Thank you for stopping by. 

I won't be posting my daily wear-to-work updates until Jan. 4, when I return from holiday break. Please come back then and enjoy Happy Holidays!

More cottony ruffles (and purple)

You can barely tell, but that's actually a denim pencil skirt I'm wearing. I'm taking advantage of casual dress week to wear it because I have a sneaking feeling it's not dressy enough for a regular work day. Ah, well. Must be a grown-up, I guess.

Check out the tank top. It's XXS. Crazy size, no? Size inflation is getting ridiculous. I don't remember ever wearing a size 0 or XS in college or even high school. Things just got out of control in retail apparel the past few years. I think I would have been a size 8 in the 1960s, which is a perfectly slender and attractive size.

Super ruffle

This is what I wore yesterday (Tuesday). Found this shirt for $10 at Ann Taylor Loft. I love, love this color. Purple and magenta instantly attract me.

Dressed like old times

And here's what I wore for you-don't-have-to-dress-up-and-you-can-even-wear-jeans-week at work.

Those are courduroys, by the way. They're very dark blue, but my laptop camera does not pick up nuance.

Dressing like this made me feel like a journalist again. Except I wasn't working in a crowded room full of televisions with several different channels on at once. And I wasn't surrounded by huffing, stressed-out people trying to post online updates about a county's newest ambulance budget or home garden solutions or soldiers' funerals.

That's a wrap! (No, actually, it's a cowl neck...)

Et voila!

There's week one of my adventures in professional dressing. I ended it with this fabulously well-designed and extremely comfortable cowl neck from J. Crew.

Funny thing is, in a meeting this morning our department head told us we could dress comfortably (even jeans!) next week because there won't be anyone visiting the office.

I've been told by my new co-workers this has never, ever, ever happened before in our department.

Are larger forces conspiring to reward me for dressing professionally for one entire week? I HAVE been known to theorize that the world does revolve around me, so I'll say yes on this one.

A leetle game for you

Guess which part of this outfit was free.

Got your guess?

OK, here's the answer...

The necklace was free of charge to me last year when I got a $15-off-any-purchase-at-Banana-Republic coupon for my birthday from BR.

('Cuz I have a credit card from them 'cuz I used to buy LOTS of their clothes when I lived in a rural part of the country where there were very few women my size, so the clearance racks there were a GOLD MINE.)

Yeah, so when I got that coupon, I scoured the entire store for something that was under $15 and wearable, and I came upon this necklace. I LOVE this necklace. It's bold.

Dressy to impressy

I'm going to get really good at posing in a matter of weeks. Modelesque, no?

I'm just showing off another uncharacteristically polished look. That's a tuxedo jacket I got from Ann Taylor Loft. It was the best price on a decent tuxedo jacket I had seen all fall (about $70-something, I think). Love that I can roll up the sleeves for a casualized dressy look.

The slacks are from Banana Republic, and the creases down each leg actually last all day. A rarity!

My version of retail DIY

Here's day two of uber-professional dressing. And, again, I got the jacket from Mom. But I assure you, she doesn't buy all my clothes. We got it for $10 at Ann Taylor. Yup. $10. Off the clearance rack. I think it was discounted so much because half of the little hidden metal fastener was missing from the front of the jacket. So I just took it home and cut the other half off and now use the belt to close the jacket.

Gray on gray

Here's what I wore to my first day of work. Pretty dressy, no? I decided to play it super-safe and dress to impress on the first day. I was probably overdressed, but better than the opposite, right?

Pardon the photo quality. That Banana Republic charcoal gray pencil skirt I'm wearing was actually a gift from my mom when I graduated undergrad several moons ago, and the J. Crew jacket is from my parents when I graduated grad this past spring. So this outfit has a neat little back story, huh?

The shoes I'm wearing are Naturalizers--not just for old ladies anymore! They have some pretty cute shoes, and I'm big on function over form when it comes to shoes. However, I did walk several blocks downtown in them, and I now understand why most women carry their heels and wear tennis shoes. Think I'll do that tomorrow.