The mostly secret garden

Remember that year when skin-tight midi skirts were everywhere? Well, half a decade later, one finally made it into my closet (and not one I made myself)!

Like any good superannuated fashion, this skirt cost me next to nothing ($2 on Swap.com!) and took me 6 months to figure out how to wear. When I got it, I wasn't exactly sure how it was going to fit into my life. I try to avoid butt-clinging fabrics at the office, and this skirt was just about as clingy as they come! On the other hand, the outdated cut definitely didn't make it a top candidate for going out.

After letting it sit in my closet since June, I finally decided if it was going to get worn at all, it was going to get worn at work. A knee-length pencil skirt is a pretty classic career silhouette. Sure, this skirt is clingier than most, but the dark background and chaotic floral print serve well to disguise my personal contours.

The only real problem was the colors. They were briiiiight—just a lumen away from being positively neon. Not only do extremely bright colors bother my eyes, but I also find them a little too flashy for the office. Combined with the fit of the skirt, they had a way of accentuating my hips to an unnaturally curvy degree. In other words, this skirt was fairly unflattering and borderline inappropriate.

The solution is a trick that's now age-old in my book: put a sweater on it! I wore this extra-long black cardigan that nicely skims over my hips, smoothing the bulges and also covering up most of the too-bright pattern. The sweater is so long, the skirt is completely invisible from behind! Now that the overgrown garden of flowers has been tamed into a conservative little bouquet, I feel much more comfortable wearing it at work.

While I tried many tops to go with this skirt, the winner ended up being this orange sleeveless shell, because 1) the color coordinates with the print on the skirt, but in a muted way, 2) it works well under the black cardigan, 3) it has a fairly high bottom hem, which complements the length of the skirt.

To complete the business-casual look, I wore mid-heeled black pumps and a bun in my hair. The earrings are also roses to match the skirt—neutral silver because I totally know when enough color is enough!