Loop Looks

Blazer – The Limited (similar) | Shirt – Express (similar) | Pants – The Limited (similar) | Shoes – Gabriella Rocha via 6pm.com (similar) | Necklace – NY & Co (similar)

Hello, Monday! After a long and crazy weekend (that included me sleeping through someone’s birthday party because I’m a horrible friend who had been up since 3:45 AM) I was not feeling that inspired this morning. Thank goodness for Two Birds and their Inspiration Monday post!  I haven’t done one of these in awhile but today the combination of white and gray was what I needed to put together my own outfit.

Source

Since I won’t be wearing a see-through maxi skirt (or are those pants??) to work I swapped Jennifer Lawrence’s skirt for white pants. I kept the t-shirt vibe, though, by wearing a white t-shirt with some shiny embellishments. And, of course, the gray blazer to mimic her gray top and to take the t-shirt up to a more professional level.

I firmly believe a blazer makes just about anything office appropriate. Well, okay, maybe not ANYTHING, but close enough.

Or, at least, that’s what I’m telling myself.

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Blazer – The Limited (similar) | Shirt – The Limited (similar) | Jeans – The Limited (similar) | Earrings – Macy’s | Bracelet – JF & A Show (similar) | Shoes – Gabriella Rocha via 6pm.com (similar)

On the last day of the Mutually Inspired Series I decided to glam it up. Jen scored an adorable sequined top in a clothing swap and toned it down for work with a gray cardigan and jeans.

I don’t  own a gray cardigan so I decided to wear my gray blazer instead. Add a pair of heels, my new favorite jeans (after you all told me how amazing they looked on Monday) and simple earrings and I have an outfit for the office! Okay, it might not fly if your office is uber-conservative, but it definitely works for mine. I love the idea of wearing sequins during the day and I think the key is to keep them in softer colors like gray, pink, or white.

Also, please excuse me while I go on a slight rant. This shirt is sequined. Not “sequenced”. Or “sequence”. Or anything other than sequined or sequin. I see it misspelled all the time, particularly on Poshmark (<—click for proof), and it drives me batty!

Anyway, with that, Jen and I have reached the end of our week of showcasing our interpretations of one another’s outfits.  However, I had so much fun and have so many more ideas that I have a feeling we’ll be doing this again.  Or, if you’re a style blogger out there who wants to get in on the series, let me know! It would be great fun to have you!

P.S. I’ll be in Phoenix for part of next week for work. Apologies if posting gets a little sporadic.

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Blazer – The Limited (similar under $20) | Sweater – Old Navy (similar under $30) | Collared Shirt – TJ Maxx (similar under $30) | Pants – Ann Taylor (similar under $30) | Booties – Liz Claiborne via DSW (similar) | Necklace – Macy’s (similar under $30)

Today’s Inspiration Monday photo should have been easy.  Skinny pants and a polka dot sweater?  Polka dot sweaters have been everywhere this past season so of course I have one in my closet.

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 Of course, Hilary Duff’s is ADORABLE while mine required a bit of finagling.  See, mine is actually short sleeved. So in order to give it some more interest under the blazer I added the collared button-up white shirt. I like that the sweater gives is a slightly casual vibe while the button-up and the blazer make it definitely office appropriate. And I incorporated the black and gray color scheme which promptly drove my photograph-taking husband nuts. “Can’t you wear something with color? Now we need to find a colorful background!” Mission? Accomplished.

Do you own a polka dot sweater? Don’t you love the one in the inspiration photo?

P.S. If you bought all the items linked to above (minus the shoes), your total outfit cost would be $122.41 (excluding tax and shipping). And the blazer, black pants, and collared shirt would become closet staples so you’d definitely get your money’s worth!

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Blazer – The Limited (similar) | Turtleneck – Express (similar) | Jeans – The Limited (similar) | Boots – DSW (similar) | Necklace – store in NYC (similar)

Before I had a style blog, before I even knew what Pinterest was, I saved an image on my computer from the Banana Republic website.  I loved the preppy, equestrian vibe it had going on.   I even sent the picture to another style blogger I read at the time to see if she would be willing to show me how to interpret it with items that didn’t require dropping a whole paycheck at Banana Republic.  She told me she didn’t wear much red and that was that.

I recently re-discovered this image saved on my computer and THEN I learned you can upload photos to Pinterest!  That they don’t have to already be on another website to “pin” them.  Look, I may be book smart but I’m still learning about all these new-fangled Internet things.

Anyway, while perusing my pins for something to recreate for today’s Copycats Friday from Frills for Thrills I saw this pin and the light bulb went off.  I now have all those items!  In fact, I’ve had the gray blazer since September and all the other items for much longer but this week was when they finally all came together in my head.

Which is why you should totally save images of outfits that catch your eye even if you don’t have the items to recreate them at that exact moment!

Also linking up with: Two Thirty Five Designs | Texas Lovebirds | Modly Chic

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Blazer – The Limited (similar)| Shirt – Express| Sweater vest – Express (similar) | Pants – Ann Taylor | Shoes – Anne Klein | Necklace – Macy’s (similar)

Today’s Inspiration Monday from Two Birds is finally someone I actually know!  Well, I mean, I don’t know her personally but at least I’ve seen at least one movie she was in.

Elizabeth Hurley

Ms. Hurley is wearing something that is very on-trend right now:  velvet.  Which just reminds me of the black velvet pants I had in high school.  I don’t currently have anything velvet in my closet so I just went with the color scheme here and stuck with black and grays.

Although, to be honest, I could have worn jeans today.  I’m not in the office (took a vacation day) but I still wanted to show you how to take a casual inspiration photo and make it work appropriate.

Also, don’t forget about my contest to win a $50 Visa gift card!  Two comments before November 22nd as well as helping me hit either 100 Facebook likes or 200 pageviews a day for at least 5 days.  For your reference, here are the stats so far:

Facebook Likes: 65

Days with pageviews over 200: 2

Thanks for your help, everyone!

And thanks again to Molly for taking my outfit photos this week!  We took them all on an abnormally warm (and windy) Sunday so if I seem underdressed for current Chicago conditions that’s why.

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Blazer – The Limited (similar)| Turtleneck – Old Navy (similar)| Jeans – The Limited (similar) | Belt – The Limited (similar) | Necklace – Macy’s (similar)| Boots – Ciao Bella via DSW | Bracelet – JF&A Trade Show

In honor of submitting two looks with this black turtleneck to Jessica’s What I Wore Challenge: Fall Remix I thought I’d show you a third look here today.

But first, go check out my entry on Jessica’s post.  I’ll wait.  My entry is second from the bottom.  One look you’ve seen before.  The other is brand new and includes my faux leather skirt that has yet to be featured here!

Done?  Now you see why I think a black turtleneck is a fall closet staple?  It just goes with so many things.

For years I refused to wear turtlenecks because I felt like they were choking me.  Maybe you feel the same.  A black crewneck sweater can have the same role in your closet as a black turtleneck.  Not a fan of black?  Choose another neutral color like navy, camel or gray.  With a scarf, a blazer or a statement necklace you can dress it up or down for any occasion.

But don’t forget your jacket!

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Blazer – The Limited | Shirt – The Limited | Scarf – Nordstrom | Jeans – Gap Outlet | Boots – Macy’s

I think about my outfits the night before but I don’t lay them out or hang them on hangers or anything.  Which means that in the morning I’m sometimes scrambling to find all the pieces.

Take this morning for example.  I knew I wanted to wear this shirt with this blazer and scarf.  I had a different pair of jeans in mind but couldn’t find them.  It’s been awhile since I did laundry so they might be buried in there.  So, back-up jeans to the rescue!

Then I went to my dresser drawer to pull out this shirt.  Not there.  I went to my closet.  Not there.  Did I put it into the bag of things to donate in a fit of closet purging?  Nope, not there (I keep the bag for awhile, just in case).  Scratching my head I had almost resigned myself to wearing a different striped shirt when I saw this one peeking out of the laundry pile.  I didn’t remember wearing it but apparently I had.

So, I did the smell test.  Come on.  You know you do it too.  Smelled clean enough to me.  So, on it went.

I have more than two grades of laundry, okay? There’s not just clean and dirty – there are many subtle levels. If you hang this outside the window for twenty minutes, it’s perfectly fine… ”
- Peter Venkman (Bill Murray), Ghostbusters 2

And now you know more information about me than you probably want to.

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Blazer – The Limited | Blouse – The Limited | Pants – Gap | Necklace – Macy’s (gift) | Shoes – Nine West

I used to wear this blouse all the time.  In fact, I even wore it on my first day at my current job!  However, I only ever wore it with black pants.  It wasn’t until I saw this post by Emily that I had an “ah ha!” moment.

This is why I love the Internet.  I love getting ideas from other people and trying them out myself.  Sure, I may not have the exact same items, but chances are good I have something similar.  Maybe you don’t have red pants and a gray blazer, but do you have gray pants? How about a red cardigan?  Or a red sweater?  Something with stripes?  Something black and white?  There are so many possibilities!

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Dress – The Limited | Blazer – The Limited | Necklace – The Limited | Shoes – Anne Klein via Bergner’s

I had a busy day full of meetings so I didn’t get a chance to take my outfit pictures until after work.  Normally I do them in the morning when I take them outside.  In the morning there’s no one on our rooftop. In the afternoon, though, it’s more likely to have someone around.  Today’s photography witness asked me if I was a realtor.

I guess I was going for business professional and I must have succeeded.  This outfit isn’t particularly crazy considering it’s all grays and blacks, but I will say you can’t go wrong with a dress and a blazer.    It’s a pretty classic combination that doesn’t look too matchy-matchy but is dressed up and professional.  Plus it’s a great way to transition sleeveless dresses to cooler months.

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Scarf & Skirt – The Limited

Shirt – Old Navy

Blazer – Gibson/Nordstrom Rack

Shoes – Tahari/TJ Maxx

I’m wearing 4, count ‘em, 4 different patterns today!  Floral, stripes, tweed-ish, and pinstripes.  It’s a pattern explosion!

I used to be very averse to wearing multiple patterns but now, as I believe I’ve shown in many of my outfit posts, I’m really getting into pattern mixing.

This outfit would be just fine without the scarf but I think the greys in the scarf go with the grays in the jacket and the teals go with the neutral black and gray palate.  Plus, the scarf adds a touch of spring to an otherwise wintery outfit.  Finally, the pinstripe in the skirt is so faint that it’s barely noticeable.

If you’re a little wary about the pattern mixing thing, I suggest starting with one small pattern and one big pattern in the same color family.  Once you get comfortable with that you can start going further out on the pattern mixing limb!

P.S.  Yes, I dumped some water on my plant.    It’s already perked up.

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