Sometimes – frequently – I wear outfits I like to call
"throwaways." They're the slacks-and-a-nice-shirt kind of outfits you
throw together in two minutes, throw on and wear for a day, and then
throw all memory of to the wind. Next to the re-wears
and failed experiments, they comprise the vast majority of outfits that don't make it
into my blog.
I
thought Tuesday's outfit was going to be a throwaway. I've worn this dress
more times than I can count, but I've never blogged it. I don't really
hate it, but I don't really love it. It's not especially well fitting
(#broadshoulderproblems!) but not ugly enough to toss. It's just kind of
there, an island of ordinary in a sea of statement pieces,
waiting in my closet for a time when I don't feel like putting a much
effort into planning my attire.
It was not that time
on Monday night. Monday night, I was all gung-ho to find another
creative getup to rival the fancy pants I'd worn that day. I was
thinking wild colors, some artistic layering, maybe experimenting with something brand new. There was only one problem—I had a meeting in the morning. By
now, you've probably got a feel for my office dress code (there isn't
one!). I'd be well within my rights to show up to a meeting dressed
in any of my craziest clothes. But the self-imposed dress code I place
on myself said otherwise. My personal dress code advises, when in a
formally scheduled discussion — even with two people who have seen you
in your greenest of hair and never batted an eyelid — you should make an effort to direct attention to what you say, not how you look. And that means for a meeting, you need to take down the crazy to at least a 5.
So
my dress code dictated conservative; the weather forecast dictated
short sleeves; the first item I found
in my closet that fit the bill was this green dress.
I've
worn this dress so many times, I'm tired of it, but since my options
were limited by the circumstances, I decided to settle for the old and
trustworthy. Of course, old and trustworthy also means boring, and
boring means any outfit featuring it would have to be a throwaway. So I
put minimal effort into deciding on shoes and accessories.
The
colors of the dress happened to look cute next to the chocolatey shade
of an unworn pair of brown sandals I had sitting around, so I decided to
go with brown as the accent color, and I was even a little excited
about it! The outfit might be a throwaway, but at least it was going to
involve a new pair of shoes! I set out all my brown jewelry, and a couple of brown belts, and resolved to pick the best combination
of accessories when I got dressed in the morning.
When
that time arrived, I decided it was too cold for sandals—so much for
the one new and exciting part of my ensemble! I switched to one of my
oldest pairs of shoes – my brown high heels
– picked one of the belts, decided the necklaces didn't really work
with the belt but this pair of carved wood earrings worked perfectly,
and headed out the door.
When I arrived at the office, I was wearing a dress that bores me,
accessorized with all brown (definitely somewhere near the bottom of the
list of interesting colors), and complacent in the belief that my
outfit was a solid throwaway. That is, until I happened to glance in the
full-length mirror in the bathroom. I actually looked good! (I mean,
you know, insert modest qualifiers here...) The dress has a pretty well
defined waist on its own, but the belt really enhanced my figure and
served to add that missing element of interest to what was formerly just
a simple striped dress. I don't often wear belts, but this was a
reminder that I should try more often!
If you're bored with your shoes, jewelry, toppers, and scarves, try accessorizing with a belt!
Meanwhile,
the shoes and earrings added a few more balanced touches of brown, and
the height of the shoes seemed just right for the proportions of the
clothes.
The dress is supercute & could be worn as a tunic with leggings as well.
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