I love this skirt so, so much but the fact that its colour palette is navy, red, and brown is not making my life too easy. Black is the backbone of my wardrobe, and … noticeably absent from this skirt’s print. My re-mixing options are, consequently, rather limited and mostly of the “one note” variety. Think “cream top or navy top?” and “brown shoes or red shoes?” How could I keep this outfit formula fresh?
Stripes, of course!
when in doubt, stripe
It helps that this old Gap top is that indeterminate colour that is either black or dark navy, but is best described as who-the-hell-knows. It works perfectly in this case! And I’m always happy when I can sneak in my fave florals-and-stripes combo into an office outfit without feeling like a fashun blogger fail come to life.
Blazer & shirt, J. Crew; pants, Banana Republic; shoes, Stuart Weitzman; belt, Tommy Hilfiger
Admittedly, this is not a ground-breaking outfit from a fashion perspective. It IS an outfit to remember, for me, because I wore it for a very special event: running my first hearing as lead (sole, really) counsel. Considering the somewhat meandering path of my career over the last 10 years, I’m as surprised as anyone to find myself celebrating this particular milestone … and thrilled. If I can pause here for a second and give some unsolicited advice to recent grads in all professions (but especially law), allow me to say this: hang in there. The early years are often tough and unfulfilling, and you may find yourself wondering if you made a mistake in your choice of career. And, in some cases, the answer may be “yes”. But a lot of the time, the answer that might seem right is only a reflection of the difficulties you are experiencing – and, first and foremost, of the fear of failure. Give yourself time to learn and to get better, stronger, more confident. You may be amazed at the path you end up building for yourself. A path to success.
boring black? maybe not …
Back to the outfit. Since my hearing was administrative in nature, the dress code was more relaxed than it would have been in a courtroom. Hence – a pop of colour! Blue and red are my fave combo, so I thought it would be auspicious choice. I felt cool, calm and collected (and prepared!) that day, so I’d call that a win.
I always seem to wear this dress for birthdays and other similarly happy events, hence the title of the post. But, really, can you blame me? This dress is like a confetti explosion in clothes form. It always makes a statement, and that statement is: have dress, will party.
confetti explosion, in dress form
With so much print going on, it’s hard to do much in terms of accessorizing. Any colour of shoes/bag will work with this dress, but that’s almost besides the point, because no one is looking at them. So, basically, this is the same outfit every time. You’ve seen it before, but happy dress deserves another spin on the old blog – I think you’ll agree.
