I Went on a Date with 17 Men at Once

Also known as "speed dating." But we'll get to that later. For now, let's look at the week that was...

Monday:

I was lazy here, and the outfit suffered. It needed a belt, for one thing, and possibly better accessorizing. I liked the fun floral addition on the shoes, though.

Tuesday:

A maxi skirt on a TUESDAY?! Yeah, now that every Friday is a jeans day, there will be no more "Maxi Dress Fridays." I considered making a different day a regular "Maxi" day, but decided it was time to simply allow the maxi dresses and skirts back into normal rotation. On this day, I paired my black maxi skirt with a new cream blouse with black trim from Target. (Find it here.) A little pop of color with the red flats helps vary the look.

Wednesday:

Bringing back the same floral flats from Monday, this time with white skinnies and a maternity blouse from Target. Simple, classy, cool.

Thursday:

... I forgot to take pics on Thursday. I wore my burgundy skinnies, a cream-colored 3/4-sleeve sweater, my tan boots, and gold necklaces. It worked fine.

Friday:

Epic fail on my part. Remember when I talked about the right way to wear a t-shirt and jeans? Yeah, I didn't do it right here. I should have rolled my sleeves, I should have tucked in the shirt, and I should have worn different shoes, because the jeans are too long with the flips. Awkward.

Well, just goes to remind everyone that I'm not perfect. In case anyone forgot.

So about that whole "dating 17 men" thing. A friend invited me to a speed dating event that his church was putting on as a fundraiser for a mission trip. I was like, "Um, sure," mostly because it just feels like speed dating is the kind of thing that every single adult female should try once. Like a "bucket list" kind of thing.

What did I wear? This:

(Yes, my sweater has a hole. So sue me.)

I knew this event was probably going to be almost entirely (it turned out to be entirely) populated by Asians, who, more often than not, tend to run on the shorter side (which is neither good nor bad, it's just a true). Now, for some ladies, this might lead to the decision to wear flats, so as not to seem too intimidatingly tall. For me, I see no reason to beat around the bush, so I just put it out there with 3.5" wedges: "Here I am. I am tall. If you can't handle that, look elsewhere." Out of the 45ish people present (34 participants, plus 10ish helpers), only one person was taller than I was. There were also only two white people--me, and the friend who came with me. Well, nothing like standing out from the crowd, right?

At least I can now say I've gone speed dating, right?

Look! Color!

After two outfits in a row of nothing but neutrals, it was time for at least a little bit of color.

If you're tempted to make the "black and white and red all over" joke, you're not alone, because I thought it too. The red floral pattern in the shirt combined with the red sandals made this outfit much better than just another "black and white" pairing would have been.

I got this dress from the same boutique where I purchased the navy patterned wrap dress and the green maxi dress from last week. It is a super soft fabric blend, and a rich eggplant-y color that doesn't come across quite as well in photos as in person. It has a nice definition at the waist, and an awesome (but modest) cut-out at the top of the back. I paired it with pearls and nude heels to continue what I felt was a very classy look.

On an unrelated note, what was up with my hair? Jeepers.

And finally, Maxi Dress Friday #2. This is a simple black maxi dress I've worn numerous times, but this time, I layered a burgundy vest over it. I wasn't sure how it would go, but I was pretty happy with the overall effect. The choker I'm wearing is a purchase from Europe this summer, and it is amazing: the "beads" have magnets, so when you unwrap it, it's just one long strand, and you can wrap it as big or small as you want. It's a bracelet, a choker, and a long necklace all in one!

Before we go, here's a couple more "casual" outfits from the summer, for those of you who wanted more of those:

I love bird prints.

I love hats.

First-Week Finish

Well, I survived the first week, y'all. But not only did I survive, I'd say I thrived! It has been a great year so far, and I have high hopes that it will remain a great year throughout. Positivity, FTW!

Let's look at my outfits for Thursday and Friday:

After three days of very professional looking outfits, it was time to dress down just a little bit. There is certainly nothing unprofessional here - and, in fact, I wore this to speak to parents at the New Parent Orientation Thursday night. But the general look here is a little less structured and formal than the earlier skirt/dress outfits. I love these new shoes, purchased about a month ago from Zappos (on sale now!), both in appearance and in comfortability. (Note: I just made that word up.) I liked the whole effect here in this outfit.

And then we had our first Maxi Dress Friday! This is a new maxi dress I bought from the same boutique as Wednesday's wrap dress, and it is incredibly soft and comfortable. I love the rich teal-y color, and the small details at the waistline. The low v-neck necessitates a camisole, not just for the dress code, but for general modesty; plus adding a second color with the white camisole breaks up the block a bit.

So, readers: How did I do on week one? If this week's outfits were my first assignment of the year, what grade did I get?

(P.S. The first two pics were taken with an additional lamp; is it better or worse than the single lamp in the other pictures?)

Some Pics and a Poll

Let's look at some non-work clothes, okay? (Like you have a choice.)

March 2:

This is actually an outfit I wore to Mrs. Toth's baby shower, but I could have worn it to work I guess. I liked the light colors for a spring party, especially the green for a "new life" kind of feel.

May 11:

And this I wore to the now-Mrs. Joslyn's bridal shower. When I arrived, I discovered that Mrs. Toth and I somewhat matched:

When we're both wearing navy polka dots, you KNOW it's totally fashionable. (Disclaimer: Actually, we're not that fashionable. And we're really weird. And nerdy.)

May 27:

 

This I wore to the review session with my English 11 Honors students on Memorial Day. Technically, not a work outfit, because it was just an optional review day, but it probably could have worked. The top is one of my Target Maternity purchases. I hope no pregnant women get mad at me for shopping in their section...

May 31:

This is what I wore to the staff meeting we had the day after finals ended. That day is always a bit more casual than other work days, but I still like making sure I look nice. The collared shirt, cuffed pants, bright necklace, and closed flats are all pieces that contribute to a professional look, but with a sleeveless top and denim it's a bit more casual.

Also, DANG. That mirror was STREAKY.

June 4:

I assume I was going in to finish up some school work on this day, but it wasn't actually a "work" day, so again, I'm pretty casual.

Okay, that's enough for now - let's take some polls:

Do you want me to finish last year's work clothes or move on to this year's without finishing last year's?
A) Finish last year's!
B) Just move on.
C) Who cares?

Do you want me to write about the remaining casual outfits I wore during the summer?
A) Yes, I want to see more casual outfits!
B) Nah, just get to this year's work clothes.
C) Who cares?

Do you want me to do any more retrospectives (i.e. looking at outfits from 2008-2012)?
A) Yes, retrospectives are fun!
B) No, you've come too far to look back.
C) Who cares?

[Note: If you answered (C) to any of the above, why are you reading this?]

Let's Not Skirt the Issue

I can only hope you like puns, because otherwise this post's title is terrible. Let's look at some skirts!

February 20:

I was very excited about this sweater, which I found on sale at Target. They only had it in a size small, which surprisingly fit me! I like the polka dots in neutral colors, which goes great with fun solid colors like this teal skirt. I also really like the larger polka dots in the torso as compared to the smaller dots on the arms - makes it seem more unique. (Though let's be honest: This is a sweater from Target, so "unique" cannot truly be applied here.)

April 10:

Sigh - back to the terrible mirror photos. (Made even worse by how streaky the mirror is.) I liked this outfit a lot, but the skirt was terribly made. It was a Target purchase, and I understand the "You get what you pay for" arguments, but usually I like my Target clothes so much and they work much better for me than this did. It just did not fit right, it tugged in weird ways at the seams, and eventually it actually ripped along one seam without my even noticing. Fortunately, I was spared total embarrassment because the tear was only on the outer layer of the skirt, but the lining was still intact.

Anyway, I feel like a necklace of some kind would have made this outfit better, but it was still good as it was.

April 18:

I am actually quite shocked that I didn't wear this skirt earlier in the year.  I went back into my files and discovered I also wore this skirt on September 20, 2010; February 4, 2011; and August 31, 2011. All of those were accessorized pretty differently, though, so we're all good with not repeating outfits.

April 23:

Here we have a straight black jersey skirt, which is super comfortable and goes with everything. In this case, it was still a little chilly, so I opted for slightly longer sleeves and mid-calf leggings.

May 1:

This is that same skirt, but this time without the leggings. Because of the straight cut of the skirt, I felt like I could wear a blousier top - if the skirt flared out in an A-line, I would have kept the top more fitted.

May 28:

I actually pinned this skirt to my top to keep it at the empire-waist height, since size-wise it would normally fall at my natural waist. I loved the look created by placing it higher, though - it made the skirt+top almost look like a dress, in fact. The bow on the blouse is a nice detail, but because it is over on the side of the neckline, I still wanted to wear a longer necklace (in this case, two different necklaces, in fact).

That all said, it was more trouble than it was worth putting this look together, so I've already given the skirt away since then.

May 29:

This is another look that I really enjoyed but that was not fun to wear. The shirt tugs uncomfortably and really is slightly too small for me, so I gave it away after wearing it this day. That said, I like the way it looks with the pencil skirt. The pastel blue with the gray and nude pumps is a great light colored palette for spring, and the pearls keep it classy.

Hope you've enjoyed the skirty goodness of this post! Next time: DRESSES.