GYPO Style Challenge - Work Wear Edition!

A few weeks ago I blogged about the upcomming GYPO Work Wear Challenge. I was  super excited for it, especially since I always have to make adjustments to the daily outfits to make them more work appropriate. 

Complete disclosure, I work for a software company, I could come to work every day in a super hero t-shirt and flip flops and would fit in with 45% of the office. Instead, since I have direct reports I feel that I should dress a little more professionally and I like clothes. A LOT. Always have, always will. Fat Lara, skinnier Lara and in between Lara, we all love clothes.

I was really, really excited for this challenge and then I got the shopping list. I owned every. single. item... Not gonna lie, I was more than a little sad about that. But it's a good thing, we need to save money and get our house ready to sell, Instead, I shopped from my closet, Kev, did you hear that? I DIDN'T BUY A THING FOR THIS CHALLENGE.

Some of the other challengers suggested that I splurge on a piece or replace something in my existing wardrobe but I couldn't bring myself to do that. I'm a little fluffier than I want to be and I don't want to get something in a larger size than I'd like. Another suggestion was to get additional pieces for more variety... yeah, that's not a problem either, You'll see...

Instead I went to the closet!

Blue oxford shirt, I'm using this chambray one from Old Navy. I don't really like button-up shirts on me, too much boobage, so it takes a lot for me to find one I like. 

The white tunic-y shirt is from the Limited Outlet, and I actually bought this a few months ago in anticipation of the challenge. :) It paid off!

We needed 2 cardigans and a patterned skirt. I have several cardigans but I think this burgundy one and the green will work well with the rest of the capsule. 

For the skirts, I have a polka dot one and a black and white stripe, both from the Limited, and there's an unpictured red skirt from the Limited as well. Not gonna lie, I have an orange Limited skirt too.

Next we needed a polka dot shirt. Yeah, I have a few, one is blue and red (or orange, I swear I can't tell), black and white and black and red. All from the Limited. Remember, I LOVE circles.

Black pants, grey pants, colored pants and jeans. Kinda boring but the jeans and colored pants are from the Limited, grey from the Gap and the black ones from Macy's. Hmmm... I have burgundy pants too. I might like those for fall a little better.

Black blazer I picked up for convention and actually haven't worn yet. Surprisingly I got this at Sears.

Unpictured is a plain black tshirt from Target.

For jewelry and accessories, we needed a long gold necklace, pearl necklace, chunky gold watch. I have my MK watch that I wear almost every day, a neutral Kendra Scott Necklace and a chunky pearl necklace I got from jane.com a while ago. I did skip the skinny belt because I look dumb in belts. 

Lastly, the shoes.... This is a small portion of them... We needed neutral heals, and I have pumps, shooties and flats, leopard shoes (I have flats too), a pair of red shoes that I've really had for 100 years and I had to brush the dust off them. 

Oh, also unpictured is the MK bag I carry every day. The challenge called for a neutral structured bag and I use one everyday.

And that friends, is my capsule wardrobe for this challenge. It's going to be a good one! Oh, don't forget my 10 years in NC giveaway! Check out the original post here!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Linking up!

Garaytreasures Link Up  Style Sessions, Elegantly Dressed and Stylish

How to Deal with Wearing a Jumpsuit all Day

I'm pretty sure that several months ago, here on this very blog, I poo pooed the jumpsuit / romper trend. Well it's time for me to take those harsh words back.  What happened is, sadly I've reached that point in my life where styles I wore when I was younger are back. They're all back. overalls and crop tops and chunky boots for the fall.

I remember seeing trends when I was in high school and my mom would comment that they had that back in the 70s or 60s. I'd blow it off and think she was just old.

Yea, that's me now. Lordy. 

Back when I was in high school I rocked the the romper / jumpsuit. As a matter of fact, that snazzy purple number I'm wearing in my senior picture is a shorts romper. 

That bad boy buttoned up the front like a pair of pajamas. It was awesome. I also had a "casual" romper that was white with blue flowers. I'm pretty sure there was lace around the legs and I looked good. 

Oh, for clarification, I consider a romper a once piece outfit that you have to completely take off in order to pee.

Since I rocked a romper back in the day, I swore I'd never do it again.... Until I signed up for the GYPO Summer challenge and one of the items was a... you guessed it, romper. I decided to be open minded and not only did I find and fall in love with that black number but this one too,

"Resort Wear" 'yo.

I know there are a bunch of people who wore the romper back in the day but just and bring yourself to try it again. Well. I'm here to tell you you can AND give some handy tips on how you can make wearing a romper more manageable.

1. Limit your beverage intake for the day. Not even kidding. Less beverage, less pee, less getting naked in the bathroom stall.

2. Give your self extra time. I don't know about you but I'm the type of person who ignores having to potty until the last minute and then have to run to the restroom. Don't do that if you're wearing a romper. The first time you feel that twinge, lock your PC, get up and go.

3. Look for the bigger stalls, You need to take all that -ish off, ESPECIALLY if you have a jacket on over top. You need space. Head for the handi-capable stall. Nothing worse than trying to get half undressed in a tiny stall.

4. Maybe wear a tank top or camisole under your romper. That way you won't feel completely naked when it's time to half take it off in the stall.

5. I really don't have a #5, but list posts need to end on an odd number. Only having 4 things just doesn't seem right. Can I think of something.... nooooope.

Alrighty, that's all from me. I've talked about the potty far too many times in this post. Sadly, I could keep going, but I won't. Go get you a romper and rock it!

Linking up!

Garaytreasures Link Up  Style Sessions, Elegantly Dressed and Stylish

GYPO Summer Style - Week 1

Well, well, last week was the first week of the GYPO Summer Challenge! I'll be honest, I totally struggled with this one. I was good, seriously, I was really good for this round and then the fiery gates of Hades opened up and it was too damn hot to wear most of my creations. Don't get me wrong, I still wore some of the loner sleeved outfits, ans thankfully my office is an icebox most of the time.

Alright, let's get on with what I wore. The first day called for patterned shorts, a drapey tank and a denim vest. You know what the perfect outfit would have been? This one. Except I wore it the week before. Le Sigh...

Instead I subbed for a patterned skirt, pink tee and a white cardigan. I like to think that I "re imagined" the outfit and made it work appropriate.

Day 2 called for a graphic tee and brightly colored shorts. No shorts for work but I did have some orange pants from the Limited and a graphic tee with gold pineapples and gold sandals. I was still waiting for my graphic tee from Jane.com (which FINALLY arrived)

I felt super summery and then I went outside for lunch and when I came back, felt super smelly. I'm sure it wasn't as bad as I imagined.

Day 3 was the white dress, denim vest and nude sandals. I really, really wanted to wear my denim jacket with this dress and some turquoise jewelry. But again, it was too stinking hot to wear a jacket. Instead I subbed for a navy cardigan but I didn't love it. I actually think it makes me look larger than I am. I liked the shape of the dress a lot better without the sweater but I hate my arms. I know it's good to accept yourself and love every part of your body blah blah blah but I swear, no matter what size I am, my arms are gigantic. It's not for lack of work, I even have muscle definition in my biceps and triceps but I still won't go sleeveless. Ehhh,,,,

I scored this denim jacket at Goodwill for $5 and I had every intention of cutting off the sleeves and making a vest. But the more I looked at it, the more I liked the shrunken look of it. It's a small, and I'm definitely not but it think it's pretty cute. 

Day 4 - Patterned kimono, flowy tank and boyfriend shorts. Yeah, none of those were happening. I did look for a kimono and tried on a bunch. I mentioned before, they didn't work for me. I looked like the madam of a whorehouse every time I tried one on. 

For my work wear version of the outfit, I swapped for a flowy patterned tank and a flowy cardigan. No shorts for me so I wore more Limited exact stretch cropped pants. Please don't ask how many pairs I own... it's embarrassing.

I took a break from bathroom selfies to show a glimpse into my Skittles OCD. My intern had a bucket of Skittles to share and I perhaps had catch the rainbow. I always have to line them up by color and if there are extras, I eat them first.

Day 5 called for brightly patterned shorts, an eyelet white top and a colored necklace. I went complete off the reservation on this one. I scored this super cute jumpsuit at Ross and needed to wear it instead. :) It's bright, right? and there's white on the top.

Yes, I had to get completely undressed in the bathroom every time I had to pee but damn it was comfy. It might have been a little too "resorty" for work but 1/2 the office wears superhero shirts and ratty shorts, I think this is just fine. 

When I got home I changed into the casual version of the outfit. The shirt is over sized but I think it might be a little boxy for my taste.

Day 6 was supposed to be white shorts and a chambray shirt. I planned for white pants and a jean jacket but that wasn't happening. Instead I had a chambray skirt and a white shirt. I didn't love it, I usually wear a blue shirt with that skirt. Since I wasn't a huge fan of it I changed into a different skirt

Day 7 was a maxi dress with the denim vest. I'll be honest, I wasn't wearing a maxi dress to go to the gym and get groceries. Part of the challenge is to force people out of the comfort zone and not look like a slob while out and about and I think I'm pretty good at doing that 95% of the time. But wearing a dress to get groceries? Nope.

Instead, here's a picture of me, in a patterned maxi dress and my denim jacket. If I had dressed on plan Sunday, it would have looked like this. :)

What are you wearing this week??

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Ode to the Jean Jacket

Wow, this is a post I never thought I'd write, but here I am. An Ode to the Jean Jacket because I recently developed a new love for this classic piece of clothing.

I grew up a child of the 80s and like all good 80s kids I rocked the big bangs and the acid washed jean jacket. If I remember correctly, I had an assortment of buttons pinned to the front. Probably Bon Jovi or Poison. Because that's what you did in the 80s, you had pins of hair metal bands. If you were really into G&R, you'd put a giant patch on the back of your jean jacket. (I did not).

I got older, out grew my jean jacket and never bought another one. Wait, I did, once when I was in grad school and was working at Sears in the jewelry department. I got one with my discount, put it in my closet and never wore it. A few years later, I put it in the donate bag.

Fast forward to maybe 4 or 5 years ago. I found a cute denim jacket and bought it. I have no idea where it came from or when I got it. Part of me thinks it magically showed up in my closet because the closet gnomes knew that it was a must have. Closet gnomes are a real thing. #truth.

I almost put it in the donate bag at least 3 times because I had no idea what to do with it, until I joined the GYPO Spring Challenge. I saw soooo many people wearing jean jackets and it was adorable. Then 2 of my team members started wearing jean jackets over their super cute sun dresses.  I was inspired!

This was the first time wearing it. Maxi skirt AND a jean jacket, completely out of my comfort zone. 

Little more comfortable, jean jacket and a maxi dress!

No full length pix but this was also a black maxi dress.

Branching off into the world of the short dress and jean jacket

And just yesterday, printed skirt, bright tee and a jean jacket. Yes it's 90 degrees in NC but my office is 74 and wearing a jacket is pretty comfortable.

I talked about the GYPO Challenges in the past and I really can't say enough good things about them. I've always been a "shopper" but it's been so helpful to know exactly what you need to shop for. The best part is that these are all wardrobe  staples that I find myself using again and again and again.

Here's my advice, go get you a jean jacket! Find one a little snug so it still shows your shape. This isn't 1987 and you aren't Billy Ray Cyrus, no need to button it up. In fact, please don't ever button your jean jacket.

Linking up!

Meet at the Barre

-Ish I Did and Didn't Blog About, Pt.1

A few months ago I started following a blog whose author was participating in a Winter Fashion Challenge. The idea is, for 21 days you mix and match all of your outfits from a pre-determined capsule. It fascinated me for several reason, the first being, I love seeing what other people are wearing. Like, love it a lot. I also love Instagram pictures of people's lunches, especially in bento boxes. TINY FOOD IN COMPARTMENTS!!! But I digress...

The second reason was the concept of a capsule wardrobe. Only a few pieces of clothing, all coordinating together in perfect harmony. Crazy, I love clothes and might have a few. OK, more than a few. Shopping is my happy... I don't wear most of my things and some things I only ever wear with other things. I need to better mix and match what I do have. #IHaveALotOfClothes

I loved watching the outfit re-mixes and the thought of knowing exactly what to wear the night before was super appealing to me. If you haven't been, check out the Get Your Pretty On website. Sign up for the mailing list and get a free style challenge from last year. 

Ok, on to the challenge. I signed up for the Spring Challenge and couldn't wait to get the shopping list. Alison does a great job teasing 2 outfits and it usually starts a shopping frenzy on the Facebook page, I however, showed remarkable restraint and waited until I received the entire list. 

The cool thing is that you can start by shopping your closet to see which pieces you already own and what you'd need to add. 

I won't go into a lot of detail about the shopping list because that kinda defeats the purpose of the challenge. Instead, here's what I selected for the challenge.

I did end up purchasing a few things that weren't already in my closet. White pants, camo pants (un-pictured), olive pants, black drapey tank, grey t-shirt, black-tshirt, floral skirt (un-pictured, FINALLY found in the last week of the challenge)

The evening before we received the outfit and had to style it for the next day. As part of the challenge, there's a HUGELY active FB page where the participants post their outfits of the day. Did I mention I loved seeing what everyone else was wearing? 

Most of the outfits are geared more towards the casual side and some days I wasn't able to follow the challenge 100%. For example, the first day....

The very first day of the challenge, the CEO was in town. Day 1 was camo pants, grey shirt and bright cardigan and even though I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have minded, I thought I should keep it a little more professional. Instead, I did grey tank, bright cardigan and navy skirt. I would have never thought to pair this tank with a colored cardigan, mission accomplished. #TryToDressUpWhenTheBossIsInTown

Day 2 was pretty spot on. Stripped dress with a cardigan.

Day 3 was also 100% on point, white pants, black drapey tank, white pants. I got a lot of compliments on this outfit but I'm not sold on it. 

My #1 accessory on white pant day? Tide Stick. 

Day 4 involved a chambray shirt, white tank and I don't remember what kind of pants but I subbed with these burgandy ones. 

Day 5 was jeans, patterned shirt and bright flats. 

I have pictures from the other weeks too, but I missed a few days because in week 3 we went to Florida. 

I loved participating in the challenge and you should do it too. The Summer Challenge is open and the Early Bird Rate of $29 expires on 5/29. Then it goes up to $39. Sign up here to join me and the other challengers! Full disclaimer, that's an affiliate link for me but honestly, I'd still tell you to sign up and do the challenge even of I made $0 off it, which I probably will. 

The shopping list comes out on 6/5 and the daily outfits on 6/14 - 7/4. Just like last time I'll be in Florida for part of the challenge and off plan, I'll be back in Orlando for the Kappa Delta bianniual convention and I'll be in dresses every day. But I'll still have plenty of inspiration for the rest of the summer. For example, one of the sample outfits is a white eyelet dress, and I JUST so happened to be looking for a new white dress for convention. #TwoBirdsOneStone #ConventionShopping #OneDayIWontBeAbleToUseThatExcuse #TodayIsNotThat Day

I know most of the outfits will involve shorts and since that's not happening in my office, I'll be subbing for more work appropriate bottoms, Even if you have to dress more professionally, it's easy to substitute. 

Alright, don't foget to check out the link up!