No, it isn't scarf weather yet in Brisbane! This scarf I got from my mum is so pretty though, a lovely blush shade with rose gold thread running through it. I added it in the morning as I'd lost my voice the afternoon before, and thought it best to keep wrapped up in the office air con. Thankfully my voice (mostly) made it through to the end of the day.
I forgot that this necklace hangs at an awkward length and bangs noisily on my work pass when I wear it, but the scarf did help muffle it a litte.
I usually pick neutral bags to wear with this colourful orange sheath dress. Although there was one time I paired it with an orange bag. I like blue and orange together, so the navy Regan satchel was a nice addition and a change from my usual grey. With the blazer and ballet flats, it's a classic office outfit combo, and one that I relly on a lot. Especially when life gets hectic, as happens often with two little ones. I wonder how full time office workers with kids do it all sometimes!
This dress is on it's eighth wear, even though this year marks 5 years since I bought it. I do tend to keep it to spring/summer as I prefer to wear it without tights. Other than not getting worn a lot (which is even harder to do now I'm only in the office a couple of days a week), there's nothing wrong with it. I feel bad keeping pieces like this that are so rarely worn in my wardrobe, but given the choice again today I'd still buy it if I saw it in a store so it's staying, even if it will be a while before it gets worn again!
Unlike the orange sheath dress above, this blue paisley print one has been worn a lot more often. One of my favourite work pieces, it just makes me feel pulled together and confident. I've worn blue bags with this dress in the past, but this is the first time I've worn the dress and Balenciaga city bag together. I've worn it with a pink blazer in the past, but never a pink bag. I really liked the combination - I'm sure it will come up again in my quest to get to 30 wears with this dress this year!
While I love the Rebecca Minkoff Regan above and think it's a great classic option for work, there's something so cheerful about the pink Balenciaga city bag that makes me smile when I wear it. Paired with my favourite blue sheath dress, it's a great mood booster for a tough week.
The pearl necklaces were a last minute choice, I'd planned to wear another necklace but changed my mind that morning. I'm not completely happy with them. I did try knot the longer chain of pearls but when I couldn't get the knot to sit right and I was in a rush I just left it. I think knotting it would have looked better though, like this time I knotted the necklace.
Sheath dresses are a classic cut and style for the office. They work in many different office dress codes. Fun printed ones like these two are perfect for business casual offices, but if you have a more formal dress code you could go with a plain version.
I've shared before that one of my secrets to getting out the door to work on time despite having two kids is to lay out my outfits the night before. It saves so much time in the mornings!
I'd actually had these outfits planned out for a week before I wore them. With sickness hitting the boys and a late night hospital dash, my week was thrown off and I ended up taking some time off. Thankfully everyone is better. I only made it into the office once that week, so I decided to wear a mood boosting dress instead on the only day I made it in, and saved these outfits for the next week. It was nice to finally wear them!
It's not the first time I've worn this peplum tank tucked into a skirt, but I think this is my favourite way of wearing it. I'd been looking for a plain black top to wear with this skirt when I saw this top and realised it would be perfect if I hid the peplum under the pleats. As I'd managed to catch what the boys had and wasn't feeling the best, I added a colourful statement necklace. A trick I often use to try draw attention away from my tired eyes! With all of the black, I felt that the loud statement necklace and printed skirt worked nicely together, although I wasn't sure at first when thinking up what to wear. I really liked the gold mouse flats with this too.
Despite not feeling 100%, and wishing a few times I'd been contagious enough to get the day off work, I did love this outfit and felt happy with it. A little more energy and voice would have been good though, ha!
I was so excited to wear this outfit a few days after the one above, as it was my last day in the office before a few weeks leave. However I was in a bit of a rush and grabbed this black blazer from the front of my wardrobe instead of the cream one I'd originally planned.
Instead of a plain black top like I had above, I picked my space dye black tee. I thought it was a subtle enough print that it wouldn't compete with the leaf print of the skirt. With the same blazer, similar skirt, statement necklace, Louis Vuitton neverfull, Marc Jacobs flats though...this looks incredibly similar to the outfit above. It's the same outfit formula, I just forgot to change up the jacket to make it look a little more different.
Loved this outfit as much as the top one, but for my last day before leave I think I was going to be happy no matter what I wore! Did have a mad last few hours trying to fit everything in and get everything done before I left, but otherwise it was a good day. This skirt always makes me feel good, even though being silk it doesn't get worn much at all around the toddlers! Perfect for the office.
A neutral like black is a nice choice to wear with a colourful printed skirt. The black tops and blazer work so well in these outfits as the skirts both have black in them too. Picking a colour from the print on the skirt and wearing that on top is another good way to go if you don't have any neutral tops that work. Linking up with Mix It Monday, Confident Twosday, On Trend, Turning Heads, Trend Spin, Style Sessions.
My blog friend Ruth does these 5x5 style challenges on Instagram. Another blog friend, Eileen and I started talking with her about it and thought it would be fun to participate. We decided to do an international style challenge a couple of weeks ago near the end of November.
The rules: 5 pieces of clothing to create 5 outfits over 5 days, with a black and burgundy colour scheme. Accessories like shoes, necklaces, scarves, handbags, outerwear, can be added as needed and don't count as one of the 5 pieces.
Who took part: Ruth @ruthyannie, Eileen @eileensed and myself, @awayfromblue. Ruth did this over autumn in the cold weather, and Eileen had to dress a growing baby bump too! I have so much admiration for them both!
This is going to be a bit of a long post as I share with you what we wore over 5 days! I hope you'll get a lot of outfit inspiration from it though, and discover some new ways you can rewear pieces you already own.
My Capsule Wardrobe
After a few last minute swaps and changes, these are the 5 pieces I came up with for the challenge.
black drawstring waist maxi skirt
black denim shorts
burgundy jersey dress
black, burgundy and cream shirt dress
burgundy slouchy tee
My choices were limited by the colour scheme which helped me make decisions about what to pick as my 5 pieces. The last time I did a capsule, it was my third trimester capsule wardrobe and the growing bump helped limit my options there too! I did have to go into the office for one day which made me pick the shirt dress, even if the print is more red than burgundy. I figured it was close enough!
The main worry I had was around structuring the pieces I wore to allow me to have them washed and ironed ready for the next wear With two messy toddlers it was highly unlikely I was going to be able to wear things twice in a row without washing them! In the end I came up with 6 outfit ideas so that if something wasn't ready in time, I'd have a fall back option.
For the first day of the challenge I went with a classic tee and maxi skirt combo. When I'd first started planning outfits and pieces for the challenge I'd went with a different burgundy tee, and changed my mind and swapped it for this tee instead. I didn't like the way this one sat with the maxi skirt though, I was a bit frustrated with it both tucked and untucked and wasn't as comfortable with this outfit as I could have been. Easy outfit for playgroup though.
This was as 'formal' as my outfits got during the challenge, the majority of them were casual outfits. I had to go into the office, so picked this shirt dress to fit in with the business casual dress code. I found myself fussing with this outfit too during the day though, the dress seemed to ride up a lot and I was constantly tugging it back down. I much prefer wearing this dress as a kimono, or layering it up with tights in winter.
I knew with the darker black and red print on the dress (it's a geometric print although it looks like polka dots in the pics!) that this Marc Jacobs bag would work perfectly with it. This bag doesn't get worn as often as it did when I first got it, but it's still a nice choice for work. It's been tagged in 62 posts on the blog and most of the time it featured in both outfits of the posts, so you can see it was worn a lot in the past! Such a unique colour too, a deep purple-y brown.
The simplest of all my challenge outfits, and also the most popular. I wore this to work from home and attend a specialist appointment with baby boy in the afternoon. With the burgundy star print dress, I added black through my accessories, with the same ankle boots I'd worn the day before and another little worn bag, my Mimco button bag.
This was actually my first expensive bag purchase, despite how little I wear it now I'm never going to let it go. I spent months thinking about it and saving for it and picking out the perfect colour combo I wanted and I still remember the excitement of going to the store to pick it up! Very treasured even if not frequently worn now. I think I bought it in 2007 at the height of the button bag trend, still looks great. Sadly it's discontinued, the closest thing is the Mimco Turnlock bag that's around $200 more expensive than the button bag was 10 or so years ago, or to go to ebay for the classic style.
An incredibly busy day called for a comfortable and casual outfit, and the first wearing of the last of my 5 pieces, my black denim shorts. Added the comfy slouchy burgundy tee and the printed dress was worn as a kimono. Converse were a practical choice for a busy day, and the mustard yellow bag was a fun touch of colour with the black and burgundy.
Baby boy had some more tests at the hospital in the morning, so I had the day off. With my mother in law available to watch the boys, as it was a day I normally work, I made the most of it and she looked after them both once the testing was done so I could gt a rare child free afternoon to go Christmas shopping. And I shopped up a storm, getting the majority of the things remaining on my Christmas present list!
For my fifth and final outfit with my 5 pieces, I wore my denim shorts again and the lovely burgundy dress as a top. I added turquoise accessories with the necklace and Rebecca Minkoff mini MAC bag for an extra touch of colour. I've won dresses as tops before, it's a nice way to wear something a little differently. The extra dress fabric wasn't too bulky although it was a bit of a pain tucking it in to the shorts every time I went to the bathroom! I had considered doubling up on the dresses and wearing the shift dress as a kimono over this again, but despite how little time I spent with the boys the day before it still got messy and had to have a wash. That was the hardest part of this challenge - making sure everything was washed and ironed in time to wear again!
This was a nice outfit to finish the challenge on, I ran around with the boys completing a few errands.
Hope you enjoyed seeing the different outfits we were able to create for the challenge. While it was a fun challenge for me, I was looking forward to getting back into my regular wardrobe at the end of it! Especially after buying lots of new pieces that month that I was eager to wear.
Thanks so much to Ruth and Eileen for inviting me to take part - if you don't already, you should follow them on Instagram!
Like everyone, my wardrobe has fluctuated over the years. In the past 10 or so years I've gone from being a uni student to working full time, changing careers, having two beautiful babies, over 2 years of maternity leave and now a part time working mum of two toddlers.
While it's been fun unboxing my office clothes after maternity leave, it's eye opening to see that I'm wearing the last of the office dresses now, over 3 months since I started back at work.
It's an interesting place to be at wardrobe-wise. Having more office wear than I need but not really wanting to let any of it go. It's not that I don't use office wear, just that I have much more than a part time worker needs. Not entirely sure if I should downsize more or just enjoy having lots of choice for workwear! Despite not being worn often, I love both of these sheath dresses.
This dress is it, the final as yet unworn office dress, 3 months after returning to work. It's a beautiful dress and always gets compliments, perfect for the office and light enough for summer but not so light that it can't work for spring layered with a jersey blazer. The only reason it was the last office dress I had left to wear is that I prefer to wear it without tights. Now that spring has arrived it's the ideal weather for it.
I wasn't sure if the bright yellow necklace would be too much with the orange print on the dress, but I really liked the bold combination. With all of the colour going on in my outfit, I picked a neutral cream blazer and a brown Balenciaga bag with camel flats, they look so nice together and were perfect to pair with the print and colour.
Another printed sheath dress, sticking with the same cream jersey blazer I wore above and the same Balenciaga day bag. As the blue necklace matched the blue print of the dress, I added a little more interest to my outfit with the gold mouse flats. I love these shoes so much, they are so cute but so wearable to the office too, a nice way to add a little personality to a corporate outfit.
I've already worn this dress once since my return to work from maternity leave, but it was good to wear it again as it will always be one of my favourites! When I had my wardrobe detox session this was one of those 'hmmm' pieces in my wardrobe that the personal stylist stopped for a moment to consider - so of course I explained that I really wanted it to stay, and it moved into the 'keep' pile! It's actually one of the dresses I bought when starting out with my current company about 8 and a half years ago, it's definitely got staying power in my wardrobe! I've worn it 15 times since I started blogging, and many more times before then, one of those pieces I think I've already hit 30 wears on although sadly don't have a photo of every wear.
It's worked for two pregnancies too - it's quite roomy, although with the zip up the back I've never worn it past the second trimester!
Printed sheath dresses are quick and easy office outfits. With a printed statement dress you don't have to try to had with accessories as the dress makes a bold enough statement on its own. If you're unsure what to wear them with, stick with neutral accessories like tan bags and shoes that go with everything. A blazer helps add to the professional look and keeps you warm in the office aircon.
I've already had a blast spending my saved gift cards there, stocked up on shorts!
Couldn't resist this embroidered pair, a printed pair and this distressed pair to replace my other black ones. All 40% off means I still have 2 gift cards left to spend!
