with Susan Wagner
The Working Closet is your source for the best of what's hip and fresh in fashion and beauty. Susan Wagner keeps you up-to-date on trends and offers tips and tricks for making everything in your closet truly work for you.
You can also catch Susan over at Working Closet.
Andrea has a fantastic dilemma: “I won a pair of free shoes on DSW and I picked these (I don’t have any colorful shoes so I thought these looked ‘fun’). I’m just at a complete loss on how to style them. Opinions?”
First of all, hooray for free shoes! And those shoes really are fun. Love them. Great choice, Andrea.
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“I mean, you see how picky I am about my shoes, and they only go on my feet.”
- Cher Horowitz, “Clueless“
So I tried the thong. And it was … uncomfortable. I wound up returning one of the two that I bought last week (don’t worry, I only returned the one that I did not wear) because I cannot see this becoming a staple of my lingerie wardrobe.
Which is unfortunate because I have about a half dozen pairs of pants that could really benefit from a thong. Or something similar.
GAP 1969 lightweight corduroy leggings, $59.95 — hello, VPL!
Tina is looking for shoes for her work-at-home-mom wardrobe. “I have mainly casual clothes with a few suits thrown in for trips to the office,” she writes. “Two kids, dogs, chickens, school board meetings and my life is literally a bit of a zoo.
“My problem is I just can’t figure out what shoes to wear with chinos. I bought three new pairs of different color chinos from J. Crew last week, but in the past would have probably worn sneakers with them. Flip flops all the time are not appropriate for my life and open toed sandals…..brrrrr I live in Western PA.
“So what kind of flat cute shoes can I find to wear with the chino-cardigan-t-shirt kind of look?”
ECCO Kenna Moccasin, $150
Spring has sprung in my neighborhood, which means that I really need a pedicure, stat. But it also means that it’s time to face the age-old question of what’s appropriate for the office. Are peep toes and slingbacks fine for day, or should they be saved for date night?
I”m always looking for an alternative to flip flops for summer; I want a shoe that’s easy to wear and lightweight but a little dressier than a rubber thong. This year, there are some great gladiator sandals out there, and they’re the perfect option.
Type Z “Noteworthy,” $98 at Zappos
I know what you’re thinking — you’ve seen the Extreme Gladiators, the ones with the four-inch heels and the straps that come up to the knees. Most likely, you’ve only ever seen those on celebrities, because who wears anything like that in real life? No one, that’s who.
You don’t have to look like Russell Crow to wear a gladiator sandal. You just need to find the right shoe, and keep a few simple tips in mind.
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Categories: basics, bottoms, casual office, shoes
One of the most difficult wardrobe transitions you’ll ever make is the post-kids return to work. It’s a tough shift for a lot of reasons: your body has changed, for one thing, and your budget probably has, too. And for many of us, the return to work is a foray into a much more casual office environment than the one we left before the baby came home. All of this often means that our current everyday clothes are too casual, while our old work attire is too dressy — or just the wrong size and shape. And most of us don’t have the cash to start over with an entirely new wardrobe (and of course, if you’re still working to lose that last bit of baby weight, you may not want to buy a bunch of stuff that — hopefully — won’t fit in a year anyway).
So what should you invest in before you kiss the baby goodbye and head back to the office? Ideally, pieces that will work both with your current closet and on their own, and that can transition from work to weekend without missing a beat. Here are my five essentials for the back-to-work closet.
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Tod’s driving mocs , from $395. Old school, truly.
The easiest outfit ever is a pair of jeans, a basic tee, and pair of beautiful flats. But not every pair of flats works with every pair of pants; it’s all about balance and proportion.
So what goes with what?
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It’s fall, so it’s time to bust out the boots; a great pair of flat boots is an investment worth making. Flat boots are comfortable and practical and super cute. And they go with everything.
Now you’re skeptical, aren’t you? But really, you can wear your flat boots with pretty much anything in your closet.
Hartford Tall Boot, Ann Taylor Loft, $168
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Emily is looking for “cute, casual, athletic-inspired sneakers for fall,” and I am happy to oblige. (You should know that I take any sort of please-help-me-shop question as a challenge; I love to spend other people’s money help nice people find cute clothes.)
Here are six options, all in the mid-range in price, all practical and comfortable. All six pairs are available at Piperlime, which offers free shipping (toss pieces from other Gap Inc. stores in with your shoes and they will ship free, too).
Puma Cabana Racer, $65, Puma Speeder Mesh II, $62
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I have to be honest with you. It took everything in my power not to entitle this post, Absolutely Crazy Trend Watch (WHAT ARE YOU PEOPLE THINKING?) - Neon. Let’s be serious for a second. Neon? Like the Day-Glo Eighties phenomenon? Who wants to re-hash that nightmare?
Well, apparently, W magazine, Harper’s Bazaar and many other fine publications are more than willing to shove neon right back in our faces.
(Looking for a rock to crawl under.)
Is it possible to alter this trend to make it work for the majority of women who would rather not be reminded of acid green Ray-Bans and jelly bracelets from our school days? Of course we can! This blog is called The Working Closet, isn’t it?
