Just like in August's haul video, I've only included things I've purchased, but I was given more things I wanted to share here. As part of my brand rep role for Fashion Scarf Girl on Instagram, I was gifted some scarves to wear. You might have seen these pop up on Instagram over the month, but they haven't appeared on the blog yet. As always, I'll disclose when an item was sent to me to wear (marked c/o). There's another one I was given too but I haven't worn that yet!
Why I Bought It
I go into this in a little more detail in the video.
Somewhat predictably, the allure of the Jeanswest sale was too strong and while I avoided it for September, I caved on the very first day of October and went in 'just to look' while out with my sister, which turned into a try on session and some purchases..
It's been a LONG time since I've ordered anything from The Iconic - last time was in their boxing day sale almost 2 years ago! Was overdue a shop there!
With the majority of my purchases being early in the month, it was easy to mostly achieve my goal of wearing things twice in the month I purchase them! That dress is the exception - I haven't even worn it once as I've decided to set it aside for Christmas day. I know it's early to plan Christmas outfits, but I know a dress like that needs a special debut! I'm happy with it not meeting my 'wear twice in the month I buy it rule' as I know it's going to be worn a lot after Christmas.
What was your favourite piece of everything I bought?
One benefit of a business casual dress code at work is having a lot more leeway in what I wear. With a busy couple of days planned, without many meetings away from my desk, I took the opportunity to wear some outfits that I know would be too casual for most corporate offices. Simple blouses and colourful pants (with a blazer nearby in case any important meetings came up).
It's not the first time I've worn mustard and green together, I really like the combination and I got so many compliments on my scarf when I wore this. The only downside to it is that the scarf was brand new and shed a little bit - a black blouse that attracts fluff was probably not the best choice. It did make for a great backdrop for the scarf to pop against though!
With the green and mustard together, the black blouse and tan accessories seemed like good neutrals. I really liked this outfit, and I was happy that the olive jeans passed as plain cotton pants for the office.
The credit for this outfit goes to all the American bloggers posting about fall! It's a very autumnal coloured outfit for spring, with the navy studded blouse and burgundy pants. I added the leopard print scarf as leopard print has been everywhere on blogs lately. I really liked all these pieces together!
Navy and burgundy is a colour combination I've frequently worn with these pants. With the gold statement earrings too, I just had to wear my gold mouse flats for a little matchy matchy. I was in a bit of a rush this morning to get photos and get to work on time so as you can see I didn't notice I hadn't put the mirror back in the bag before snapping some pics. I still loved the neutral brown bag with the navy and burgundy though, even if it shows how much of a rush I was in that morning by being a little untidy.
Colourful pants are a fun touch to a casual office outfit, or just for everyday wear. A plain, block colour blouse is a great topper with colourful pants. You can stick to a neutral shade so you don't have to worry about things matching. You can add more colour or interest to your outfit with a bright or printed scarf too.
Felt like it had been a while since I'd worn some of my maxi skirts, so it was time to get them out again! Pairing plain maxi skirts with printed tanks and a denim jacket to make the perfect spring outfit.
A busy day required a comfortable outfit. After doing the day care drop off, I worked from home before heading back to daycare and picking up the boys for an appointment in the afternoon.
As it was a slightly warmer day, I thought it was the perfect time to wear this maxi skirt. It has slits up both sides, so it was a little chilly last time I wore it in autumn, but was perfect for this warmer day. I really liked the simplicity of this outfit, and how comfortable it was! Every time I wear this printed tank I really like the outfit, I should wear it more often.
A colourful outfit with some of my favourite pieces for a sad day! We had a service to close the chapter at our regular playgroup building. After our last week there, I felt it would be good to go and say thank you to everyone who helped us over the years, as lots of the people who worked there over the centre's 20 year history came back for the day.
The boys did so well through the service, although when it drew to a close and they mentioned it was time for morning tea, a certain little boy couldn't contain his excitement any longer and screamed 'MORNING TEA!', much to the amusement of the previously sad and reflective crowd. The funniest part was how many people came up to me afterwards and commented that is was just like him to do that - sums up my son so well, he always brings a smile to people's faces. Of course it wasn't long before the cake the boys were eating made its way onto my outfit!
I wasn't sure how formal the service would be so thought the denim jacket would be best to cover up my shoulders in this sleeveless tank, even if it was a bit warm and I ended up taking it off for the rest of the day. The colourful striped tank and bag were my attempt to bring some cheer to the day - it was a lovely way to have some closure after our time there (over three and a half years!) but sad all the same. I shed a few tears.
Plain maxi skirts are a nice spring option, especially when paired with a printed tank. it's a simple outfit formula, perfect for a busy mum. If it's a little cooler in the morning or evening, a denim jacket is a great layer.
Again, taking advantage of some cooler spring days with a bit of rain to layer up a little. It meant I could try layering my navy cardigan with my colourful jeans. While blue and green is a colour combination I've only recently started wearing, blue and purple is an old favourite. The navy waterfall cardigan was the perfect topper with both of these outfits, especially when paired with the navy Regan bag.
Bit of a busy day when I wore this! I had a few errands to run with the boys in the morning, after having a mobile tailor come over and hem a few pieces for me. I wore this out to watch Church Online at my friends place in the evening too.
You might remember me mentioning before that my normal tailor retired, so I was on the lookout for someone similar. I've tried the 'chain' stores in the shopping centres and been unhappy with the results and the price. MAMAS Mobile Alterations Mending and Sewing was recommended to me and I'm so glad. She came over, set up her machines and got to work on the little pile of alterations I had. In an hour she had fixed or altered 4 pieces for me, it worked out really cheaply as you pay for an hour instead of per item. Not sponsored, I just think it's an awesome service, especially as she didn't mind that I had the boys running around at home too!
Back to the outfit! I knew I wanted an extra layer in the morning and evening so picked this navy cardigan to wear with the green jeans - and I'm glad I did as I really loved this combination. It definitely wasn't needed during the day, but came in helpful running around the shopping centre aircon in the morning and it was nice to have in the evening too.
Since I loved the outfit combination above so much, it made sense to wear something similar again. You might remember I've worn these purple jeans and navy cardigan together before, I really like the combination of colours. I was looking up how many times I'd worn these jeans to see if I could get a 30 wears post together and I was surprised I hadn't worn this tank with the jeans before, I was sure I had. Gave me the idea to actually wear the combination together. I like the navy and gold with the purple jeans, and the navy in the printed tank tied in so nicely with the cardigan and the Rebecca Minkoff regan bag.
I wore this to take the boys to BrisBricks - a big lego exhibition in Brisbane. While I knew we'd be indoors and away from the rain, I thought the cardigan would be good in the aircon at the event. I was glad I'd worn this, after we got soaked walking from the carpark inside. 2 adults and 2 kids don't fit under one tiny umbrella! It was nice having it to keep me warm as I shivered in the hall - although how much of that was the air conditioning and how much of that was because we got wet outside I don't really know!
It's so easy to introduce another colour to your outfit by throwing a cardigan on top. Paired with bright jeans, or any other colourful item of clothing, it's a fun way to try some different colour combinations with your outfit. I've worn navy with purple and green here, but you could also try navy with pink or other neutrals like black, white or grey.
When I'm feeling uninspired picking workwear I make things easy on myself and pull on a printed dress! While both of these dresses are different styles and prints, they solved my 'no idea what to wear' dilema by becoming instant, easy outfits. I added some bright scarves and Balenciaga bags and I was ready for the office!
I really liked the colours in this outfit, with pink blue and purple together. Not the first time I've worn that combination to the office. The pink statement earrings were won in a giveaway and I thought they worked perfectly with the pink fern print on the dress. Despite the earrings being gold and the hardware on the bag being silver, I think because they are far enough apart from each other the combination still works.
Originally when I'd put this together I had planned to wear my purple scarf, to match my purple bag. A text from my colleague the evening before reminding me we needed to wear blue that day made me pick this Louis Vuitton shawl instead. I adore this scarf so much, it's so cosy! As it's always cold in the office, I kept it on all day and matched the rest of the team wearing blue perfectly.
The ankle boots were a necessity with the cooler morning. Despite thinking the week before it was time to retire my tights, I was happy to have them this morning with the overcast and cooler day with lots of rain forecast.
A completely different look even though this follows the same outfit formula as the one above. I even wore the same blazer. I can't believe it's taken me this long to wear the orange crinkle scarf with this printed orange sheath dress, it's the perfect matchy-matchy layer!
With all of the colour in my scarf and outfit, I decided to go with neutral accessories this time, letting the scarf and dress be the touch of colour against all of the black. I really liked this outfit. You might recall me saying a few times I'm wary of wearing black with the orange dress as it reminds me of Halloween but I think it worked really well. When I was popping out to get lunch one of the sales people standing on the street complimented my outfit as I ran past shaking my head. Was nice of them to do that, but I was too busy to stop to see what they were selling!
Printed dresses are an easy and quick outfit to put together for the office. You can accessorise them with bright and colourful scarves. You could try using the scarf to introduce another bold colour to your outfit like the first pics, or by matching the scarf to a colour in the print of your dress like the last outfit.
I love repeating outfits I've enjoyed before and just tweaking the formula slightly to make a new outfit. It's nice being able to group them together when I post too so you can get some different ideas of ways to wear things. There wasn't a lot of changing things up with these outfits though! I wore almost completely identical outfits. Striped tanks, grey cardigans, blue accessories and purple jeans with a little Rebecca Minkoff mini MAB Tote.
It seems a little strange for me to be posting these layered up outfits in October and the middle of spring, but on the early spring days I shared these the mornings were chilly enough for me to want layers. Even if the layers didn't stay on long!
Wore this to head to our ABA mothers group catch up. Usually I just delete pics like this, but I thought it was a perfect representation of the day (and also because I spent much longer than usual battling the wind to try get an okay photo that morning before I gave up!). Coopers windblown face is just too funny not to share too 😂
While it was forecast to be a warm day, it was a cold morning, especially with the wind, and our catch up is in a church hall. Big and spacious, but also a little chilly! This light cardigan was the perfect layer over the striped tank and easy to take off when we ventured back outside in the afternoon. Now that scarves are not needed for warmth and are more of an optional accessory, it's good to wear my necklace collection again! This is a baby friendly one, perfect for sitting around chatting with mums and babies as I don't have to worry if a curious baby grabs it!
Almost the exact same outfit as the first one, just slightly warmer layers. With it being windy and a little chilly in the morning, I thought the cosy cardigan and big blanket scarf would be helpful when sitting outside with the boys at playgroup. I ended up taking the scarf off quite early in the day though. A wool scarf and a wool cardigan are just too much for a Brisbane spring!
It was actually our last session of playgroup. I was a little sad as we have been going there for over 3 and a half years. (First time we went here!) It's been shut down as the organisation that own the building feel it and the other services are no longer needed. They have found another space and organisation to run it which some of the mums will try going to, but for various reasons we can't attend in the new location.
It was sweet of the boys to give me lots of cuddles through the morning, and so sad saying goodbye. More for me than them, it's been such a constant, welcoming space for years for us, from one baby to 2 and I have so many happy memories. The big party we had was a nice way to say goodbye.
Colourful jeans are simple to wear when you pair them with neutral cardigans, and a striped tank is a great basic to add to any outfit! Light layers like scarves and cardigans are perfect for spring as you can wear them as needed. If you do want to add another colour into your outfit, I love blue and purple together.
When the weather warmed up a little it was good to leave my trench coats behind and wear some lighter jackets better suited to spring. As both of these jackets are textured I kept the rest of my outfit simple, with neutral shoes, a big navy tote and plain tops with grey pencil skirts.
I knew that this light blue family tree print scarf would work really nicely with the navy blue blouse. I wasn't too happy with how it looked with the busy jacquard jacket though. I knew I'd appreciate the scarf in the cold office air con, so decided at the last minute to accessorise my bag a bit by knotting the scarf on it. I think the blue scarf worked just as nicely with the navy tote as it did with the navy blouse when I wore it to keep warm in the office.
With the metallic thread running through the jacket, the silver ballet flats were an obvious choice, I do like a bit of matchy matchy, with even the top and bag matching too.
This pencil skirt is a comfortable grey jersey I sometimes worry is a little too casual, but for a mostly quiet day with little face to face meetings it was perfect. And it doesn't look out of place when others in the office are wearing jeans!
Just like in the outfit above, you can change the look of your bags a little by accessorising them. I share tying a scarf on them and 5 other ways you can accessorise your handbags in this video:
Since I loved the plain top, textured jacket and grey pencil skirt combo, I tried it again the next time I was in the office. This time around, with the black boucle jacket and plain black top, I felt the outfit needed a bit of colour. I decided to wear this colourful parrot print scarf. Despite the busy texture of the jacket, I think the printed scarf worked well as the top of my outfit was all black, unlike the first outfit.
I really enjoyed wearing this - and the more formal fabric of the pencil skirt made me feel suitably attired for a couple of big meetings I had during the day. I was glad when the day was over though, it was such a busy afternoon, I even had to cancel lunch with hubby to get more work done.
Textured jackets are a nice alternative to a plain jacket and add some extra interest to your outfit. To keep things simple, you can wear them with plain, block colour pieces and let the jacket shine and be the statement part of your outfit. They work nicely in the office, fitting in with any dress code.
