Sonnets of Style

The past few months have definitely been busy for me lately, consisting of my daily three hour round trip drive to my job in DC and back, not to mention my demanding workload, but in the midst of all of that I’ve been inspired with my wardrobe lately with dress pant variations.

I know, dress pants. It makes you think of Hilary Clinton or maybe that coworker that always wore leggings disguised as dress pants and somehow managed to get away with it in a professional office. But for me, I’ve been inspired to wear more work trousers partially due to the weather dipping below 60 degrees and also due to the fact that it’s more of a creative challenge for me to come up with a pairing of blouse, blazer, pants and heels/flats that all somehow flow together without clashing.

This past week, I wore a pair of black trousers along with a pair of old Madewell heeled boots and topped off with a burnt orange cardigan. Another day, I wore my Banana Republic camel colored pants paired with a navy blouse and matching navy JCrew blazer. On Friday, I decided to wear a pair of flared Gap dress pants, actually size four (usually I’m a size 2, but in Gap’s pants and jeans I’m a four, go figure). I paired the flared navy Gap pants with a darker navy JCrew sweater I purchased years ago (I’m amazed it’s held up this long!), brown Jcrew Boots and I wore a light blue JCrew sleeveless blouse underneath.

Last Sunday, I wore a maroon Ann Taylor skirt that paired perfectly with a black Ann Taylor short sleeve blouse and a cute black fitted JCrew button down cardigan that I purchased last December.

All in all, I love dressing up for work and for church. It’s so ironic because I remember one way to “rebel” when I was younger was to untuck my school lands end blouse or wear a track jacket with my uniform when it was against the rules. I loved rebelling with clothes back then. Due to our constricting uniform, my classmates and I always worked to find ways to express our personalities through our accessories. I remember my one friend back then coming to school sporting navy blue Chuck Taylor sneakers, after that all of the girls wore them with their navy blue pleated skirts and white blouses on chapel days. It’s so funny that dress down days were my favorite back then, I lived for the days I could wear jeans and a t-shirt and not have to put on my khaki pants one more day.

Now I love the look of a nice khaki pant or white blouse, but teenage me couldn’t stand them. Seasons change though and I love expressing my own personality through the clothes I choose today too. Since my work doesn’t involve creativity, this is the one way I can put my creative side to good use. Sometimes I feel like it’s over the top.

For several months I’ve been wearing dark red lipstick to work. I’m honestly not sure if anyone wears lipstick at the office anymore, but I feel more put together when I put some on.

I’m wondering if anyone can relate to putting makeup on on the beltway. I never thought I’d become a thirty something working woman who drives on highways at 70 mph and slows to 3mph on the same highway and puts on her makeup on her way to work. It’s definitely my reality these days. For better or worse. My grandma called me the working career girl. I guess that’s true. But somehow I feel frustrated about that because that isn’t how I see myself. I’m so much more than just a career woman. My career doesn’t define me and never will. Neither do my clothes.

Anyway, come back later this week for more outfit ideas. I just bought some cute earrings at Target, it was an earring stud set and they look so adorable and cute and I’m planning on sharing them when I get them.

I love finding affordable jewelry, not just clothes. I wonder if anyone can relate. Even if I can buy more expensive jewelry, it’s so hard for me to do so and the main reason is because I’m always losing it. Ha.

Anyway, all for now.

Love,

Aimee