Loop Looks

Blazer – The Limited  (similar under $35) | Shell – The Limited (similar under $30) | Skirt – The Limited (similar under $25) | Bracelet – House of Gemmes | Shoes – Tahari via TJ Maxx (similar)

Back in March I promised you photos of the zoo.  Well, today I finally had a chance to take some outfit photos while at an event at the Lincoln Park Zoo. And what a day to take photos! I’m so glad I waited because, wow. This weather is what makes people love living in Chicago.

Today was the perfect day to wear this ruffled lavender shell I’ve had hanging in my closet for over a year but have only worn a handful of times. I was inspired to wear it because of the link-up going on at Literately Stylish where we’re encouraged to wear Pantone’s colors of the year. Today’s submission is “African violet.”  I typically think of African violets as a deeper purple but apparently this year it means a lighter, paler shade of purple.

I was at a professional event so I paired it with my black blazer and my houndstooth printed pencil skirt for a bit of fun without looking too stodgy.  At least, I hope that’s how I looked!

I also have a bit of “African violet” on one of my toes post-marathon. For those of you who are not runners, the occasional “black” (technically bruised) toenail is a badge of honor.  I wore my open-toed shoes proudly sans toenail polish and owned that bruised nail.

And, yes, these photos were taken at the zoo. It’s really more of a park with a zoo in the middle and on a gorgeous day like today I wanted to stay there all day. The zoo’s free, by the way, so if you’re ever in Chicago I highly suggest you stop by.

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As I mentioned on Friday, I’m in Phoenix this week for a conference for work. I’m both attending and presenting at the conference and let’s just say I’m mostly excited to go somewhere WARM and SUNNY! Chicago weather is really getting me down. It snowed on Saturday, people. Snowed. Anyway, Phoenix’s 80 degree weather will be a treat but packing for it was a bit challenging.

Sunday

For my travel day I decided on a striped tank top under a sheer white three-quarter length sleeve top with jeans, my black blazer, and my leopard flats. I plan to wear the blazer throughout the week and this way it doesn’t get all wrinkled in my suitcase. Plus, you should really wear your bulkiest item when traveling and in this case that’s my blazer. When I get to Phoenix I can ditch the blazer and the sheer top if necessary and revel in the fact that it’s warm enough to wear a tank top!

Monday

For Tuesday I’m busting out my green cropped pants, a simple striped t-shirt, the black blazer again, and the leopard flats. This is my day to attend conference sessions and the dress code at this conference ranges from jeans to suits so I figured I could get away with some fun colors and pattern mixing.  The blazer is because I’m sure the conference rooms will be freezing but the short sleeves are for outside.

Tuesday

Tuesday we give our presentation so I dressed it up with my black and white polka dot sheath dress and my black blazer and open-toed black patent heels. And some jewelry, of course.

Tuesday Night

Tuesday night is the customer/attendee appreciation party which I’ve been told is a pretty crazy event. This year it’s at a Western-themed locale so I decided to bust out the gingham and pair it with white jeans and a white tank top. And nude heels because I don’t own cowboy boots.

Wednesday

On Wednesday we fly back to Chicago.  And since it will probably be in the 40s when we land, I’m adding a scarf to my black, white and leopard outfit.  Plus, this is classy enough for a casual conference attendee look if I choose to attend any last day sessions.

Other items I packed but didn’t photograph? A black cardigan, white shorts, a swimsuit and a swimsuit cover-up, one running outfit, running shoes, some other jewelry,  and, of course, pajamas and underwear. Basically, everything except the dress can be mixed and matched with the other items I brought, too, so if I need to make a quick switcheroo for any reason, it should be simple enough.

And if it wasn’t for that pesky liquids restriction I could have gotten away with just a carry-on! Sadly, I couldn’t find a hair mousse I liked that came in a FAA-approved size.

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Blazer – The Limited (similar, use code HOTPERK for 40% off) | Top – The Limited (similar) | Skirt – The Limited (similar) | Booties – Liz Claiborne via DSW (similar) | Necklace – The Limited (similar)

Full disclosure: I am working from my couch today.  I had an amazing weekend full of a tour at Half Acre brewery, running my fastest 5K race time ever, and an awesome Oscar’s party hosted by the Chicago Blogger Network (full post on Wednesday). I need a day to recover.  But, I already had this outfit planned for Inspiration Monday.  Plus, my hair is straightened so I wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity to take some pics.

Today’s Inspiration Monday involved a full skirt and a jacket as worn by one of the Olsen sisters.

Source

You may notice that any time an inspiration photo features a full skirt I wear this purple pleated one.  That’s because it’s the only full skirt I own.  I definitely gravitate towards the pencil skirt silhouette but ever so often it’s nice to break out of the box.

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Yes, that’s right.  You’re invited to celebrate the first birthday of this blog!  Did you know Loop Looks has only been around since February 2012?  That’s right!  And look how far this little blog has come.

Since February 2012 I have:

• Moved to a self-hosted website
• Started taking more close-up photos
• Purchased a tripod so I can take photos outside
• Recruited my husband to take some photos
• Posted over 200 different outfits
• Began the You Pick Wednesday Series
• And much, much more!

So, in honor of making it one year I want to hear from you about what you’ve liked (or not liked) over the past 12 months.  To be honest, in the first few months of Loop Looks I thought, “Well, maybe I’ll do this for a full year and then shut it down.”  But now I can’t imagine doing that!   Every comment I get from someone who says they got an idea from my blog or tried something new because of what they saw on Loop Looks makes me light up.

And of course I want to be a useful as possible for you!  My goal has always been to help women who work in an office (or who just want to wear what they have differently) break out of their routine and feel better about themselves.  When you feel good about how you look your confidence will show!  And there’s not much better than being a confident employee.

With that being said, the best way I can think to help you is to ask about what you want to see.  Which is why I created my first reader survey!  Please, please, please fill this out so we can continue to make outfit magic together!  Can’t see the survey below?  Click here to access it.

P.S.  I really wanted to take these anniversary photos outside but, as you can see, it was a little wintery out there.

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Blazer – The Limited (similar)| Shirt – Target (similar) | Pants – Ann Taylor (on sale!) | Shoes – Bandolino (similar)| Necklace – JF&A Tradeshow  (similar) | Belt – Target

You’d think that a black and white outfit would be one of the easiest ensembles to put together.  You’d think black and white can never go wrong.  But, I’ll be honest with you, this outfit looked way better in my head than it did when I put it on.

Is there anything inherently wrong with it?  Nope.  Black and white together is classic and the addition of the pearl necklace just makes it even more so.  The zebra print shoes?  That adds a little bit of edge without being too over the top.  But maybe it’s the cold and gray day (and I swear I see snowflakes flying past my 8th floor window) but I couldn’t bring myself to take an outdoor picture and I’m never thrilled with my indoor ones.

So, in reality, there’s nothing wrong with this outfit.   Wear your black and white with pride!  Just don’t mind me if I’m in the mood to prefer mine in the way of black yoga pants and a glass of white wine.

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Blazer – The Limited (similar) | Blouse – Express (similar) | Pants – Ann Taylor (on sale!) | Shoes – Karen Scott via Macy’s (similar)

And we’ve reached the cold and gray portion of the year.  It’s usually about this time that I just want to wear sweat pants every day.  But I can’t so these stretchy dress pants from Ann Taylor will just have to do.  These pants seem to show up on Inspiration Monday quite a bit.  I think it’s because so many of the inspiration photos from Two Birds include skinny or boyfriend jeans and these pants are my workday answer to that trend.

 Jessica Biel aka Jessica Timberlake

I really like Jessica’s outfit here.  But, alas, I don’t own a funky blazer or a fun orange blouse.  In fact, I don’t own anything orange.  I’m much more partial to red.  So partial that I’m wearing it in two layers today.

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Dress – The Limited | Blazer – The Limited | Belt – The Limited | Shoes – Tahari via TJ Maxx | Necklace – Gift

If you like my Facebook page you saw earlier today that I posted a picture of this necklace and said you’d never guess where I got this necklace.  So, here’s the story.

On Monday I went down to my apartment building’s dry cleaner and package room to pick up a package and the woman who works there oohed and ahhed over my necklace.  Then she starts telling me a story about  how another woman in the building went to Italy for two weeks and then brought her a necklace as a thank you for holding her mail and packages for the entire time.

“But,” she said, “at my age I don’t wear big necklaces like yours. “

And then she pulled out this necklace from under her counter and handed it to me.  “You should have this!”

Really?  Are you sure?

Yep.  So here’s my new acquisition.  The clasp on it is actually broken but I rigged it using my ankle bracelet trick and voila!  One beautiful necklace that goes with my black and green dress that  I bought to wear specifically while working at my work’s annual holiday concert.  Which is why posts this week have been a little crazy.  Working a choir concert is fun but time consuming!

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Blazer – The Limited (similar) | Top – Express | Scarf – NYC street vendor (similar) | Pants – Gap | Boots – Cole Haan (similar)| Earrings – Bergner’s

It’s CopyCats Friday from Fills for Thrills!

I don’t even want to tell you how many images I looked through on my Pinterest boards try find something I wanted to copy.  Not sure why I was having such a difficult time this week.

In the end I settled on this outfit.  It’s a fun cross between Casual Friday and regular office sophistication.  And it’s based on an outfit from Wendy’s Lookbook.

I went with a pinstriped blazer instead of a solid black one because, well, my solid black one needs to go to the drycleaners.  However, this pinstriped one is a little bit too big so it might be going in my Poshmark closet very soon.

What do you think?  Did I hit the nail on the head with my copy?

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Dress – BCBG Outlet | Blazer – The Limited | Necklace – The Limited | Tights – Banana Republic | Booties – Liz Claiborne via DSW

Another Inspiration Monday is here and another week of me wishing I could dress exactly like the inspiration photo.

Source

Of course, who doesn’t want to dress like one of the Middleton sisters?

I don’t have a moto jacket yet.  So I went with a blazer.  I don’t have a colorful sheath dress so I went with my blue dress that has a slightly fuller skirt.  And since the high today is only in the mid-50s I put on tights with my booties.

But I think Pippa’s look is beautiful and classic with a bit of an edge to it with the leather and the booties and the bit of animal print in her clutch.  I will be saving this inspiration photo for sure.

Would you wear Pippa’s outfit? How would you interpret it?

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Blazer – The Limited | Dress – NY & Co | Necklace – JC Penney | Shoes – Nine West

Inspired by Laura and the fact that I will be attending a strategic plan launch event this Friday afternoon, I went dressy casual with a maxi dress and a blazer.

I couldn’t get a good picture this morning, though.  This is what happens when you try to squeeze in pictures before work and your tripod is a highboy patio table.

Oh, and the sun’s in your eyes.

Regardless, I think this is a fun way to dress up a maxi dress for work.  Don’t have a maxi dress?  What about a long skirt with a top and a blazer?   Don’t forget the statement necklace!

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