J. Crew chino shorts; LOFT floral cardigan; Marc Jacobs Mag bag fools gold
Shorts, J. Crew; tee, Old Navy; cardigan, LOFT (via consignment); belt & shoes, J. Crew Factory; bag, MbMJ (via eBay)

With my return-to-work date looming, I’ve been itching to do the big closet switcheroo: putting all 80% of my casual clothes in the basement closet, and bringing up all my work (and fall, sigh) clothes upstairs. But I’ve been forcing myself to wait, the better to enjoy my last remaining weeks days of freedom maternity leave. Still, I couldn’t entirely resist the urge to start dressing up a little. Shorts and cardigan it is, then.

J. Crew chino shorts; LOFT floral cardigan; Marc Jacobs Mag bag fools gold
church lady on top, PTA mom on the bottom

One thing I am definitely not excited to dig out again is the pantyhose. Ugh, that word. When I think about having to double down on the control top business, I get even more depressed. And do you know how hard it is to find “nude for me” pantyhose? I’ll have you note that I am just as pasty today, 10+ weeks into the summer, as I was back in June. Whomp, whomp, sad trombone.

J. Crew chino shorts; LOFT floral cardigan; Marc Jacobs Mag bag fools gold
the half tuck reveals itself …

On a slightly more positive note … I think my hair is starting to calm down a bit. It’s still not 100% back to the mermaid hair of my dreams, but it’s getting there. Slowly. (Side note: I did finally figure out the whole where-did-this-ombré-come-from situation. Perms can change the texture of hair and, apparently, one of the changes can be a lightening of the natural colour; this, combined with extra time spent outdoors this summer, likely accounts for my lighter ends. The darker roots were my re-growth since my December perm, showing my true colour. Of course, ombré hair is now totally passé. Where’s that damn sad trombone again?)

J. Crew chino shorts; LOFT floral cardigan; Marc Jacobs Mag bag fools gold
revel in the basic bitchness

6 Comments on Formal Shorts (With a Side of Florals)

  1. I will always love ombré, though I only had it when it was called a “color melt”

    And work clothes :/ don’t get me started on that one. I hopefully will be switching jobs soon and that will mean a huge clothing revamp. So I feel you.

    • ooh, that’s exciting though! As much as I hate change, I always get excited about new sartorial possibilities 🙂
      good luck with the new job!

    • Sometimes, in the summer, I can sneak by without pantyhose. But I work in a more conservative field, so pantyhose is expected. In the spring/fall/winter, it’s not really a choice anyway.

  2. I used to hate wearing tights at my old old job — nothing fun about nude tights / black tights. But then i found the wonderfulness of colours! The more colourful the better. And I still think that colourful tights with a nice outfit is better than boring nude.

    • I agree … but it depends on the office setting. I don’t think I could pull really brights tights at work. I wore patterned (black) tights once, and felt like I stood out. But they’re so much fun if you can pull them off.