Embracing winter weather and getting my fleecy tights and my knits out for some colourful office outfits. I'm glad I have a business casual dress code at work that lets me be a little more creative with what I wear.
Both these outfits follow the same outfit formula, and despite the different colour schemes in each, I kept the same fun accessory on my bag. The silk 'scarf' tied in a bow on the Regan handle is actually a belt from the skirt in the first photo.
This skirt is silk, so it's quite light, but with a pair of fleece lined tights it was perfect for a cold morning. I wasn't sure what to do with the silk belt that comes with this skirt at first, then I realised I could just use it to accessorise my bag! (Video showing more ways you can accessorise your bags below.)
After trying it in pregnancy, I've been embracing green and blue together a lot more so I thought that this cobalt marle knit would work nicely with the green and yellow in this skirt. I wasn't too sure about the combo after first trying it on, but grabbing this green beaded necklace really tied it together for me and I loved this outfit combo. It did feel a bit matchy matchy, blue knit, coat and bag, with green skirt, bow on bag and necklace, but I do like a little matchy matchy!
As I usually do, copying the outfit formula I enjoyed so much from the first outfit to create this second one. I kept things a little more monochromatic this time around, with all of the yellow. I debated changing out the silk bow on the Regan bag but I think the yellow in the leaf print worked nicely with the yellow in this skirt.
Just like the outfit above, this marle knit is a thrift find too, only $1! It's actually a really orange-y thread with a few flecks of gold metallic, but with the marle it looks mustard - and if you've read my blog before you'll probably know I've been loving everything mustard. I smiled when I saw this, as I had just been admiring an email from Jeanswest with their new yellow heavy knit collection before I stopped by the opshop. Perfect thing to find! The sleeves are a bit long for my petite self, but at the moment I'm just rolling them up before I can get to the tailor.
The necklace is another new piece - $3 in the Kmart sale! I like statement necklaces like this, and I felt the green and blue went with the yellow in my outfit nicely.
While thin open knits like these jumpers might be a spring or autumn staple in other parts of the world, they are perfect for Brisbane winters. A cosy knit isn't just a weekend option, you can easily dress them up a little for a business casual office with a pretty skirt. A statement necklace makes the look a little more formal as well, or you could always add heels, a blazer, and swap to a pencil skirt to dress it up even more.
There is something about the simplicity of a printed kimono with skinny jeans. Add in some shimmery tanks and you have such an easy stay at home mum outfit! As I shared last week, I've been loving this kind of outfit formula before the cold winter weather arrived. Wore these outfits for two very fun days out and about with the boys, Converse were a necessity. As I had a few things to carry, I went with my trusty mini MAB bag. It carries everything!
I worried the purple skinny jeans and printed kimono together might be a little too matchy-matchy, but I'm so glad I gave this a go as I really loved the combination! I debated wearing my trusty Havaianas over my Converse but figured it could still be quite a cold day. It wasn't, and a few times I regretted jeans and wish I'd gone with shorts!
We headed down the coast with the boys to see the Gold Coast 'Monster Machinery' day. We'd never been before, but with two boys who love all kinds of vehicles, it was the perfect destination. Unfortunately it looked like most of the people on the coast thought so too, it was so busy! The council set up all their vehicles in a park, along with some emergency vehicles, boats, and Lightning McQueen and Mac from the Cars movies. The boys loved it! They ignored the biggest digger (although to be fair I wasn't going to push them to stand in the huge line!) abut they had fun clambering over everything including jumping into the big scoops and pushing the horns on some of the trucks and riding in the fire engine and ambulance.
I loved my outfit, we had a fun day despite the crowds and lines, the only thing I didn't love was my bag choice. I specifically chose this much loved Rebecca Minkoff MAM bag as it fits everything I need to carry as well as my camera, and I'd planned to vlog the day. I took a cute video clip in the car on the way down and noticed the battery was getting low. Not an issue, it's pretty good and usually warns in advance. We finally found a parking spot, walked the long distance to the event, the boys got excited to see the vehicles, and I whipped out my camera to get a good pic, to realise the battery was dead. Luckily I had my phone, but the people waiting behind us to take a photo next were not impressed by my fumbling around!
I then had to carry around a heavy camera, bag and the baby bag. I wouldn't have minded if I could have used the camera, but it was a bit frustrating carrying around something so heavy when I couldn't use it! 😫
Another outfit with the same outfit formula! Colourful skinny jeans, basic tank, kimono and Converse. This time I charged the camera the night before, so there were no surprises! I wasn't entirely happy with the kimono though - we had an early start and it was a bit chilly in the morning. Perfect for the rest of the day when it warmed up, but made me realise my kimono wearing days are getting less frequent now winter has arrived.
With toddler T's birthday coming up, we decided to take him and his brother out for a Pony Playdate. A local organisation runs it, they have a beautiful paddock and some farm animals. It's Horses In Mind (not sponsored) at Hemmant. The boys got to spend a morning on the farm learning about (and yes patting and chasing!) the chickens and ducks and guinea pigs. Then it was time to learn how to take care of ponies, and they got to use all the different brushes to get them all nice and clean. This was magical, I had a go too and it was so fun brushing this little pony together. They were such good ponies!
Then after they measured up my tiny boys for tiny saddles, they got to hop on and take the ponies for a ride around the paddock. We got so many good photos and videos, thanks to having the camera charged this time! It was such a fun day out.
The white Converse might seem like a strange choice for a day on a farm! I'd picked them to wear over my boots as they had been getting a bit dirty and I'd been planning to wash them anyway. Getting covered in mud seemed like the best thing to do before finally throwing them in the wash a few hours later.
Colourful jeans don't have to be tricky to wear! They can be just as versatile as your standard blue jeans. You can match the colour to something else in the outfit like I did with the purple jeans and kimono together in the first set of pics, or you can keep things simple and add a pair of colourful red jeans to a classic black and white outfit. Easy, fuss free dressing that's perfect for a day running around with kids. Linking up with Flashback Fashion, Lizzie In Lace, Friday Faves, Shoe & Tell, Mix It Monday, On Mondays We Link Up.
Last month I picked up the cute Rebecca Minkoff Liv double wrap belt in the Shopbop sale. A complete impulse buy, I was just looking for something a little different to update my wardrobe as I am feeling pretty content with all the clothes I have. And I looked at accessories as the weather wasn't cooperating with all the dreams I had for buying cosy knits, it was a very warm start to autumn!
I wore the belt to the office two slightly different ways, with the same bag each time. My Mimco black button bag is a classic most Australians would recognise, and my very first 'expensive' (triple digit) handbag purchase.
With the cooler mornings and evenings, and a bit of rain, I was excited autumn may finally be arriving in Brisbane. I did want to get more wear from this vest before it got too cold though. I find vests better suited for warmer weather. When it's cold, I want my arms covered. If was the perfect day to wear this vest though. Cool, but not too cold. When I first bought this vest, I thought of belting it. I see bloggers belting vests all the time, so that's probably what gave me the idea. This is it's tenth wear though, and the first time I've belted it!
I really liked this outfit! The dusty pink of the vest worked perfectly with the blue Aztec print in the dress, with the black belt matching the black in the dress print as well as the Mimco button bag and black ballet flats. I'm surprised it took me so long to belt this vest as I love the look. I'm glad I eventually gave it a go! The outfit was practical too - had the flu shot at work in preparation for the upcoming winter and needed my arms uncovered.
I didn't like this outfit as much as the one above. The blue Paisley print of this dress is beautiful, but I felt the black accessories didn't look as good as they could have with it. I was really liking the outfit until I went to pick a black necklace. I don't have many, and this was the best one I could find. The velvet belt has gold hardware and this necklace has really prominent silver. I felt a little mismatched all day. I don't mind mixing gold and silver in bracelet stacks or when layering necklaces together, it just felt a little 'off' having the different metals on different accessories.
Just a minor thing, but next time I'd spend the time to hunt out a gold necklace and I'm sure I'd like the outfit better!
A really easy way to change up the look of your favourite dress is to add a belt. It doesn't require buying anything new, as you probably already have a couple belts you could try it with. In these photos above I matched the black belt with black accessories, but you could also add a belt that contrasts with your outfit and other accessories for a pop of colour.
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!
