12 Days of Holiday: Festive for Work

Today starts my holiday fashion series.  I have twelve days of holiday looks planned.  

Dress:  LOFT Petites (last year) (Similar here)
Blazer:  The Limited (Available here)

Hopefully, my outfits will give you ideas for a range of holiday events, from fabulous parties to running errands to New Year's Eve rocking.

Today's outfit is a recent attempt to incorporate a little holiday glitz and glam into a work look.  The red dress is made more festive with a velvet sparkly belt and faux leather lapel blazer.

Belt:  LOFT (Available here)
Tights:  New York & Company (Available here)

Clutch:  The Limited (Available here)
Boots:  Fergalicious by Fergie (Available here)

I think this is a perfect day-to-night look or would look great for a work holiday party.

Bangles:  LOFT (Available here and here)

How do you transition work looks for evening holiday celebrations?

For this dress styled differently, see here, here, and here.

F*ckin' Perfect

Raise your glass!  Today, I bring you a little Friday the 13th love with some great music!  :-)

My fiance and I are huge fans of Pink, so when we found out last spring that she added St. Louis to her concert tour, we were ecstatic.  We immediately bought the best tickets we could get (VIP pit) and then eagerly waited for almost eight months for the show.

Blouse: New York & Company (Available here)
Jacket:  Target (Available here)

 

Last month, Pink finally came to St. Louis, and she did not disappoint.  The show was amazing with a line-up of her current songs and old favorites.  Pink's acrobatic routines never cease to amaze me - especially because she sings while performing them.

Another thing I love about Pink is how she encourages her audience to love their bodies and to embrace being themselves. During the show, she encouraged bad dancers in the audience to do their finest bad dancing, and she sang self-esteem anthem, "Fucking Perfect" - one of my favorite Pink songs.

Are you fans of Pink?

Perk Up Winter!

Hope you all have been having a great week!  I have a round-up of holiday looks planned starting Saturday, but I thought I'd finish out the week with a recent work outfit.

Pants: The Limited (old) (Similar here)
Clutch:  The Limited (Sold out on-line; may be available in stores)

I gravitate very heavily towards black in the winter, but I've been trying to keep things interesting by incorporating more prints and some bold pops of color. 

Today's look does both, and it also adds two of spring 2014's upcoming trends - sporty influences and color blocking.

The cardigan has subtle color blocking with slightly darker sleeves and lighter red-orange side panels.  The raglan sleeves and zipper closure give it a sporty feel.  Since I love the warmth and coziness of sweaters, I've been looking for more styles that suit my picky palette.  I loved that this cardigan is very simple, but that it's in a season-less bright color and has fun sporty details.  The medium weight will easily allow me to wear this sweater through spring.

Blouse:  The Limited (Available here)
Cardigan:  The Limited (Available here)

Heels:  Target (old)
Necklace:  New York & Company (Sold out on-line; may be available in stores)

How do you perk up your winter looks?

Cassential Links, 12/12/13

Kudos to Jennifer Lawrence for her straight talk about body image

This young woman beautifully articulates how women are subtly taught to hate their bodies.

I absolutely love evening/holiday fashion.  Unfortunately, I don't have enough fabulous places to wear sequins or get otherwise glitzy.  These two lovely ladies show how to do holiday chic in fab style.

Sexual abuse victims are often silenced in our culture.  These women holding signs quoting their attackers give them a "voice."

I'm not a fan of the memes that pit skinny women against curvy/fat women.  All women are beautiful, and it's important that we support each other as women.  Unfortunately, just as stereotypes and meanness about fat women abound, so do those about skinny women.

Keeping with the theme of holiday dressing, Wendy looks gorgeous in leather and tulle.  Perfect for being the Cinderella of your own ball!

Learning to love our bodies means learning to listen to the clues we give ourselves about our bodies and paying attention to our self-talk.

Gap responds to racism towards Sikh model.

More holiday fashion fabulousness from Nicolette Mason.

 

Sometimes Simplicity

Sometimes you just want simplicity in your life and in your wardrobe.

Pencil skirt:  Target Petites (Available here)

Blouse:  Target (old) (Similar here)
Blazer:  The Limited (Available here)

Today's look combines a basic black pencil skirt and blazer to a grape purple tank for an easy work outfit.

I wore this outfit a few weeks ago when the weather was still a bit warmer, but you could easily add printed tights or black stockings for a little extra warmth.

Clutch:  The Limited (Available here)
Boots:  Target (old)

Necklace:  New York & Company (Sold out on-line; may be available in stores)
Ring:  Earthbound Trading Co.

Do you like wearing simple outfits like this one here?

For this blazer in other looks, see here, here, and here.
For this skirt in other looks, see here, here, and here.
For more on fall's midi-skirt trend, see here.

Undies for the Animals!!!

Recently, I was approached by Switch:  Liberate your Brand about helping out with their fundraising efforts for the Animal Protective Association (APA) of Missouri.  As an animal rights advocate, I jumped at the opportunity to assist. 

I became a vegetarian 20 years ago after learning about the process of factory farming.  Through the years, I've also become concerned with the plight of animals in other ways as well.  Pet companionship can be amazing.  Unfortunately, the dark side of pet companionship is the huge number of unwanted, sometimes abused, animals who end up in shelters every year.  As most of you are probably aware, these animals are often euthanized due to the inability of shelters to house the animals.

That's where the APA comes into help.  The APA is a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing people and animals together, advancing humane education, and creating programs beneficial to the human-animal bond.  With community support, the APA is able to provide so many wonderful services, including: 

• shelter and care for homeless dogs and cats
• adoption services
• veterinary clinic
• lost and found assistance
• education and outreach

Providing all of these resources and services cost a lot of money, and that's why fundraisers like Switch's Ugly Holiday Sweater TEASE are so badly needed.  For the third holiday season, Switch has created a line-up of t-shirts designed to look like ugly holiday sweaters.  This year, they're also "teas"ing with matching men's boxers and women's briefs.

I normally don't like the idea of using my blog to directly advertise products, but these skivvies are super cute, and more importantly, all profits from sales benefit the APA of Missouri.  

The t-shirts and coordinating boxers and briefs come in three fun designs:

"Santa Surveillance" - He sees you when you're sleeping!!

T-shirts and briefs available at http://sweatertease.com/

T-shirts and boxers available at http://sweatertease.com/

"Carol of the Fox" - a cute reference to Ylvis' super-popular "What Does the Fox say?" 

T-shirts and boxers available at http://sweatertease.com/

T-shirts and boxers available at http://sweatertease.com/

T-shirts and briefs available at http://sweatertease.com/

"Holiday Blues"  - Perfect for St. Louis Blues Hockey fans!!

T-shirts and boxers available at http://sweatertease.com/

T-shirts and briefs available at http://sweatertease.com/

Tees are $21.99 and are available in unisex sizes S-XXL.  Boxers are priced at $13.99 and briefs at $14.99 and are available in sizes S-XL.

These items are only available online through December 17th, so don't delay!!!  Go to sweatertease.com and score some naughty but nice gifts for your loved ones!

*  This is not a sponsored or compensated post.
**  All images courtesy of Switch.

Getting to Know You

Hope you all have been having a great week!

Today's outfit is actually a work look from this summer, but I haven't gotten around to posting it until now.  A soft neutral outfit like this is perfect year-round, and I especially love camel in the fall.

Blazer:  The Limited
Blouse:  LOFT Petites (Similar here)

One of the reasons I haven't posted this look until now is that it really isn't my style.  I like the color combination and the tie-waist blazer is flattering to curves, but the overall look just isn't "me."    The outfit feels very grown-up and professional (like how I think I'm really supposed to dress for work), but I spent the whole day feeling out-of-sorts - kind of like I was in someone else's skin. 

For me, it was a sartorial off-day, but I post it here as outfit inspiration for those of you who prefer a more classic style. 

Pants:  The Limited (Similar here)

I've recently done a major closet overhaul, moving a lot of clothing to the sale or charity pile.  This blouse did not make the cut.  The jacket is on the chopping block due to a few fit issues (I had the jacket altered a few years ago, and I'm debating the benefit of more tweaks vs. a new ivory blazer).

I'm learning to hone in on my style more.  I used to think that I needed to have a lot of variety of colors and cuts in my wardrobe.  I also got in a habit of purchasing styles or colors that I used to like out of habit, not paying attention to the fact that my fashion tastes and desires had changed over time. 

Bracelet:  The Limited (Available in black here)

I would feel compelled to wear pieces I didn't love simply because I thought I "needed" a lace shirt or brown pants to make my wardrobe complete.  Often times, clothes would sit in my closet after a few wears until I forced myself to wear them (such is the case with today's outfit). 

As I've gotten older, some styles and colors that I used to love now seem aging or stale.  I love fashion, and I'm open to most new styles and trends that coming along, but I'm also learning that liking a particular style doesn't mean it's right for me . 

Over the last few months, I've thought a lot about what I like to wear and have been working to better define my personal style.  I've been working on creating a smaller, more edited closet that balances my aesthetic and lifestyle.  While this will likely mean less variety in my wardrobe, it also means fewer "off" days.  I'll always be up for experimenting with new trends, but I'm learning to take into better account what trends work best with what's already in my closet and with my personal style.  When I find a trend I like, I'm learning to be more patient and wait to find the right style rather than snapping up the first item I find.

For example,  I really loved last spring's dramatic ruffle trend.  Unfortunately, I chose a blouse with less drama and more ruffles - I settled, and I quickly regretted it.  I recently found this blouse from New York & Company which is what I was looking for all along. 

Earrings:  World Market (old)
Shoes:  Target

As my wardrobe becomes less diverse in some ways, I'm looking for more interesting details, like colorblocking, mixed media, zippers, etc. that help make each piece feel unique.

Bag:  ??? (old)

Do you like to wear a lot of colors and styles, or do you tend to opt for the familiar when you shop?  Do you prefer having a small wardrobe of clothes you love or a large wardrobe of diverse pieces?

For this blouse in another look, see here.
For this jacket in other looks, see here, here, here, and here.
For these pants in other looks, see here, here, and here.