Number Nine (and Ten!)

Today's assets are probably not the ones I am most known for.  They are my hair and my chest.  My hair is pin straight.  It doesn't really hold a style.  It has no volume, and it's very fine.  But it can shine, and that's why I love it. I've been keeping it long lately, but I'm starting to think I'm the type of girl that will make it until about 6 weeks before her wedding, and then chop it all off.  And this time, I'm blaming it all on this city:  there is so much wind here that short hair is the only hair that makes sense.

As for my chest, Scott suggested it and I said: "But how do I feature it AND make it work apporpriate" and he said that my chest was the right size to display while still being work appropriate... and so I did.  I love what this shirt does to my chest.  It make an A into an A+!  With the jacket on, of course, it's a must less overt change.

Oh, and interesting fact... I'm really embracing this "anti-bride" title I've given myself.  I was walking past a bridal store on the way to the bus, and saw a $99 informal wedding sample sale.  I walked in... tried on a couple dresses, and still made it to the bus on time.  As awesome as the price was... the two I tried on made me feel more like i was walking a red carpet than walking down the aisle.  Informal my butt......

Modern Conservative

Typically, as the week goes on, my outfits become more casual.  I work in an office without a dress code, so on any given day, my outfit corresponds with at least one other persons in the department.  I had my American Apparel bandeau dress set for today until I found out that I would be accompanying my supervisor on a meeting with a counterpart at a different level of government.  Naturally, I felt that a cotton jersey dress would be much to informal for this occasion. 

Trying to place the tone of this meeting was difficult.  The person with whom we were meeting is roughly my age.  However, she holds a more substantial position than I do.  To top it all off, we werent' meeting in a stuffy board room.  Rather, we were meeting in a relatively trendy coffee shop. 

Having worn my take on the bombshell look that Kasmira posted about yesterday, I was kind of at a loss... How could I look my age, look professional and not feel overdressed at the same time? 

I decided the solution was simple: a trendy take on the classic suit.   A button up shirt was a must, though white would seem too conservative.  Black pants seemed like the safe bet, but modernized by cropping them.  Oxfords are a staple of a professional wardrobe, made trendy by a heel.  And a jacket?  We're entering the nicer days of spring where they aren't necessary, so a vest gives that same pulled together look without the warmth. 

While I'm not loving the cropped pants (I took a pair of scissors to them last night, and didn't realize until this morning that they had been slightly flared, and easy enough fix, if I had had the time... and I might go shorter when I fix that), I was feeling quite confident walking beside my supervisor (tone on tone pinstripe suit, jacket undone, white shirt, no tie, collar loose).  In fact, I think our counterpart was quite impressed when she arrived, wearing what would have gone quite nicely with my AA dress. 

Oh, and today's asset?  I wanted to really highlight my waist, and I suppose this vest does it... just not as well as the belted dress I had originally planned.  It does, however, more appropriately work my other asset, my ankles, which would have been diminished in the flats I was going to wear.  I used to have really boney ankles, and I think I've finally reached the point where they've filled out enough that I no longer feel so self conscious!

Irony

I enjoy the fact that the day I decide to feature skin, I lose my favourite foundation.  In any event, it's my natural skin that is one of the features today.  While I definitely have my problem areas with it, I love the colour, particularly against this purple. I'm pale, and I'm ok with that!  I used to spend a lot of time trying to tan, but I know there is a pigment disorder in my genetic line, so I'm quite happy having given it up! 

My other feature today... is my butt.  This was the first thing Scott suggested when I told him about "dress your best" week, and I like it when we agree on things.  Sure, it's not as toned as it used to be, and sure, it looks like a pancake beside J-Lo, but I think it's perfectly proportioned for my body. Anything more junk in my trunk, and I'd fall over!

Face time

Not loving the outfit, but I will focus on the positive!  The blue in the shirt enhances the blue in my eyes.  I used to be able to make them turn green by wearing green, but I haven't been able ot do that in a while.  Then again, my green shirts are getting pretty faded. 

While A pony tail doesn't seem like the classiest hairstyle for work, it does feature my ears.  I'm not sure why I like my ears so much (though the Academichic ladies say we don't need to justify!) but once upon a time they were quite small.  I'm eating lunch at my desk as I write this, so I'm not sure if I still think they're small... aparently they keep growing after the rest of me stops!

I thought it was rather suiting that today I decided to focus on the face.  We were at coffee, and some co-workers were asking why I wasn't thrilled that students aren't eligible to travel for work, and thus am not obligated to attend a three day conference next week.  Afterall, there isn't really anything that is all that relevant to the major project I'm undertaking this summer.  I shrugged and said I was missing out on face time with the upper muckity mucks of the government. 

Given the alignment of these two mentions of "face", I'll have to remember that when I do get face time with some muckity mucks, I accent my favourite features!

Academichic's Dress Your Best Week

This is the start of the "Dress your best asset" week brought to you by Academichic.  Of course, this is also the first week in the new apartment, so dressing itself is pretty difficult to do, since we've barely unpacked half our lives (and some how DVDs and CDs took priority over necklaces and belts).  I had to go simple, but I suppose it's a great way to start off the week:  letting my assets speak for themselves.

Since this week could get rather hectic rather quickly, I've decided to aim for two assets per outfit, in order to get me to five the fastest.  Today, I'm working with legs and collar bone.  The pants accent the length of my legs.  I have a very short torso, so I do tend to wear my shirts long to help balance it out.  I'm not saying my legs go forever, but I definitely am glad they aren't short!
As for my collar bone, I think it creeps Scott out, but I like having the solid line of the bone to provide structure. 

In moving, I did discover I have a lot of clothing and accessories (my father-in-law complained about both), which inspired me to do two posts at a later time:  weeding through my closet (going back to the "Closet Clean Out system I used to have) and showcasing how I organize all the clothes & accessories.  I 'm not sure when those will happen - but definitely not until I"m all unpacked

OH yes, and I do look a little bedraggled... that is because this picture was taken mere minutes after having walked all the way home.  They changed the schedule of my bus, and if I walk, it only takes about 5-10 minutes longer than waiting for the first one to carry me away.

That's right, it's all about the socks

I used to use a metaphor of hats to describe the very different roles I had in my life:  at the time there was the teacher hat, the student hat, the civil servant hat, the board of director hat, the girlfriend hat, the friend hat, the daughter hat, the sister hat, etc.

However, I discovered the other day, when I was changing after work, that really, it all comes down to the socks.  True, it's now summer, and so I have fewer roles to undertake (since I'm pretty much just masquerading as a thesis student, as my adviser leaves on vacation tomorrow).  I'm pretty much just "civil servant" and "person outside of work who sometimes does stuff".  The difference?  Stockings vs. socks. 

Ok, it's a little more complex than that, as there are definite times I'm in socks at work, and barefoot at home, but the general idea is the same:  I am conservative and unobtrusive at work.  And I'm wild and carefree at home.

I realize this isn't that deep of a post, I just thought I'd have something ready, since today is moving day, and you will most likely not see the outfit I wore to work, nor the outfit I'm wearing to move!

It's the third day of snow in a row, but I wasn't going to let it get me down*. I'm just going to fake it until it is spring again... but that's mostly just because I set my clothes out last night, and didn't want to figure out something new this morning.

I had placed the outfit on the bed, trying to figure out whether I liked the matchy-matchy or hated it.  Then I thought; "really, who will actually complain that it goes a little TOO well?"

I did have one comment, but it definitely wasn't derogatory (or complimentary).  I stepped into the elevator (can you believe my building actually doesn't have stair cases that go between floors?  They all lead down to the main floor, outside!  The doors to the various floors remain locked once in the stairwells!) and a man said to me: "My god!  I knew it was cold outside, but your legs have turned blue!"  I am very thankful he didn't make any jokes about my chest.



* This theory failed when I got a phone call from my fiance telling me he was stuck at work because the tire on his car was flat.  I put on my "man pants" and mitts, and did the dutiful handy-fiance thing and changed his tire.  In the snow and mud.

My photoshop skills need some work

Today, there was only the wrong side of the bed. Not only did I have nightmares last night that had my body shaking, my heart racing, and my lungs gasping, but I also couldn't find the shirt I wanted to wear.  And then, just as I was ready to head out the door, I realized that it had snowed overnight* and so my new suede shoes were out. 
Needless to say, I hated my outfit today, and rather than focusing on how much I hated it (it was colourless, so it washed me out, I've apparentely lost too much weight, so the pants were hanging off of me, and the hoodie... well, the fact I reached for a hoodie alone tells you how bad the outfit was), I thought I'd mishmash some pictures together to present you with what I wanted to wear, though I've never worn it before. It matches the neon theme of the inspiration calendar. 

*Please note: I may live in Canada, but it's a total myth that we have snow year round in all areas of the country.  At least I believed that until today. 

Tie / Belt... what's the difference?

Today's inspiration calendar called for tying a cardigan.  I have two issues with that:  one, I don't have a cardigan designed to tie, and two, the only cardigan loose enough to tie is too expensive to tie.  Since the calendar is just for inspiration, and not to be followed precisely to the letter every day, I'm considering tying and belting to be similar: they both seek to control the sweater, and define a waist.

I'm not sure about this outfit.  I tried tucking, untucking, buttoning, unbottoning, loosening and tightening, and ultimately nothing worked for me.  As I was standing in the bathroom brushing my teeth (with renewed confidence, thanks to Sheila -though I don't think I'll be the pushups just yet... baby steps...), I decided the issue wasn't so much the top half, but the bottom:  I think I definitely need to iron a crease into the pants, or wear some pointed shoes.  If all my height is in my legs, why not accentuate that? 

(Then again, I haven't seen this outfit in its entirety in proper lighting yet... )

All right, having seen it in full light, I'm thinking the ironing is a must, and something is going on with that belt... it definitely didn't feel like it was that constricting that it made my skin muffin above and below it!  Eeek!

Back at it, full time

The alarm went off this morning at some horrifying hour, and I refused to acknowledge it.  Mondays are bad enough as it is, but when you're used to not having to be dressed and out the door until 2 in the afternoon, the early morning alarm clock is twice as shrill.

Fortunately, I had sidestepped the first major pitfall of the day by ensuring that I knew what I was going to wear before bed.  Granted, that was a feat in itself - if I hadn't remembered about the May Inspiration calendar, the thought of finding five work outfits would have overwhelmed me. 

The only pitfall now that I have to deal with is the quandary of office washroom etiquette.  As a new owner of a set of braces, eating at the office requires some post-food hygiene to ensure that a) my teeth are as healthy as possible to weather the wear and tear of metal and wire, and that b) I don't embarrass myself with the lingering remnants of my lunch.  However, brushing in the office restroom is highly unconventional, at least based on the looks I tend to get.  It's difficult finding a time during the lunch break to be in the bathroom alone, despite being on a less-populated floor.

Long overdue post

I start full-time work again on Monday, so I'm sure regular posting should recommence sometime soon.  I won't guarantee this week will be it - we're in the process of packing for our upcoming move, but it should happen soon. 

Last night, we had the year end party for the student association of which I am a part.  It was 1920's themed, which is of course the easiest era for me to dress, considering this is my third or fourth 20's party.  It was a relief to know the theme because it meant NOT having to spend hours figuring out what to wear.  Of course, we also had this party in mind when we bought Scott his alterna-suit, so you get to see it again!