Now that the Christmas and New Year's holidays are over, I'm back to sharing my office style. Even though I wore both of these outfits before Christmas! Have been so behind with blogging, although I was dressing for the Fox in Flats DAREcember style challenge each day.
In spring I realised that a tank and shorts would probably be my go-to outfit combo for coping with the summer heat during pregnancy, and kimonos seemed like a nice piece to add on top for a little more interest. I'd been hunting for some nice ones for a few months. There are a lot of polyester ones around but I needed something more breathable for the heat. I managed to score the two I'm wearing below in the Asos sale, already reduced with an extra 20% off so I'm pretty happy. Ended up wearing them both with the same pair of shorts for their first wears.
I loved everything about this outfit! The style challenge for the day was 'brights' so I wore my brightest tank and a colourful bag. I liked how well the yellow and aquamarine worked with the print on my kimono too. Wore this to go out with toddler T for a play date with some other mums and bubs from playgroup, as we are still trying to catch up although playgroup has a break over summer.
Wore this out to a Christmas party. I really like pink and blue together so I loved the colour combination in this outfit also. The style challenge for the day was 'killer heels' but no chance of wearing heels at this point in pregnancy! I figured the studs on my sandals made them 'killer' enough looking to meet the theme, and they were perfect for chasing around a toddler. Toddler T had a blast at the party, and got to meet Santa again. Even after Santa gave him a cookie he wasn't really sure of him, although it did make for some cute photos.
As it's the second time I've worn this tanksince I purchased it, and I'm trying to review and reflect on all my purchases to find out if I'm buying the right things for my wardrobe, my purchase review:
I LOVE this tank. In my last pregnancy, I didn't try any of these maternity tanks and I just stuck to the regular non-maternity tanks, but I decided to try these on at Jeanswest one day and loved how comfortable and flattering they were. I bought three colours, and may have bought a few more in the recent sales....definitely a great pregnancy purchase. Although I am too clumsy for white and I'm frequently spilling things on it, so far I've managed to get all the stains out!
I rediscovered this wrap dress in my last pregnancy, so I was looking forward to wearing it again for Frocktober. Felt happy and comfortable in this all day. And I didn't need a jacket, unlike the last time I wore it in winter when I was layered up!
I had been talking with @therawedit on instagram about Balenciaga bags and it reminded me it had been a while since I'd worn my sorbet pink city bag. I pulled it out again and I've enjoyed wearing it the past few days! It's a great way to add some colour to a black and white outfit like this. I added a pink tank under the dress because I was wearing the pink bag.
Unlike the day before, it was a bit of a cloudy and rainy morning so an extra layer was needed. I wanted to add some colour with the scarf, although the striped maxi cardi kept me warm enough. Just thought I should add some colour after I swapped out the bright pink Balenciaga city bag for the neutral grey Rebecca Minkoff MAM. It's another bag that hasn't been worn in a while!
I wasn't looking forward to wearing this dress all, but knew I'd have to wear it at some point for the Frocktober challenge. It's a lovely dress and normally I like it when I wear it, but while I was trying on outfits earlier in the second trimester (when I was still hiding the baby bump) I put this one on, and hated the way it looked with a baby bump. It also didn't hide the bump very well! I made a mental note to wear it on a quiet day where I wouldn't see a lot of people.
But after wearing this to work from home and do the day care drop off / pick up....have to say I really liked the way it felt and sat on the slightly bigger bump. Was really pleased with this outfit in the end, despite thinking I wouldn't enjoy wearing it.
First, what I bought in October. As I am doing Frocktober and wearing only dresses, I didn't buy any new clothes. I did buy a few accessories though! Using some store credit at Rebecca Minkoff, and taking advantage of the Shopbop sale in October. As the parcels arrived separately, about a week apart, I've got 2 'what I bought' videos instead of just the one!
Some impulse buys in there, and two things (the bag and wallet) I'd been thinking about getting for a while. It was good to start doing some early Christmas shopping too!
Shein were kind enough to let me pick something from their large range to try out, and I chose this lovely lace kimono. I think it would look great with jeans or shorts, and that's how I had pictured it. Of course, I can only wear dresses in October, so I tried the next best thing and wore it with this chambray dress. I actually quite liked the combination!
I gushed a lot about this dress when I first got it, and yet it hasn't been worn too frequently...it's not that I've fallen out of love with it, it's that I felt it was tricky to hide the baby bump in it! The dress is from the regular line, not the maternity line, but it still fits the bump nicely so hopefully I can squeeze in a few more wears before my belly outgrows it entirely.
Another blue dress! Well, teal, but close enough. I had been looking forward to wearing this dress as part of the challenge so much, I thought it would look great with the bump. And it does, but it was also very tight! I don't think I could have waited any longer to wear this. It's a lovely dress but doesn't have much stretch, so I won't be wearing this beautiful piece again until after baby's arrival sadly!
I figured I'd add a colourful cardigan to this for warmth in the morning, as I already had the colourful bag and shoes with it. There's purple in the print so the purple kimono cardi seemed like a great idea. I adored this outfit. Was perfect for spending the morning at playgroup with toddler T, and sharing our baby news with all the ladies we hadn't caught up with over the playgroup break.
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It was a little chilly, so perfect time to wear one of my warmest dresses. And since it was Hat Day too, I was able to meet the #myStyleOctober challenge of 'hattitude' by wearing a cosy beanie. Layered up with a scarf as well as it got quite cold with the wind and rain.
I was so grateful to be wearing this dress, and not just for the extra warmth. The dress has a longer hem in the back that comes in helpful for toddler wrangling. I spent the morning at the accountants getting my tax done, having had to take toddler T along with me. Although he did sit there quietly 'reading' a book most of the time, every now and then he'd try running around. He managed to drop down and crawl under the accountant's desk at one stage!
We went out for dinner in the evening with hubby's family, so I figured I'd wear one of my 'dressiest' dresses for the occasion. I'm trying to plan out the month so I'm not left with something completely inappropriate to wear near the end! Dinner out seemed like the best time to wear such a formal dress.
We weren't doing much earlier the day though, so I tried to dress this down a little, and settled on the denim jacket and casual bag. I've been wearing my Balenciaga bags a bit lately!
This dress hasn't been worn much - it's been almost 10 months since I last wore it! It's definitely staying in my wardrobe though. I just don't wear it much as I keep it for more formal occasions. I think it's perfectly okay to only wear a floor length formal dress a couple times a year. I expect my 'everyday' wardrobe to get worn a lot more though!
I wore these two dresses from my June buys together a couple of weeks ago, and I wanted to get around to wearing them a second time. I try wear everything I buy twice in a month after buying it, so that when I'm deciding what to keep I'm keeping things I will actually wear and that I won't just leave unworn in my wardrobe. This time around, as it was a little colder, I layered up the dresses more.
This outfit was a hit on instagram, and in my bedroom mirror the night before when I was trying to think of something to wear to work. I like wearing dresses as tops, I've done it before a few times, and this seemed like such a good combination with the colours of the dress and the pants. Made it really cosy too!
The only downside to this outfit was that silk wrinkles, a lot. And with all the sitting down and getting up and re-arranging the dress...it never stayed tucked in perfectly. I ended up keeping the pashmina on at work to try hide most of the creases as by the end of the day I looked quite rumpled! I do want to try wearing this dress as a top again, but maybe with a pencil skirt layered over it so that I don't have to try and tuck it in perfectly each time.
Since it's the second time I've worn this dress, my purchase review:
I am so glad I bought this. It's a beautiful piece, although I am restricted a little with how I wear it and it will be work-only for a while as silk isn't the best material for a day at home with baby! This was an impulse buy, I certainly didn't need another dress, but I do like being able to add some different fabrics to my wardrobe and I have written many times about my love for printed dresses. It's a winner.
Last time I wore this dress, I spoke about how happy I was with the fit, but it was all hidden under the winter layers! I braved the cold without the scarf and trench to take a clearer picture, and to show off the layering tee I added. I didn't need the tee for modesty, I think it's quite a high neckline even though it's a wrap dress. I just thought the colours would go well together and it helped keep me that little bit warmer in the office.
As it's also the second time I've worn this, another purchase review:
I really like this dress! I'm glad I bought it (although I can't say I was pleased coming across it reduced even further recently!). I don't have many petite items, mainly Jeanswest and Asos, so it's nice to find another petite brand which does great work wear. I wish I had waited a little longer to buy it until after the final reductions, but I know I wouldn't have wanted to miss out on it.
Another two outfits showing what I wore to work. Black pencil skirts, printed tops and a blazer is a great office wear formula. Each outfit had a little twist though to make it just a bit different from the normal.
It is just starting to get a little chilly in the mornings, so I needed a jacket. I eneded up wearing my Zara jersey blazer both days! I am feeling completely justified in buying another version of this in a different colour when it popped up on ebay in my size!
Again, this was a double style challenge outfit. I knew exactly what I wanted to do for the 'classic with a twist' prompt for fox pack style dare, although it took a little bit of thinking for the posh lady indigo 'metallica' idea. I was going to go with a sparkly statement necklace, but figured it would be too busy with the printed top, so when with gold accessories instead.
If you've been reading my blog for a while you might recognise the print of the top. It's not actually a top, it's that tee dress I wore over and over when I first bought it. I've worn pencil skirts over dresses before, and I've worn this dress as a tee with a skirt over it casually too. It's a wonderful way for me to get some more wear out of a dress, especially one I love as much as this. I really liked this outfit, probably because it let me wear one of my favourite casual dresses to the office!
Just realised I haven't worn this bag in over a year! When I last wore it, I was in the third trimester!
This was also a double style challenge outfit. It also took forever to come together, despite how simple it is. printed top, pencil skirt, blazer and heels for the office, easy! But I had a heard time deciding on the right top and jacket for this look, as I'd added in the headscarf for the 'mad hatters' theme for posh lady indigo style challenge. I don't have a hat I could wear to the office, just my big sunhat for the beach, so I picked the scarf instead. Because the scarf has a colourful print I couldn't pick a nice top that worked with it. I spent about half an hour the night before - and ended up getting rid of a few tops as I had a try on session through my wardrobe - before I settled on this brushstroke stripe tank. When I wore it the next day I wasn't sure if I should use the headscarf as I had planned for the 'this has a story' prompt for the fox pack style dare challenge, or the fact that the outfit took so long to put together!
I got to work not feeling the best in this outfit. I thought it looked okay, but nothing special. I much preferred the previous outfit (above). But everyone at work loved this. I kept getting compliments all day on it! I had people telling me I looked great, asking me where I got the scarf, that I should wear the scarf more often...one of the most stylish ladies in the office asked if I had bought the top and scarf together as they looked like a set! My friends and I will often compliment each other's outfit choices, but I'm not so used to the input from others. I also had the fun of explaining what an instagram style challenge was to one of my male colleagues, who now asks me each time he seems me what theme I'm dressing for.
It was really nice and unexpected. I ended up feeling a lot more confident than I had that morning when I walked out the door! Reminded me of how just taking a few seconds to give someone a sincere compliment can make their day. I've always been a big believer in 'if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all' like my mum taught me. It's only recently I've realised that I should be making more of an effort to be vocal with my appreciation when there are nice things I could say! Random acts of kindness don't need to be big things, try giving someone an honest compliment to make them smile. :)
