This was my work uniform for most of my career. Until the past year, I worked in a very much behind-the-scenes capacity in my field, which meant little to no client interaction – hence, my casual take on business wear. I’ve been wearing blazers far more frequently than cardigans in recent months, but I still occasionally feel a twinge of nostalgia for the old standby. And what do you know? It still works. It’s a cute outfit, even if it does feel a little “2009-2012 Adina”. Long time blog readers will probably know exactly what I mean.

There’s not much else I have to say about it. You guys know I love me a nice floral, and J. Crew can usually be counted to bring out a good one every other year. This one is a few seasons old (found at consignment) and it’s definitely a keeper for me. I love the dark & moody palette, and it plays nicely with my wardrobe colours – including this jade green. Throw on some black pants, and I’m good to go. To work 🙂

What nice things can I say about August? The weather mostly didn’t suck. And I went on vacation, which was fun. Um, that’s about it. Here’s a short list of other things that happened in August that were not so nice: I turned 35 (and had a lot of angst about it), stressed out about a lot of things (my birthday, work, creative blocks, working mom guilt, you name it), and came down with a bad case of end-of-summer sadness. Basically, August was one of those months when I felt like I was consistently failing at life. Slight hyperbole? Very slight.

If that’s been reflected in the blog in any way (ahem, sorry for the tardy replies), then I apologize. I try to keep this space a strictly fun/frivolous environment because, really, nobody is here to read about my typical suburban, working parent problems. With that said, if you’re interested in reading posts about things other than OOTDs, secondhand shopping and the usual BCRL fare, then let me know. I’ve been toying with the idea of doing an AMA (Ask Me Anything) post, but I honestly don’t know if you guys have any truly burning questions for me. (Other than wanting to know about my lipstick, which you can read about here). So I would love to hear from you in comments, if that’s the case.

On to the outfits:

August was a short work month because I was on holidays for a week, so you get only 15 examples of my remixing prowess (sarcasm font engaged). I actually liked most of them, though. If I had to pick, my favourites were #3, #6, #13, and #15, with honourable mentions going to #2 and #10 for being two of my best “old standbys” – I will never not feel great when I wear these dresses. Least favourite outfit was probably #1, and mostly because I feel like this skirt needed hemming; that has now been fixed, and I’m excited to re-try this combo at some point in the future.

Happy Labour Day, peeps! Appropriate, I think, that today’s post should feature a light (but not white) coloured blazer. I certainly plan on continuing to wear this Topshop number well into the fall – and winter! – since it’s proven to be such a wardrobe All Star. It’s not just the colour that is versatile; the cut of it is pretty fantastic, notwithstanding other quality issues. It gives SUCH good shape, you guys. Here’s a slightly weird pose that kinda shows that better:

Here’s a close-up of my nails, which ended up being unintentionally matchy matchy. Since I’ve finally managed to grow my nails (after quitting my decade long gel nails habit, and my even older habit of biting my nails), I’ve rediscovered my love of nail polish. I love switching out my polish colour every few days, and it makes me feel less guilty about the ungodly collection of polished I’ve amassed over the years.

You may be wondering: why the title? Well, I don’t know if people still care about the whole hi-low mixing thing, but it was a big trend for a hot minute back 3-4 years ago, and I am nothing if not on top of all things fashion. [Sarcasm, all the sarcasm.] Anyway, it pretty much describes my approach to wardrobe building, and this outfit is a good example of that – and of how I get the “hi” portion of the equation for a very “low” price. In this case, the answer is consignment. I found this new-with-tags Hugo Boss silk skirt for $28 at a local consignment store (Red Pony), and it certainly spiffs up my cheapie Joe Fresh camisole (Hallelujah, I finally found one that works!) and eBayed Topshop blazer. My shoes and bag are also fancy schmancy, but I didn’t pay full retail prices for either. I was lucky to score the Prada shoes on sale at Holt’s using a gift card (paying nothing out of pocket), and the YSL bag on eBay for a very deep discount off the original price. And that’s how I do hi-low.