Changing Weather Awkwardness

WWWSC Day 14: Three levels of layering--Monday, 3/16/15

So despite my prediction on Friday, after our 60+ F and sunny day, that I would have to develop a set of spring outfits for this week, I was like, Screw it.  I'm going to push on and make the outfits I already have work.  Luckily only today was expected to be worryingly warm (59 F), with the rest of the week warmer-than-normal but still on the cool-ish side (under 50 F).

It's kind of weird that I chose what is possibly the warmest outfit left on my Who What Wear Style Challenge list for the warmest day of this week, but that's the beauty of layers, right?  Right?  Well, that was my thinking, anyway.

I put this outfit together while it was still the depths of winter in Coldville, so coming up with an outfit comprised of three levels of layering was just not an issue.  But often my layers have included invisible layers like my thermasilk baselayers, so I wanted to push myself to do something I haven't done that often: wear a sleeveless top as a vest.  I don't actually know whether this is a thing, but I have the power to make it...well, if not a Thing thing, a thing I did personally.  Let's actualize this puppy!  (I really don't understand why that's not a motivational pre-game pump-up mantra that sports teams chant just before yelling "Break!" in their huddles.  It's an odd world we live in.)

Here's my inspiration photo--I liked the colors and patterns here and was under the temporary delusion that I had a long-sleeved orchid button up shirt (oops, it's really a short-sleeved one).

From whyidodeclaire.blogspot.com

I could have just worn a short-sleeved shirt under my jacket, but at the time, that seemed to lead down the road of mad shivering (now it seems like a damn good idea).  Time to get creative by wearing a collarless long-sleeved t-shirt instead.  Life on the edge is a way of life here.

BUT...I had not quite counted on it already being 55 degrees when I woke up this morning with a new expected high well into the 60s.  So at the last minute, I dumped the idea of the shirt underneath and wore the sleeveless top as a shirt, not a vest.  I'm kind of creeped out by the idea of a sleeveless shirt with a jacket, but this knit blazer from Target washes easily in the machine, so it was a good one to try this sort of opposite personal style challenge:  Wear a Sleeveless Top with a Blazer.

*Black/white circle sleeveless drape neck top (Macy's)
Black ponte blazer (Target)
Burgundy pencil skirt (Nordstrom)
Black tights
Black ankle boots by Sam Edelman
Silver link necklace (gift from Mom)

I enjoyed the opportunity to wear this necklace my mom gave me for my birthday--in addition to being all "awww, it's from my mom," it lets me use a contrasting shape in my necklace and top the way she did in the inspiration photo. 

This top is one of those purchases that seems like a good idea at the time--hey, a nice sleeveless blouse to wear under a suit jacket! no weird bunching under the jacket sleeves!--but later stumps you when you are easily icked out by the idea at a lower level of construal.  I'm glad I tried this, but am looking forward (next winter?) to trying it as a vest.  In any event, I like how the stark graphic design plays with bright solids like this skirt.  (It's black and white but it's not stripes!  Amazing!)

Verdict:  Sleeveless blouse worn as a vest is still an idea for cooler weather, but the crazy unseasonably warm weather today meant that I was glad I did not try it.  Imagine my surprise, however, when I left work and encountered 56 F temperature (according to the radio) and a stiff breeze, which made it subjectively cooler than it was this morning.  And of course, the weather forecast, which has been changing basically daily since Thursday, now calls for snow on Wednesday.  This is going to be a very weird weather week.