Reeds and Studs

More Geometric Reeds--Monday, 7/18/16

My love of a tipped blazer is becoming legendary (in my own mind) so of course I was attracted to this black and white with brights outfit.
 

From jtouchofstyle.com

And it was a great way to get my new black and white striped skirt into the workweek rotation.  When I went to add this skirt to my Excel spreadsheet, it seemed to me that its print was "geometric reeds" (for whatever bizarre-ass reason--it's very flowy and not obviously "geometric" at all).  So that's how it shall be known for all time.

Isn't this skirt fab?  See why I wasn't eager to split my wears with a pair of black and white pants?  I had forgotten that the great length was due to my being able to purchase it in a Tall size.  Plus, it has pockets!  Real, usable pockets, too.

Black tipped blazer (JNY), $4.54/wear
White V neck short-sleeved T (Lands End), $1.50/wear
Black and white geometric reeds skirt (JCP), $5.65/wear
Aqua scarf (Target), $2.34/wear
Black floral flats (Payless), $1.63/wear

Outfit total: $15.66/wear

I love the studded flats she's wearing in the inspiration photo, but I have somehow managed to resist buying a similar pair for myself.  I think mostly because I don't think I'd like how the strap around the ankle would feel.  Also, did you know that the original Valentino Rockstud t-strap flats cost $975?  They even make a version that costs $1,275! Luckily there are now a lot of knockoffs across a range of prices.  So while I admire this style on others, I went with my warm-weather standby, the ballet flat.  Because nothing complements geometric reeds like a floral print, there we go.

Of course, looking up the info to link to above, I came across this post with a review knockoffs of the Rockstud style without the strap.  OMG, I never realized they made that kind.  Even Kmart had a version for $14.99 last summer (now sold out)!  I may have to get a pair of the ballet flat version knockoffs.  Of course, I'm a couple years late to this train.  Now all the cool ballet flats are lace-ups (ugh).  It might be a challenge to find a pair in this style that peaked in popularity a couple years ago...or not because Facebook just served me up an ad to these shoes.  I don't think of Amazon as a place to shop for clothes/accessories but they do have a wide variety of options.

If I were doing this over again, I might have picked a scarf (perhaps my bright pink one) that is long, not an infinity style.  With this scarf bunched only around my neck rather than flowing down the front, I felt like there was a kind of oddly large expanse of white that made my torso look very long.  But it was also a warm day (mid-80s) so from that perspective this very lightweight scarf was a win.  It was so sunny today that I got overheated in my office and removed the scarf.  Ugh.

This outfit featured two standouts from the Work the Wardrobe Challenge:  the black tipped blazer is tied for Jacket MVP #2 with 5 wears and the white V neck top with tied for Shirt MVP #2 with 6 wears.

In other news...I spent all day formatting data into this giant matrix and got a terrible headache around 3 p.m.  Boo!  I'm feeling a little bit better now that I've had dinner, but I still think I need to make it an early night.  All weekend I stayed up late and woke up early and couldn't go back to sleep, so I'm suffering a bit already.