  Call me crazy, but working in an elementary school requires me to get creative sometimes.  I could wear a camisole top instead but I didn't want the bulk of another layer.  The bandeau covers just enough without the bulk.  

The sleeves have the same V cut and black trim as the neck.  The bottom also has the same black trim.  This gives the graphic fabric a defined edge which I think makes it look classy.  The shoes are from the Clarks outlet and I've had them for at least five years.  They have a small kitten heel and are super comfortable.  

Wednesday, September 7 day 4 of year 19

This is one of my newest dresses from The Loft.  It is super comfortable because the fabric contains lycra.  Dresses like this can be tricky to pull off.  Most of the time they are not fitted properly and as my friend Julie says, "It looks like cats in a bag." when women wear them.  But this one has a couple details that keep it fitted.  First of all it is lined with solid blue fabric.  The lining is what clings to your undergarments instead of the striped fabric.  Because of this, the top layer of fabric looks smooth and doesn't cling.  Cheaper versions of this dress aren't lined and they never look as good no matter your shape or size.

The second important detail are the gathers on the left side.  They define the waist which in turn gives you hips which keeps away the "cats in a bag" look.  Everyone has a waist and drawing the eye to it gives you shape and a shape always looks better than no shape.  I also love the fact that the stripes align on the seams.  

My watch is a Swatch watch.  I've always preferred a men's size.  This one also has the date which is extra handy for school.  The anchor bracelets are from J. Crew.  They add a nautical flare to the outfit.  The silver bangles are from a set of 10 from Target.  The brown sandals are the same pair I featured in week 1.

New Glasses!

New glasses!

These are my new glasses from Warby Parker www.warbyparker.com

I haven't bought a new pair of glasses in over 4 years.  I have a really hard time finding something that I like AND look good on me.  Warby Parker has a great idea, choose 5 styles from their website and they will mail them to you for 5 days for FREE!  You try them on, take selfies, show them to your friends and then decide what you like and don't like.  Then you mail them back to the company.  Most frames are only $99 plus your prescription.  Of course I have special eyes which require a double vision prescription so I had to buy the frames and then have my optometrist put in the correct lenses.  I wish I could wear my contacts without wanting to dig out my eyes but I can't.  I've tried lots of different kinds of lenses but can't find any that are comfortable for more than a couple hours.

Tuesday, September 3 day 6 of year 19

It's week 2 and thanks to a combination of Labor Day and Rosh Hashanah it's a 3 day week!  Tuesday's outfit is a pair of linen pants from Ann Taylor and a button down from Express.  I love these pants.  They are long which requires heels, the same pair of black heels that I posted from Week 1, but they length makes my not-so-long legs look long.  They have an inside button and two on the outside which makes for a nice smooth fit.  The only detail I would add would be front pockets.  When I was in high school my mom would never let me buy anything that was linen because it requires dry cleaning.  But thanks to Zips Dry Cleaning it doesn't cost a fortune to have clothes dry cleaned.

The shirt is a hand-me-down from my sister-in-law Becky www.bisforbecky.com  I love it but because it's short, I wear a camisole under it.  I had it before I had the pants and when I found the pants I knew it was a perfect color match.  The graphic shapes take away the seriousness of the linen.