Sweet Pea Nylon top, short-sleeved, linen pants, ballet flats
I work in an office with central air conditioning; if I didn’t, I wouldn’t be sane enough to write this post. It is a record-breaking 104 degrees here today. I just read that only 14% of the homes in the Seattle area have central air. My home does not. It is 90 degrees down in the living room where the thermostat is. Hotter upstairs where the computer is.
I don’t like to say “Thank Goodness I don’t have to wear a suit to work every day,” because really? If I was in a place in my career that required suits, I’d bring the suits. Day after day, I would make the suit look great. I would wear the best damn suits and shoes in the place and I’d be grateful for the opportunity to looking Suit-tastically Awesome.
But Business Casual is feeling pretty good in the heat. I broke a sweat before leaving the house, again while dropping my daughter off at daycare, and even more in the parking lot of my building. I don’t know that anyone else has this exact wardrobe problem this week. But I’m kind of proud of myself for not melting, crying and/or caving and waering my Alfani Petunia flip-flops to a deposition, so I decided to tell the world about what I’ve worn so far.
Cotton ruffle-front tank from The Gap, Tahari suit skirt, pink croc-embossed slingbacks
Classiques Entier ruched top, cotton plaid skirt from Target Juniors, pink slingbacks
Panic purchase: Sleeveless rayon dress from Fred Meyer. No I do not like it. No it doesn't feel cool. I panicked because it was 40% off and I felt like I could solve my problems by shopping.
Yes, I had a bit of a Bargain Binge at Target and Fred Meyere. It felt like they just HAD to have that perfect $20 cotton sundress. I got a blouse, skirt and dress (without trying it on). The skirt works — above — but is a long story that I don’t want to tell just yet. The other stuff, I have to return, and how no fun is that?
. . . to be continued with my Thursday and Friday outfits. I think tomorrow I’ll revisit the linen pants with a sleeveless silk top. Friday it is supposed to be a tad cooler. I might wear a short-sleeved dress.
Hot.
I recognize that Sweet PEa top from your NAS dressing room!
i HEART your tahari suit skirt. omg. i am in love. you really do have great legs, man.
The Sweet Pea top is unfortunately too low in the neck for work. I should wear something under it. I didn’t notice until I got home and Malcolm took my pictures from the top of the stairs like that. I actually photoshopped some cleavage out of it.
I’ve always thought slingbacks were a little sleazy, like they are pretending to be a shoe but not really a sandal? Is it the buckle on the back — maybe any clo with a sartorially unnecessary point of access/removal looks too sexual? Anyway they are flattering on the legs.
Also I just noticed M sleeping on the bed behind me in that picture. Cutie, our room is the only one with a/c so he crashed there and was sleeping late while I was getting ready for work and blog-modelling.
oh man, cleavage at work. i have a picture of myself at work in 1995 when i first started working and bought a bunch of things at nordstrom. omg. it was so not right for work. cleavy booby. i wonder what my coworkers (mostly all men) were thinking. yikes.
HAHAHA. i love that M is sleeping in the back
Yes now that I’ve confessed it I really should probably work on it (low necklines). It’s one of those things that doesn’t bother me on myself, but would weird me out on other people, especially a supervisor.
I wish cleavage were an issue for me. I think after losing the baby weight I’ve ended up somehow even smaller-chested than I was before. But, oh man, during late pregnancy and post-childbirth, I had a truly glorious rack.
I think of this photo as “the three best things about new motherhood”:
It’s hard to say how I would handle it if I still had them. Obviously, at the time I didn’t mind showing them off. So beautiful. Damn.
Also, yes, slingbacks are sexy, but in a classy way. It’s funny that you would think of them as sleazy. I think strapless tops and short miniskirts without tights at work are sleazy, not a buckle at the heel. Next time I have lunch in downtown Oly, I’m going to study the scene and see what you’re surrounded by down there.
do you ever have lunch in downtown oly? my parents told me i have to go to this oyster house in oly.
i think i’ve ended up with smaller boobs after having J but they’re still there. i’ve come to like them and even love them for a while (back to like now) but when i was growing up i wished they weren’t so big.
There are a couple of ladies I used to lunch with when I was STPing (by car) a lot.
But RR’s comments sometimes make me think that the women who work for Washington resemble the Soviet models from 1980s wendy’s commercials. I want to see for myself if the town really is half conservative matrons and half riot grrls. Could make for interesting portraiture.
The Oyster house is just like Elliott’s on the Seattle waterfront. I wouldn’t make it a destination, unless you two are meeting there. I do have a low sleaze threshold. It comes from my childhood being dressed by my Grandmother who liked to take us to the Nordstrom ladies’ departments. Her style was pretty much Aberdeen 1942. The government attorneys are all over the place. Corporette.com does consider slingbacks and open toes a no-no for the corporate environment, and I try to follow those guidelines if I’m concerned about a first impression (esp. judge or other lawyers).
Boobs, I don’t know. I’ve been pregnant and/or breastfeeding for over 5 years so I haven’t seen my “after” yet. In general I wear conservative bras and never push them “up” or show side-boob, so if my neckline flashes a little low when I bend forward I try not to worry too much. Still, I cannot imagine my boss doing it, so I probably shouldn’t do it. And looking over my pictures, I LOVE the square necklines — I will try to aim for those, more than scoop necks.
yeah my parents do the oyster house on their way to or from seattle from portland.
ok now it’s officially cooler outside than it is inside. i’m sorry but i’m gonna go check out target. who knows, i may come back with the same thoughts as you. or i may come back with really good finds. we’ll see.
Don’t get the purple/brown/red Xhilaration print sundress with the elastic top. I’m sick of seeing it on everyone.
I’m thinking might need to distinguish between “sleazy” and “sexy” for myself. Like lace-up tops (back or bodice-front) always look sleazy to me because it is a cheeky “undress me here” thing. Some people think that’s elegantly sexy though.
But sexy isn’t okay for work, so it probably doesn’t make a difference.
That’s another blog topic — is sexy ok for work?
My answer would be yes, absolutely, but not sleazy or tacky or slutty or over the top. Slingbacks, minis, strappy boots, yes yes yes.
Well, if you’re a stripper than sleazy is okay for work, so it depends on the job. Sexy is not okay for my work. Pretty, classy, cool are okay. Maybe “sophisticated,” maybe “feminine and elegant,” but I don’t want any of my clothing to evoke sensuality or be in any way provocative.
My work dress code is “courtroom ready [or close to it]”, so technically I should be able to throw on a jacket and go. Obviously we push it to the casual end of that. But everything is loosely inspired by the Business Suit and measured by how much it varies from that. Slingbacks were definitely pushing it; a mini skirt starts to impact people’s career advancement.
Oh, that was me. I sound a lot bitchier when I’m anonymous. I’ll have to remember that.
Everyone sounds bitchier as Anonymous.
Can I reiterate that “mini” is a meaningless term? Check out the four not sexy “mini”s on this page: http://www.bodenusa.com/en-US/Womens-Skirts.html
I met with a corporate lawyer today–he was wearing shorts and clogs without socks. It’s kind of fun to see how different people dress for grown-up jobs in a company where there is absolutely no dress code.
Were the shorts and clogs sexy? That’s the qustion. Or maybe the question was whether you were happy paying him $400 an hour. IP-type attorneys pride themselves on being casual, it’s a Silicon Valley attitude that took hold in the late 90’s and still hangs on in some sectors. In other places the novelty wore off as soon as the big money did.
I wouldn’t wear anything more than an inch or two above my knee to work. When I was working in a male-dominated type of law (waterfront industry) I was usually the only female and the youngest person in the room by 20 years — very critical to set clear professional boundaries. Now I’m in Social and Health services, and for different reasons I tend to dress conservatively because decorum is appropriate around the issues we deal with. If I worked in fashion or art (or fashion/art law) I’d give myself much more leeway. But I’m perfectly fine rocking the Nordstrom cardigans at this time in my life.
He’s in-house counsel. I think it might actually be smart for folks in corporate legal departments to dress the way everyone else there does. It might make people less wary of seeking their advice.
So everyone there wears shorts and clogs? Aki is on her way over with a camera right now.
I think transactional lawyers in general tend to dress for their clients and be way more casual in-house (where their boss is their client). Litigators tend to dress for their opposition (or judge) because the nature of the job is adversarial. Either way I think it’s key to dress generally like your boss does, and in a way that fosters trust and enhances your authority in client interactions. I don’t see short-ish skirts doing any of this for me. It really is much harder for women (esp. younger women) than men.
Ok, the clog/shorts combination is a little unusual. Shorts, t-shirts, and sandals are common. Flip-flops are common. The CEO usually wears blue jeans. I’d say that expensive jeans are the most common garment.
It’s pretty much anything goes, short of suits. If you see someone wearing a suit, you know they’re a vendor.
I love everything except the desperation sundress. You look great!!
I’m going to feature the dress in some pictures of “hiding it” (tummy) that show how different shapes work (or not. NOT).