Four Ways To Wear Episode 9: Watercolor Silk Shirt

Remember that truckload of Martin & Osa clothing I found at the Goodwill? Well, this shirt was also a purchase from said truckload. It's 100% silk, machine washable, 7$ and originally $120. Awesome-sauce, right?

The Candidate: Silk Martin & Osa shirt

The Goal: A fun, summer shirt that I can also layer to get use in the other seasons. Bonus points for work-appropriateness.

The Results:


My first thought--easy with jeans.
Shirt: Martin & Osa via Goodwill
Jeans: Martin & Osa via Goodwill (it's like there's a trend somewhere...)
Shoes: Unkown, France


Second thought--the lower part actually has pockets, so it must be a tunic, right? Toss on some leggings, let's see how it looks!
Shirt: Martin & Osa via Goodwill
Vest: F21
Leggings: Target
Shoes: Unknown, France


I wanted to try something a bit more relaxed...bring in faded denim!
Shirt: Martin & Osa via Goodwill
Pants: AE via Plato's Closet
Sweater: The Limited via Goodwill
Shoes: Unknown, France


Now let's try something more teacher-y.
Shirt: Martin & Osa via Goodwill
Sweater: Express via Goodwill Outlet
Skirt: Preview Collection via Goodwill
Shoes: Unknown, France

The Verdict: It was very close with this one. While I like some of the outfits (mainly the one with jeans), this shirt was just very difficult to style! The colors are close to my main colors, but not spot on--something I would forgive if the silhouette was more versatile, but it's hard. It is slightly too long for pants, too short for leggings, too casual for work and I'm just not feeling it. I really wanted to love this shirt--honestly, $7 for a $120 shirt with the tags attached!!! However, in the end it would just be $7 for a shirt I'm not in love with, which would take up space in my wardrobe and which I would have to lug around with me from move to move. *sob* My overwhelming joy with the purple Martin & Osa dress throws my lackluster reaction to this shirt into sharp relief. There will be other silk shirts, right? So back it goes, and $7 goes back into my wallet for other items that will mesh in my wardrobe even better. So--nope, out it goes. Next!

Four Ways To Wear Episode 6: Black Oxford Flats

I've already started wearing this particular item day to day. I was confident that it would work flawlessly in my current wardrobe, so my Four Ways To Wear came a bit later...and here it is! Let's see if you can guess what the item is!


This is a professional look with the new item!
Skirt: Zooc via Garage Sale
Shirt: Merona via Goodwill
Sweater: Express via Goodwill Outlet
Tights: Hue via Plato's Closet
Shoes: Naturalizer via Goodwill


This is a more relaxed, but still professionally-appropriate look.
Shirt: Merona via Goodwill
Dress: H&M via Plato's Closet
Tights: Hue via Plato's Closet
Sweater: Unknown via Goodwill donation pile
Shoes: Naturalizer via Goodwill


This is a more fun outfit--I would definitely wear this to the zoo, to the park, or while exploring a new city.
Shirt: Banana Republic via BR Outlet
Pants: Martin & Osa via Goodwill
Shoes: Naturalizer via Goodwill


By now I'm sure you've guessed it--my new item is this pair of new shoes! Naturalizer, leather, and for $4 I took them home from the Goodwill over Labor Day weekend. I love how comfy they are, how they are made out of leather, how they go with skirts and pants, and how almost-geeky they are. Perfect for someone new in the teaching field!
Jacket: AE via Plato's Closet
Shirt: Merona via Goodwill
Jeans: Martin & Osa via Goodwill
Shoes: Naturalizer via Goodwill

Fields of Flowers

A day off=actual summer clothing!



Dress: H&M via Plato's Closet
Belt: Chico's via Goodwill
Sweater: Express via Goodwill Outlet
Shoes: Curfew via Goodwill

Vintage For Work

This is a repeat outfit for me, but I don't think I've posted it here yet...if I have, well then you REALLY know I like it! Again with the leggings--I've wanted a pair for ages, ever since my last ones bit it, and I'm very happy I finally coughed up the 6$ for a pair. I've been wearing them all the time (as you can see)!



Dress: Self-made from a vintage 50s pattern
Cardi: Express via Goodwill Outlet
Leggings: Target
Shoes: Unknown brand from France

Wardrobe Uniform

For work, I have been mainly wearing the same basic outfit (gray slacks, plain shirt, cardi, flats) every day and have thus been uninspired to snap photos. This is another one of my 'uniform' variations--neutral dress, cardi, pop-of-color tights and flats. I don't have a lot of clothing that works for my job, and I definitely will not be buying more for a job that I will only have for barely two months more.

However, I HAVE taken it upon myself to stock up my fall and winter wardrobe! Yesterday at the Goodwill I found an awesome wool Bebe zippered cropped coat (in fact, it is so awesome that I can't tell if it's ugly or awesome...but let's err on the side of awesome, shall we?) for $10, and today at the Goodwill I found a very soft, perfectly fitting purple printed sweater originally from the Gap for $6. I am just lucking out! (although Mr. P prefers to see it as 'spending lots of money on clothing you don't really need.' pfffft...) Pictures are forthcoming, hopefully on a new camera Mr. P and I will be getting in the next few days! (fingers crossed that nothing goes wrong!)

Also, I found my Holy Grail of topcoats--it's called Out The Door, and it was 5$ at a local beauty supply shop. Amaaaazing! Dries super fast, looks super shiny, does not chip very easily. I am pleased.

My Coach purse remains exciting, shiny and new--it goes so nicely with my wardrobe (plus my new wallet looks so cute inside it)!

Leopard Awesomeness

I am re-posting part of this from my reply on the 365 Fashion Rehab thread. My shopping day!

I was very proud of myself for shopping with a plan! Instead of just looking around and buying whatever caught my eye, I had a list of both articles of clothing to look for and color stories to stick to. You can look at my blog for the in-depth description, but I went through my closet and counted up how much I had of everything--that was a shock, lol. Then did editing, then listed what I need for the work year (since summer clothing was not needed at ALL, lol), and last of all picked my color story (bright coral and cranberry, with plentiful neutrals and accents of turquoise).

Today I ended up buying 2 dresses, 2 shirts and 1 pair of tights from Plato's Closet, 1 pair of awesome flats from Naturalizer, and 2 shirts from Banana Republic Outlet (and man, are their prices good!). AND they all are teacher-appropriate and fall within my color range, woohoo! Total damage: about 70$, thanks to amazing sales and a small gift card I had stashed away (which thankfully survived my 6 weeks of No-Buy--at one point I had almost convinced myself that spending a gift card wasn't spending 'real' money and therefore wasn't shopping. Thankfully, that delusional state didn't last).

Now, I'm also going to do something I haven't done before--look at the pieces I just bought in the context of my wardrobe and decide if they function with what I already have, above and beyond how they look on me (it's like a revelation, lol).

AND upon further review, I decided to return BOTH dresses. Cute, but didn't follow fit in nicely with my other pieces of clothing. More money to buy more tights! lol...

Here's an outfit post for when I am teaching. You might recognize the skirt as a dress I have previously worn on this blog. I was concerned that it might be a bit short for work, but when I sit down it doesn't get shorter, so I think it's ok, especially worn with (my new awesomely-awesome) flats.






Dress: Goodwill
Shirt: H&M via Goodwill
Belt: Target
Sweater: Express via Goodwill Outlet
Shoes: Love them! Super comfy. Naturalizers (on sale!!!)

Updates

I've been going through all my clothing. I have so many things that I have, don't wear, but keep for a variety of reasons. Either I bought it on vacation and it has memories, or it's ok but not great but I'm keeping it until I get something better, or it's one of the several things I have that Mr.P loves me wearing (despite not caring about women's fashion) that I absolutely hate, but he will pout and be grumpy if I get rid of it, so I keep it and hide it to avoid wearing it. Now that I've typed all that out, it does sound rather ridiculous. Maybe I can sneak some stuff *out* past Mr.P... (better than sneaking it purchases, right?) Anyways, with an impending move and my desire to update my wardrobe, I figure the best way to start is by culling out the rejects and then taking stock of what I have.

I *do* have many things that are ok but not great, looking over my clothing. I seem to have FIVE sweaters with three-quarter sleeves in bright colors, ALL of which are too short in the torso for me to feel comfortable wearing them with pants and without a camisole to lengthen the hemline...which always leaves that weird strip of contrasting camisole right around my hips (my widest part). I should toss some of them, but they're cute! And (most of them) teacher appropriate! Why toss them until I get correct fitting ones, right? hmmmm...

For example, here's a picture of one of my sweaters with a gray cami under it. With a skirt, not with pants, but the same idea:




















Things to think about...

Anyways, here's a picture of my outfit from last week.

Wow, I do look tired in this picture. And I curled my hair with this ridiculous 'steam setter' set my mom had in college. I always get crazy poodle hair with it, lol, but I enjoy it!
















Sweater: Express, via Goodwill Outlet
Shirt: Old Navy
Skirt: Handmade
Tights: Forever 21 (gift--never buy F21 tights, they run and get holes like crazy)
Shoes: from France, two years ago


Goal Count Up:
Exercise: Ran yesterday
Vitamins: Ate my vitamins. Blech, but the huge pill go down easier with food than water. *mental note*