Definitely Monday

I switched around a couple of the prompts this week so that my footwear would be compatible with the weather (at the time I picked my outfits over the weekend, we were expecting a couple of days of rain during the week).

Day 7: Define the Waist -- Monday, 11/3/14

Can I eke out one last day of bare legs this season?  It's supposed to get up to 59 degrees in the afternoon.  I can wear my long trench coat to protect my legs in the couple minutes I walk from my car to the building.  Hmm...I don't know.  (I ended up wearing nude sheer hose with it, and that worked out just fine.)

I knew this outfit would be the hardest to create, so I attacked it first.  This peplum top seemed like a no-brainer "define the waist" garment, but I needed additional warmth.  If I used a normal cardigan or jacket, it would cover up the waist (which felt like cheating).  I thought about putting another shirt underneath it (it's sleeveless, so I guess it could work as a sort of vest) but I thought that would bunch up weirdly under the elastic at the waist.  Then I remembered: Oh yeah, I bought this bolero style jacket at Goodwill a gazillion years ago but never figured out a way to wear it.  Whew.

Black peplum blouse (Target)
*Black bolero jacket (thrifted, JCP)
Black "Y-dye" knit pencil skirt (Old Navy)
Leopard flats (Nordstrom)
Gold "shelled pea" necklace (Target)
Black woven belt (Target)

Verdict:  I'm surprised by how well this turned out.  Having the right pieces to create the silhouette was key.  I liked the all-black (but textured) outfit with the bright, contrasting necklace and the fun shoes (that kind of bookend the necklace and my hair color while also tying in the black--yay for beige leopard print).  Had the items been different colors, it would have looked too chopped up and messed with the proportions.  This way, it kind of looks like a dress of many parts instead.  A sort of puffy dress, but a dress, not a bunch of clothes that got whipped up by a fierce wind and landed upon my body.

And it was a good outfit for sitting all day at my desk working on SPSS syntax and developing report templates in Excel for our new quarterly reports.  I really liked not having any meetings!