I took something of a risk with this outfit; it’s nowhere close to my comfort zone, but it’s smack dab in the middle of the Venn diagram of my current “jolie laide” style aspirations. There’s lotsa volume, and interesting lines, and a muted colour palette. It did not get much love on Instagram, which makes me sad on its behalf (it’s, like, the runt of my closet litter) but does not surprise me. I’m not sure I can count on a lot of public approbation of my outfits going forward so I’m counting on y’all reading this blog for non-OOTD related reasons, as many have mentioned doing in the past. We will always have fashion talk, books, TV shoes, and cute boys in common, yes?

Don’t worry, I won’t stop posting outfit pics any time soon — if only to justify rambling on about unrelated things. With that said, I do want to talk about this particular outfit a little bit. This vest has the structure of a blazer, without the “constricted arm” situation. Win, win. It is also inspiring me to take all sorts of fashion risks, like pairing volume with volume. Much to my hips’ despair, but who’s listening to them? Not me. I probably need another 2-3 inches of height to really pull off this kind of silhouette, but I liked its vibe anyway, and it was a very comfortable summer work outfit. My new office is more casual/laid back than my old one, which is a bonus because it leaves room for a few more fashion risks. Consider that a warning 😉

Casual Friday is a thing at my new job (yay!) but I gave up the opportunity to wear jeans in favour of this slightly dressier combo during my first week. I *could* have worn this top with jeans, but I wanted to try a slightly more polished combination for its inaugural outing. This new-to-me top is the first Bailey44 piece that I’ve successfully thrifted. I have spotted the brand before, but nothing that worked for me style- or quality-wise. This piece was a bit crumpled but otherwise in stellar shape. The colorblocking makes it quite versatile for mixing and matching, and the triangle shape has a lovely bit of swish to it, plus a high comfort factor. It’s definitely a keeper.

I even sprung for professional dry cleaning for it, which cost me a whopping $12 (almost double the thrift price of the top), because I liked it that much and didn’t want to take any chances cleaning it myself. Better safe than sorry but … ouch. I totally get why people would want to avoid clothes that require dry cleaning; the cost of maintenance can get out of control very quickly. I will say that, with the exception of very delicate silk pieces like this top, my Woolite home dry cleaning kit works very well in terms of refreshing clothes. I am looking to invest into a steamer next, which would complete my home laundering arsenal. If anyone has recommendations, especially in the under-$200 range, please leave them in the comments. Bonus points if it’s something I can Amazon Prime. Convenience is my middle name. One of them, anyway.