Von Maur and what to wear to work!

Okay, for those of you who were not lucky enough to grow up in the midwest, there is an amazing department store, I believe it started out of Iowa, called Von Maur. They have INCREDIBLE sales. I have gotten Juicy pants for $20 there. Its a great store. If you are privileged enough to live by one, they do their markdowns on Wed. and their second round on Thursday, so wait and go in the afternoon on Thursday. Its a great lunch break.

On a different note, working in a government building I see some horrible, and I do mean horrible outfits. I always have to stop and ask myself, who comes to work looking like that and why. I don't think its a money issue, I think its an effort issue, or maybe its a little bit of both. However, I see so many women out of college that have no clue what is appropriate for work. It is harder for women to maintain a stylish yet conservative work wardrobe. However, here is a list of key items:
1) A black suit (check TJ Maxx and make sure it fits well. )
2) A brown suit (good ones are hard to come by, JCrew has great sales in late fall)
3) Black dress pants (this is a key very versatile piece) I tell you to get black pants and not just wear the suit pants because if you wear the suit pants and not the jacket too often the color will fade on one more so than the other.
5) Five or six dress shirts, ones that fit well. Try it on, sit down in it, if when you sit, the buttons spread apart, go another size up. Iron these over the weekend so you don't have to do it in the morning.
6) A few dresses, these may be hard to find. However, I have recently found several dresses at TJ Maxx by this brand called London Times ( I had never heard of it before), I bought both of them for $29.99. They both go past the knee, no cleavage, short sleeve that goes just past the shoulder. These dresses are perfect Thursday or Friday dresses. You can easily wear them to work and then be cute for happy hour.
7) Black Shoes (spend money here) These should be cute, and comfortable, you are going to wear them. However, you don't need to spend a ton, for example, I have gotten some very cute BCBG shoes, that are fairly comfortable for as low as $40, but when the dress is only $29.99, I guess you are spending some money on this item.
8) Splurge on a nice purse. If the purse looks nice, people will think a whole lot more of the rest of the outfit.
9) get a few classic jewelery pieces, pearl earings, a nice simple silver necklace. Putting on Jewelery says, I took extra time this morning and I do care.
10) Pick a trendy item per season. For me its high waisted pants with a large belt. They are super cute, probably too trendy for work, but I am saving them for that Friday when I am feeling like I want to break some of the rules. Go ahead break one of the rules every season. Its okay.

Cute Shoes to Rock This Fall

I have been on the hunt for some adorable fall shoes. I was in love with this pair from Nordstrom for $150, http://shop.nordstrom.com/S/2994407/0~2376778~2372811~6002066?mediumthumbnail=Y&origin=category&searchtype=&pbo=6002066&P=1. Great shoes aren't they. You can wear them with skinny jeans, dresses, even a suit if you are daring. But I am cheap so $150 was not in the cards. Today at TJ Maxx I found a similar pair for $50. Thats $100 savings. Not my best bargain but for a beginning of the season item, I was pretty proud of myself. Please share your finds. These were at the TJ Maxx by Tysons Corner and there were several pairs, some were also in a copperish color.