Monday, January 9, 2012

Once upon a time I was fancy.

One of the biggest challenges for me as I transition away from working outside of the home is that my wardrobe, and my sartorial choices, are skewed heavily towards Team Fancy. So much so that ye, once upon a time I did doth win an epic battle of glitter and was crowned winner of the FANCY OFF. Well, co-winner.
That's me at my fanciest.

These days I am considerably less fancy. The stress of my work situation and the adoption process has led to an overall toning-down of the fancy. But still I feel most comfortable, and most myself, clad in clothing that most of the world--and certainly most of my hippy/hipster city--would deem "Business Casual with a slight Filthy Librarian bent". Not so sure this lends itself well to my new life.

So my challenge to myself in the next few weeks is to practice being casual. I will wear jeans intentionally, and I will even attempt a t-shirt or two.
If you see me out and about in yoga pants please do stop to congratulate me. I welcome your suggestions in the comments about how to dress casually. Totally serious on this--I don't even know where to start.

Oh--I promised shoes didn't I? These sweet morsels are by my favorite brand, Miz Mooz, and they have become my workhorse shoe of winter. The whisky color is more butter-scotchy than this picture shows, and they go with EVERYTHING. I love them so much I call them my "awesomes" instead of my "shoes".

And look: on sale! You are welcome.







6 comments:

  1. Oh Nora, will you disown me if I tell you jeans are my fancy? Here is my suggestion for casual dressing: change into lounging pants any time you are at home. But, really, who are we kidding? No matter what you're going to find some way to look cute and fancy! I've been trying to dress fancier lately, but historically this has resulted in disaster (recall my SIT interview ensemble).

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  2. I can't believe I'm not mentioned here.

    That being said, as a fellow fancifier, I understand your problem. I do however love stretchy comfortable clothing, so I've worked it out. Here are my tips-- 1) The pajama skirt and the pajama dress. They are nothing like pajama jeans btw. They are black jersey and can generally be obtained from Target. The pajama skirt looks exceptionally good with roller derby shirts and if you select well the pajama dress can be slept in, lounged in, walked about in, but also combined with a hair flower or somesuch if you get a last minute happy hour invite. Other than that I recommend investing in some coordinating exercise gear (think black with pink accents) along with sporty jackets with your name emblazened.

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  3. Ha! Well MLD, I didnt want to thrust you into the limelight of my mommy-blog.
    Excellent suggestions from you and Liv. I need y'all to be my casual clothing sherpas. Who will take me to Target and show me what to buy??

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  4. Dressing casual is a slippery slope. One I never recovered from since attending graduate school.... so it is nice to hear that there is an american out there having to make herself wear jeans. I should try the opposite, see how long I can go without wearing jeans.

    The main reason I am posting though is to ask for your advice on shoes. Since spraining my ankle I can't wear any shoe with a heel (doctors orders). Summertime this isn't so much an issue, but I need some closed toe flats to wear out now that are hip and don't suggest I spend time at my sons school.

    thanks,
    Heeless

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  5. Oh MR! We should do a "style swap" challenge and post about it--you be "fancy" for a week and I'll try to be stylishly casual...For flats I'd check out BC footwear or Seychelles...you can do a brand search on endless dot com. True ballet flats don't work on my totally flat feet so I always look for something with a bit of structure.

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  6. Hahaha! I love that you're looking for suggestions on how to be casual. I nanny, so I regularly go to work in very casual clothes. I have ripped out knees and / or paint-stains on most of my jeans. "My" kids want to know what happened. The truth is: they did! I tell the kids, "they're my playclothes." I also wear yoga pants a lot! As for the top, I tend to layer tanks, tees, thermals & any hoodie or cardigan. Good luck to you, Ms. Fancy-Pants! :)

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