Downtown (things will be great when you're downtown)

I recently attended two back-to-back scientific conferences in San Francisco, which was such a treat. Conference #1 was on a Thursday and Friday and Conference #2 was the following Monday - Wednesday; 5 straight business days of getting to live my dream of essentially never leaving the city limits except for personal reasons such as travel or visiting friends. Why would I ever want to leave when everything I need is right here? Everything's waiting for me!

The last time I got to live and work in San Francisco was in 1992; I worked at a photo lab downtown, and although my bosses were two of the most horrible people I've ever had the misfortune to meet, I still got a thrill every day out of taking the subway downtown and being in the midst of city life. I always thought it would be cool to be one of those well-dressed professional women, with their blazers and heels and stylish handbags, because obviously, working with chemicals in a photo lab didn't really lend itself to wearing nice clothes. When I attend conferences in town, I feel like I've finally become one of those women.

This All Saints dress was just the perfect thing to wear to a conference, because it has many of the interesting details that are key elements of my style, while still offering a tailored and elegant look.  Conferences are great opportunities for networking, so I generally dress a little more professionally for them than I do for my usual kooky office looks. For what purpose I might wish to network at an industry conference I'll leave it to you to guess. Shhh... just don't tell my boss.


Dress: All Saints
Blazer: Promod (Prague)
Belt: Red Dress Shoppe
Necklace: Wendy Brandes
Tights: Hue
Shoes: Bettye Muller
Bag: Coccinelle

Tension

I wasn't in love with this outfit, to be honest. I thought all the pieces actually looked pretty good together, but between the awkward length of the cardigan with respect to the oversized pockets on the dress, the way the full neck of the dress made the neckline of the cardigan sit funny, and the skirt hiking its way up all damn day, I just didn't feel very put together.

I only added the skirt as an afterthought, because I noticed that the bottom couple of buttonholes of the dress are starting to tear, and I wanted to spare them from further damage by leaving them open. This is not the best design for this dress; the fabric doesn't stretch at all, so sitting down puts a lot of tension on those bottom buttons. I think a more permanent solution would be to sew the bottom of the dress closed from the hips down, and have the buttons as decoration only. That way the tension would be distributed evenly across the whole bottom portion of the dress. It really only needs to unbutton about halfway in order to get it on and off anyway.

The skirt, on the other hand, is not fixable and is totally out of here. By the end of the day I was beyond frustrated with readjusting it, and I was ready to take it off and burn it right there. It was a cheap thrift store purchase anyway, so I'm not too sad to part with it.

Cardigan: American Eagle outfitters
Dress: All Saints
Skirt: thrifted
Tights: MP (via Sock Dreams)
Shoes: MIA

A Good Foundation

This was my take on the classic 'sexy secretary' look, but with a modern twist. I started with the basic shape of a pencil skirt and blouse, selecting my leopard print top for the full retro effect. But then I changed up several elements: instead of nylons and pumps, I swapped in colorful tights and boots; instead of a cardigan I wore the fitted tank top as a vest; instead of a solid skirt I opted to throw in a pattern mix with the plaid.

I think in the final analysis though, it's really the mix of neutrals that is the most modern element of this outfit. Classic style rules say that you can't mix brown and black, but clearly that's an idea that has been overthrown in more recent years. To me the pairing looks very chic, and moreover it's a lot more flattering to many skin tones than wearing head-to-toe black. It also allows you a wider range of possibilities for using your leather goods, such as belts and shoes.

Speaking of outdated style rules, I'll share a little secret about this outfit: the smoothness and fit of the skirt is largely owing to a foundation garment. The stretchy fabric of the skirt, combined with the snug fit and geometric pattern, tends to make my thighs look a little bulgy. Adding some tummy and thigh control made the skirt hang straighter and gave me a lot more confidence in pairing it with a shorter top. This allowed the skirt to do what it does best, which is to show my butt to its best advantage. With a form-fitting garment like this one, a good foundation garment can help minimize distractions so that your best features get the focus they deserve.

How do you feel about foundation/control garments -- lifesaving innovations, or outdated and oppressive? Personally I wouldn't want to wear them all the time, but for specific garments they can really polish up the look.


Leopard top: Forever 21
Tank top: thrifted
Belt: Lazaro
Bangles: Amrita Singh, via Gilt
Tights: Foot Traffic, via Sock Dreams
Boots: purchased at Scoop in Copenhagen

Afterthought

This outfit might have been a little much with the hat and the plaid and all those layers. Looking at it now in the photos, it strikes me as being very busy. Thankfully, I couldn't care less. I haven't been wearing hats as much lately and I felt like I was long overdue for sporting one, especially one of my own. So I grabbed this one as an afterthought once I'd put the rest of the outfit together. As for the layers, they were just flat out necessary; the red tank top filled in the low neckline of the dress, and the cardigan kept me from freezing. This cardigan has truly been a lifesaver for me this summer; I must have worn it at least 20 times since I got it just a few months ago.

Dress, cardigan: All Saints
Belt: thrifted
Hat: AudraJean
Boots: Morgan (second hand)

Emboobening

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I'm pretty sure this is the first time I've worn this dress with the ruffled top part showing. I'm not really sure why either; I think I used to feel it was a bit much, but now it pleases my eye just fine. And combined with the gorgeous harness that Mark made me, the outfit is totally emboobening, as Sal would say.

I was tempted to pair these tights with my Fluevog sandals, as I've done so many times before. But I realized that adding the blue boots would bring some punchy contrast to the outfit, which on a foggy, gray day was just what I needed. These boots are really tall, adding a good 4.5 inches to my height, so they counter the leg-shortening effect that short boots like this often have. I love how the brass details on the boots pair so nicely with the hardware on the harness.

Dress: Tulle

Shirt: H&M

Harness: AudraJean

Tights: Foot Traffic (via Sock Dreams)

Boots: Frye

Equestrian Romantic

Hooray, I made it to Friday! I thought this week was never gonna end, seriously. Now if I could just get rid of this pounding headache...

This style is one I call Equestrian Romantic; I used to wear stuff like this a lot more frequently, but lately I seem to be drawn to edgier looks. However, this style still continues to crop up in my wardrobe because it's feminine and somewhat classic. And I'll be honest; it's also pretty much a no-brainer to put together when it's 8:15 on a Monday morning and I didn't bother to put together an outfit the night before. Full skirts, fitted and belted cardigans, and low-heeled boots are a great combo that's both comfortable and warm. For other looks I've worn that have a similar vibe, check out this post, this one, this one, and reaching waaay back into the vaults there's this one.

With this outfit I folded up the sleeves of the cardigan in order to expose the pretty lace-trimmed cuffs on the shirt. This also allowed me to push the sleeves up to my elbows if I wanted, which is something I tend to do with long-sleeved shirts.

I'm off to enjoy the long weekend. I really appreciate having Martin Luther King Jr. Day off because it softens the blow of the long Christmas and New Year's holiday being over. I'll be back on Tuesday with a post on how to jazz up corporate wear in more conservative work environments. Have a great weekend everyone!

Top: a gift from my mom (thanks, Mom!)
Cardigan: a gift from my sister (thanks, sis!)
Belt: from a Noa Noa sweater
Skirt: La Redoute
Boots: Miz Mooz

Limited

I hope everyone here in the States had a great Thanksgiving weekend. Mark and I went out for a wonderful dinner at one of our favorite local restaurants, Home. I just love Thanksgiving in San Francisco, when it feels like the entire city clears out. I felt like driving around and parking my car again and again, just because I could! Both Mark and I were very productive over the weekend; Mark made (and sold) several belts, and I finished 3 different versions of a new style of mini top hat I've been working on for the shop.

Here's my All Saints Deadwood dress again; there really aren't so many ways to style this dress because the puffy collar and jutting-out pockets make it difficult to put anything on top, and the form-fitting cut makes it challenging to layer too much underneath. Therefore at the moment I'm pretty much limited to putting a thin top underneath and changing up the legwear and shoes, at least until I can identify something in my wardrobe with a wide enough neck opening and short enough length to wear as a top layer.

Coming up tomorrow I've got a long-overdue tutorial on layering skirts, just for you, Sal! Be sure to tune in!

Shirt: La Redoute
Dress: All Saints
Shoes: Faryl Robin

Bone-Chilling

I haven't worn this dress in quite awhile, mainly because until recently it hasn't been cold enough. This is only the third time I've worn it since I brought it back from Paris last year, so I'm resolving to come up with more ways to style it this winter. The panels around the back and sides of the skirt are made of boiled wool, and the rest of the dress is a sturdy wool blend fabric, perfect for those bone-chilling foggy days in the Bay Area. The dress also has a removable wrap (shown in this post), which attaches via the buttons that are visible around the shoulders.

For this outfit I paired the dress with my plaid blazer and cowboy boots to give it a more casual look. I wanted to keep the jewelery simple yet eye-catching, so I chose my big quartz pendant. It's tough to see in these photos, but the t-shirt I layered underneath is a sparkly silver; it added a bit of shine to the otherwise matte fabrics. The tights have tiny horizontal stripes of light gray and charcoal.

If you're in the US, I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving tomorrow. Enjoy your long weekend -- I know I will!

Jacket: Promod
Pendant: Manu Lizzaralde
Dress: 2026
Tights: Noa Noa
Boots: vintage Morgan