recap: 2014 closet rockstars

+
I did a post like this one last December and it was neat to see which pieces stood out as my favorites for the year.  As you might have guessed, it's all neutrals this year.  To be fair though, all my favorites from 2013 were neutrals too.


[basic black dress]
(J.Crew, purchased in June)
(Outfit posts from left: one, two, three, and four)


[big print cardigan]
(Twelfth Street by Cynthia Vincent, purchased in March)
(Outfit posts from left: one, two, three, and four)


[light gray jeans]
(Old Navy, purchased in April)
(Outfit posts from left: one, two, three, and four)


[grid overlay dress]
(Y.A.S. via Asos, purchased in August)
(Outfit posts from left: one, two, and three)

recap: december

[going]
To three different art museums: The Art Institute of Chicago (easy one since we're members and eat lunch there at least once a week), The MCA (best place to see what artsy people's children look like), and The Broad Museum in East Lansing (since we were nearby to go to the movies).

[watching]
A whole lot of Peaky Blinders on Netflix.  And apparently trying on hats and talking in terrible Irish accents as a result.

[buying]
Presents.  (Obviously.)  And a few things for me along the way:

A new batch of necklaces from Forever21 (including this drop-chain choker).  Even though I've cut way back on my cheap shopping this year, I am still terrible at losing/breaking jewelry, so it's best to keep my purchases on the cheap side.  Total: $45.

Calf-hair ankle boots from Gap.  These are a replacement for my black short boots (seen in this old post) that are not looking so good anymore.  $58.

Printed velour dress from Zara.  It looks like your grandma's couch.  And that couch is awesome.  $35.

Purple coated "Verdugo" jeans by Paige Premium Denim (similar, but way brighter purple).  Somehow I chose shiny purple jeans over gray ones.  Go figure.  $89.

December total: $227.
and get nosy with a bunch of other blogger's budgets over hurrrr.

dotty, weekends, and museums

[wearing]
moto jacket: loft
top underneath: loft
pants: wayf
sneaks: new balance
bag: marc by marc jacobs
sunnies: see eyewear
scarf: marc jacobs target collab

[three things]
1. I heart museums.  And I especially like old school natural history museums.  The exhibits with touchscreen games have got nothing on an intricate diorama.  (Yup, I'm old.)

2. Wearing sneakers is such a great decision for a day of extensive walking.

3. The boy stole my hat.  But it's really easy to find Indiana Jones in a crowd, so I'm fine with it.

   

dotty, brown coats, and red cups

[wearing] 
coat: vince (this year's version)
hat: uniqlo
tights: free press
boots: old navy
bag: marc by marc jacobs

[three things]
1. I'm taking a little break tonight from holiday festivities to actually post on my bloggity-blog.  Also, my toes are frozen from our market segment ice rink holiday party.

2. These fleece-lined tights are the best ever.  And they're $7.97 at Nordstrom Rack.  You are welcome.

3. I went dress shopping last week for a work-holiday-cocktail-party dress and ended up buying purple coated jeans.  This is a bit of a logistical problem for what I'm going to wear tomorrow night, but a major upgrade for my jeans collection.



[previously on] vince felt+leather coat

this week in outfits

[monday]
cardigan: victoria's secret
dress: tahari
tights: free press
flats: j.crew
bag: marc by marc jacobs
necklace: forever21
  [tuesday]
top: labworks for target
dress underneath: j.crew
tights: apt. 9
shoes: bcbgeneration
bag: marc by marc jacobs
  [wednesday]
jacket: zara
tank underneath: forever21
pants: wayf
wedges: elie tahari
necklace: forever21
  [thursday]
jacket: loft
dress: cos
tights: free press
shoes: bcbgeneration
     [friday]
top: day birger et mikkelsen
jeans: joe's jeans
shoes: bcbgeneration
tote: madewell
necklace: forever21

recap: november

[buying] 
one: eileen fisher silk tank via thredup: $60.
two: loft daisy chain infinity colorblock scarf: $21.
three: loft zip sweatshirt jacket: $59.
four: loft drop print henley shell: $33.
five: madewell perfect silk tunic: $67.

November total: $240.
and get nosy with a bunch of other blogger's budgets over hurrrr.

I had work-pants-that-can-be-worn-with-winter-boots and comfy-jackets-that-look-a-little-professional on my shopping list this month and I did much better with the latter.  I found a great jacket to replace my cream and gray quilted motos from grad school.  (You can see the cream one in it's heyday back in this post and gray in this old post).  And then I bought three tops because I'm a sucker for a good pattern and a mossy olive green.

dotty, shiny leggings, and otherwise business as usual

[wearing]
jacket: zara (sim.)
dress: j.crew
leggings: ross (sim.)
boots: stuart weitzman
bag: phillip lim for target

creative: I definitely took full advantage of working in a casual office in a creative industry by wearing my superhero leggings.  They've only appeared on the blog once before because they're a little bit too Sandra-Dee-at-the-end-of-Grease.

young: Pleeeeeathah.  Leggings.

professional: Tweedy jacket, a black dress, and flat boots in the industry trademark "color."

dotty, non-jeans, and cuffs

[wearing]
dress as top: tahari
joggers: wayf
flats: j.crew
tote: madewell
cuff: h&m

[three things]
1. Lately I've been wearing these joggers to work more.  Even though the bottom cuff looks pretty casual, the fabric dresses them up a bit.  This combination of fancy and slouchy is totally my thing lately.

2. And it makes me want to buy every single moto jacket and gray tunic from Loft's Lou&Grey line.  This could be trouble.

3. For some reason even though I can wear jeans any day of the week, I tend not to.  Black pants (even these casual ones) will always look more work-ready to me than jeans do.  And I'm still new(ish) to the company and still trying to convince people that I'm not a summer intern.  Blergh.

dotty, leopard maximums, and summer dresses

[wearing]
dress: madewell
jacket: zara (sim.)
wedge boots: bcbgeneration
bag: phillip lim for target
  
[three things]
1. This is a summer dress.  As much as I want it to work for cold weather, I think it might need to pack it up with the sundresses.

2. I bought a couple of Zara jackets last year, but now they are all showing signs of wear.  I think it might be time to step up my jacket game and invest in some nicer ones.

3. My leopard print coat was hanging on my chair at work when I wore this dress (the one seen in this old post) and I was totally called out on wearing double leopard print.  I keep seeing awesome gray leopard print things, but I think I might already be at the maximum number of animal print things that you should have in your closet.



[previously on] madewell leopard print dress

dotty, fancy flats, and lots of triangles

[wearing]
cardigan: twelfth street by cynthia vincent (new version)
top: labworks for target
pants: silence and noise (sim.)
flats: j.crew
bag: phillip lim for target


creative: Triple patterns!  And all of them are triangle-ish.

young: About all those triangles...yyyyeah.

professional: Can pointy flats and a structured bag turn a comfy outfit into something more dressy?  Maybe on days with no meetings.

dotty, green tights, and wardrobe wins

[wearing]
dress: tahari
jacket: zara
tights: simply vera vera wang
wedge boots: bcbgeneration (sim.)
bag: marc by marc jacobs
necklace: forever21

[three things]
1. These muted green tights date back to when I was in grad school and wore all sorts of color.  Sadly, I totally snagged them today, so this is their last hurrah.

2. I've been trying to build up a wardrobe with more patterns and textures (to keep this whole neutrals thing from getting too boring) and so pairing this jacket and dress together is definitely a closet success.  Yay!

3. I'm trying to not just wear black tights all winter this year...or at least wear gray sometimes.  I feel like black tights always look better with black shoes/boots though.  Hmm.
 



[previously on] muted green tights

dotty, marble pants, adding heels

[wearing]
top: day birger et mikkelsen
cardigan: acne (sim.)
pants: zara (sim.)
boots: bcbgeneration
bag: phillip lim x target

creative: My pants look like marble.  They are a big hit with the interior designers at work.

young: I've seen some really awesome printed leggings around, but since leggings are not pants, these coated pants are super trendy AND have pockets.

professional: I got in a bit of a shoe rut this summer and wore black flats to work almost every day.  Wearing heels is such an easy way to make my usual skinny-pants-and-slouchy-top combination look more dressed up.

dotty, drinkies, and comfy pants

[wearing]
top: labworks for target
pants: wayf (sim.)
heels: merona
clutch: marc jacobs for target

[three things]
1. I can walk further in these heels than pretty much every other pair in my closet, so they get worn for all sorts of occasions.  (See below for four other times I've worn them.)

2. I wore this the other day when I had a casual-ish cocktail party after work and didn't feel like wearing a dress and tights.  It worked out perfectly and I was super comfy from my morning train ride to work all the way through my late night cab ride home.

3. I'm happening upon more and more of those magazine spread "work to cocktails" types of situations.  I always thought that this was a fictional thing and just a way to pass off a cocktail dress as workwear.  But I went to cocktail events three nights last week (two for work and one with friends) and now I believe that these types of outfits are actually necessary and practical.  I've become a cocktail hour monster!  Oh no!
   

[previously on] snakeskin heels

dotty, boden, and yoga-ing

[wearing]
top: c/o boden
pants: c9
flops: old navy

hoodie below: c/o boden

and further below...pants: c/o boden
tank: marika
moto jacket: forever21
sneaks: nike

[three things]
1. Boden sent over some pieces from their new activewear line and I've been mixing and matching them with my collection of stretchy gray yogawear over the last few weeks.

2. The best thing about this line is that the sizing is numbered instead of just S M L XL, so the fit is dead on.  There's none of that between sizes nonsense.

3. And we should probably also talk about the inside of that hoodie.  Hidden pattern for the win right there.











p.s.
You (yes, you!) can save 15% on Boden's whole activewear lineup through November 9th by using the promo code YOGA.