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.
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I am pretty sure that we must be twins separated at birth....at the very least, kindred spirits. I enjoyed your comments, and your (well placed) wit about "What, if anything, were they thinking when they left their house wearing THAT?!" I managed an office recently of twenty-somethings. I just turned 41-the "New 21". I was shocked at what some of the young women (and a couple "mature" women thought was office-appropriate. I often wondered if they had a second job at a strip club, and had no time to change between jobs. Anyway, I am getting off topic here.....I wanted to add a few thoughts to your very well thought out wardrobe hints. (I especially liked the point about not over wearing the suit pants, lest they fade at a faster rate than the jacket). I am pretty sure that most people know about Nordstroms being the shoe mecca of the planet. For those of us fortunate to have a Nordstoms Rack, that is THE place to plan on a few hours of shoe shopping.....a shopping tip I just picked up on, is that the Nordstroms Annual Sale is offered on line at Nordstroms.com! Sign up for their newsletter and sale emails. You can get the KILLER deals, and not have to even go to a Rack! Lastly, I do not want to shamelessly plug my new web site, so I won't (without your invitation), but I am a personal shopper and cannot pass a steal without buying it for myself or clients. I have listed items with a certain bay, but decided that I want my own site, to save the fees. It is all designer, couture and one of a kind apparel, accessories (yes, shoes and handbags) and gifts that I have purchased to help populate closets at amazing deep discounts. Anyway, I will continue to read your blog, and enjoy it (thanks). Should you want to check out my web site, I will direct you once it is populated. Thanks for a fun and informative blog to read about my specific interests :) Seattle Reader
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