Denim Birds

Return of the Kissy Birds--Friday, 10/2/15

Jen showed us two ways she's styled a navy/teal patterned top with teal shoes.

First, with a white skirt and a navy blazer.

From fashionablyemployed.com

Second, with jeans.

From fashionablyemployed.com

I blended these two inspirations into a portmanteau outfit with a denim skirt and navy blazer.

Pleated denim skirt (thrifted, Larry Levine), $0.30/wear
Navy/mint bird shell (Nordstrom), $9.75/wear
Navy ponte knit blazer (Target), $7.50/wear+
Hematite/silver bead necklace by RB
Bright teal flats (Payless), $1.86/wear

Outfit total: $19.41/wear

Hurrah for wearing one of my "fancy" shell tops in a casual Friday outfit.  I love this top, and it's a lot more versatile than I think of it as being.  (And if I find a new white skirt, I know how I want to wear it next!)

I had considered getting rid of this denim skirt when I bought the denim pencil skirt this summer, but the issue with the zipper has not reappeared and I like having two different denim skirt shapes to chose from.  I feel like this pleated one is a little bit less casual than the pencil skirt because the pencil skirt's stitching is somewhat more obvious than the stitching on this one--I'm not sure why visible stitching is related in my mind to how casual or refined a denim garment is, but that's how I think of it.

Aha, my google fu has turned up this article (which I'm about 95% sure I've read) about how to wear denim to work, which states: "...a lot of contrast stitching...will make the denim more casual looking in appearance."  (Note: that blogger does some of the very best polyvore outfit inspiration combinations I've ever seen.  Her whole site is fab, really.)  I think both of my denim skirts are acceptable for my workplace, but this one is a smidge less casual than the other.

So this zoo bird photo clearly doesn't have the kissy action of my shirt, but come on, they are dark blue and greenish-teal birds with a hint of white!  They were obviously influenced by my outfit because it's not like there's any other reason for birds to look like this.  I mean, what, are we supposed to believe that the coloration provides camouflage against a background of trees or something?  As if.

In other news...I have definitely not been too cold at work this week.  I think they must have decided that the beginning of October is a good time to turn off the air-conditioning (it's crazy to us living in the south, but apparently it is commonplace up here for heating and A/C to be on two different systems that they switch between based on the calendar, not actual weather) because it's been very warm in the afternoons.  My officemate who sits next to the window has kind of been suffering on these sunny days.  Today I had to turn up the speed on our fan to a level we haven't used since August.  Oh well, I guess this means that I need not worry about the end of bare-leg season coming all that soon!

And can I just say, OMG weekend!  Woooo!