Lydia asked me to come over to help her come up with some dressier work outfits.
She had found herself in a rut always wearing jeans and a dressy shirt to work, but wanted me to give her some more options.
Lydia works in the schools, like me, so her clothing attire is business casual most of the time.
She is gorgeously (yes, I am fully aware I just made that word up) tall and has a fabulously sophisticated closet (which includes a pair of Manolo Blahniks…gasp!).
In her closet there were quite a few dresses and blouses, but very few skirts. She told me that because her torso and legs are so long, it’s hard for her to find skirts that fit her well.
Despite the lack of skirts, I feel like we were able to come up with quite a few outfits that range from casual to fairly dressy, but all very comfortable and perfect for Lydia’s work attire.
#1-Lydia has had this dress for awhile, but only wore it to really dressy events (weddings, etc.). To make it more “work acceptable”, we dressed it down by adding a denim jacket with rolled up cuffs and some brown leather booties.
#2-Because Lydia lacks skirts, we “made” our own by layering it with a flowy blouse and belting it.
#3-Same concept of layering, but this time using a tapered blouse with no belt. We topped it off with a matching blue necklace and nude pumps, which elongate her legs (not that Lydia needs help with that 😉 ).
#4-We again layered and belted a blouse over a dress, giving Lydia a new “skirt” and added some black tights with nude pumps.
#5-This is a much more casual outfit, but is still work appropriate. The neon green shirt was layered over the chambray shirt and topped off with a beautiful & sophisticated floral scarf.
#6-Lydia came up with this one all on her own (way to go!) and layered a skirt over a dress, giving it an entirely new look.
#7-Lydia had a box of sweaters that she liked, but never got around to wearing. I fell in love with this gray one because of it’s softness and sexy cowl neckline and added it to a sleek, black pencil skirt. We belted it with a skinny black belt to accentuate Lydia’s curves instead of them getting lost under the bulkiness of the sweater.
#8-V-neck sweaters are a great addition to any wardrobe (especially animal print ones!) and look wonderful layered over blouses with different, but complimentary prints. Worn with the same skirt, but has a completely different look than #7 and is again finished off with some classic black slingbacks (these would be the famous Manolos I spoke of earlier).
Three simple rules of layering that can easily expand your wardrobe:
1. Layer a blouse over a dress and belt it.
2. Layer a skirt over a dress.
3. Layer a V-neck sweater over a feminine blouse.
And Lydia was going to donate more than half of the items we used!! Now she has a new use for them and is able to repurpose them back into her daily use.
Happy Fashion Friday!
The Girl With The Smile 