office outfit
Skirt & blazer, J. Crew; blouse, Simmons; necklace, Banana Republic; shoes, J. Crew; bag, MbMJ

Here’s something you don’t hear every day around here: I really loved this outfit, you guys. I didn’t think to pair the tweed blazer with this skirt … until I did, and they look great together. I also initially thought the blue shoes might be a little too bright and too matchy matchy, but I think they livened up the whole outfit just enough, without being over the top.

I don’t know why I look like Office Barbie here, but the outfit is on point, anyway.

office outfit
doing The Robot (with extra derp face)

I haven’t been the biggest fan of this blazer in the past, for reasons that I can’t now remember for the life of me, but I’ve come to realize that it’s actually one of the most flatteringly cut jackets in my closet. In fact, I think it works better for my proportions than the retail J. Crew schoolboy blazer. I tend to be wary of J. Crew Factory quality, which is why I’ve never paid a lot of attention to their suiting options, but this blazer is making me want to take a closer look.

[Edited to add: On further reflection, I think I’ve figured out why this blazer seems to fit better than I remembered. Because it does fit better, duh. It’s a (Factory) size 2, and my regular schoolboy blazer is a size 6. I’m currently somewhere around a size 6, but vanity sizing being what it is, the size 2 works better. These numbers are basically meaningless.]

the details
the details

At the risk of beating the deadest horse in all the land, can I just say how much I’m loving subtle print mixing? It’s slowly replacing my love of florals. Who saw that one coming? No one, that’s who.

office outfit
blue state

10 Comments on Blue & Tweed

    • Thanks! I’ve been doing pretty well in that department lately, although I may have gone a little buy-happy this past weekend, ahem.

    • No, I get gel nails done by a nail tech (she works out of her home).

      So, here’s the deal: I stole this particular idea from the lovely Dajana (All Kinds of Lovely) on Instagram, and showed my nail tech the picture – it’s basically an inverted French manicure. The manicure is 3 layers of gel: a clear base, a coloured gel fill (personal tip: I find that darker/bolder colours look nicer than lighter ones for this particular “design”), and then a clear top coat. On me, this lasted 3 weeks, no problem. The reason why I like this “design” is that it conceals the natural nail growth pretty well, which can otherwise be a problem when you get a colour gel manicure – the crescent moon part of the “design” just gets a little bit bigger, but it still looks nice. For example, the picture in this post is at about the 3 week mark.

      I usually get just clear gel nails (no French manicure), and those can last up to 4 weeks, although by the end it can look pretty rough because of the nail growth. Every 3 weeks is much better. I used to paint my nails at home, with regular nail polish. Having gel nails makes that process much quicker (no base coat, top coat, filing, etc.)

      I think you can easily do this “design” with either Shellac or regular nail polish – though if you’re doing it yourself, you’ll need a very steady hand though.

      Anyway, sorry for the TL;DR but I guess I have lots of feelings about manicures 😉

  1. Love this Adina and yes the shoes bring that little something extra and make the blue of the skirt hmm I want to say “pop” even more but then I’ll need to stab my own eyes out. Anyway, looking good 🙂