Minty Fresh Monday

A new week and a new (calendar) season.  Let's get this party started.

WWWSC Day 26: Wear a bold coat with simple essentials--Monday, 3/23/15

Well, I don't really wear interesting coats to work.  I have my black ankle length wool coat with the velvet collar (my winter coat), a lighter weight black ankle length coat (more of a fall/early spring coat), and a beige ankle length trench coat (my spring/it's raining coat).  Also, it's too late in the season to be thinking about coats--though after Sunday's 2" of snowfall, I did wear one.  So I chose to reinterpret this style challenge as "wear a bold cardigan" and focused on my mint cardigan that I haven't worn in quite a while.

Mint cardigans are actually quite popular on Pinterest, so I had a wide selection of inspirations to choose from.  But I liked this one with a bold black/white print to go along with the bold mint.  This blogger is a "modesty" blogger who wears skirts (knee length or longer) for religious (Christian) reasons.  Ideology aside, that kind of blog is a surprisingly good source of outfit ideas for those of us who work in business casual environments and like to wear skirts that aren't too short.  (It's kind of weird how many fashion bloggers post mini skirts that they wore, without tights, to their job as a lawyer or whatever.  I don't roll that way.) 

From modern1modesty.blogspot.com

I keep seeing people with these big black and white polka dot shirts and it kind of makes me wish I had one, but it's easy enough to substitute black and white stripes in a lot of these cases (you know, unless the polka dots are worn with stripes).  I kept her longer black pencil skirt and substituted more temperature-appropriate black shoes and tights for her sandals and bare legs.  I actually have a pink floral necklace that would work well to replicate her choice, but I just wasn't feeling it; I preferred to do a bit of pattern mixing with my go-to paisley scarf instead.  (Oddly, I wore both this scarf and this shirt last week to work--though not together.)

Mint cardigan (Lands End)
Black and white striped T (Kohls)
Black pencil skirt (thrifted, JCP)
Black sweater tights (Target)
Black heeled Oxfords (thrifted)
Blue/green paisley scarf (Target)

It's weird--most of the time, I forget that this scarf is a paisley print.  When I wear it, it often looks like a floral print to me.  Well, floral or paisley, either one is a nice contrast to a striped T. 

Verdict:  This outfit is totally me.  Stripes, pattern mixing, black and white plus another color, a scarf, a skirt with black tights--the only thing it's lacking is leopard print to be perhaps the perfect classic Sally work outfit prototype.

I actually have spent a little time at work (you know, during that kind of meeting) thinking about how my colleagues dress, and how I would define the elements that make up their prototypical work outfits.  It's surprising how easy it is to do.  For example, N. (female) wears normal black work trousers (i.e., not skinny or cropped or anything), very high heeled black pumps or ankle boots, and a relatively form-fitting top/sweater in grey or a solid jewel tone basically every day.  It is possible that she wears the exact same pants (either same style or same pair) every day; I can't think of a time I've seen her wearing ones that look any different.  (One day she wore an empire-waist tunic in a jewel tone paisley print that really jumped out at me.)

Like Robert, she's got a basic work uniform that doesn't have a lot of variety but that is totally appropriate and looks great.  I can see how that saves a lot of time and mental effort, helping avoid decision fatigue.  After all, I do the same thing with my work lunches--I have eaten the same thing almost every single day since I started my job in April.  It was a kind of big deal when I switched from guacamole to shredded jack cheese as an accompaniment a few weeks ago.  When I occasionally bring something else (there are about two other things I do sometimes have instead), my office mate is always surprised.  I also always eat the same breakfast (as does Robert).

Do you have a "uniform" that you wear to work (or whatever your typically daily activity is, for those of you lucky retirees), like Robert, N., Steve Jobs, Albert Einstein, and Barack Obama?  Do you eat the same meals?  Anything else you have simplified in your life this way to allow you more time and cognitive resources to run a major corporation, make cutting edge scientific discoveries, or be in charge of an entire nation?  Or, you know, just get yourself to work on time?