Capsule Wardrobe – Page 12 – Blue Collar Red Lipstick

17
Jan
2015

Leaving on a Jet Plane, Finally

categories: Capsule Wardrobe, style, Travel

It has been almost exactly 4.5 years since the last time my husband and I left Canadian borders; back then, we were headed to Mexico on our honeymoon. This time, we’re again headed to Mexico … with two kids (and two grandparents) in tow. Writing all that out is slightly discombobulating because one, I can’t believe how much our life has changed in less than 5 years, and two, I can’t believe it’s been only 5 years. I feel like I’ve aged a decade, at least. Tired cliche is true. Anyway, Mexico. Or, rather, Mexico!

I know many people are not fans of resort vacations, but I find them incredibly relaxing. Sometimes I want adventures from my travels; sometimes I just want to sloth. Reading and eating and sleeping are, literally, the only things I’m interested in at the moment. Of course, kids change that formula somewhat, but I’m hopeful that I can hit at least 2 of my 3 lofty goals on any given day this time around. And having the kids around will add a healthy dose of excitement – this will be their first time on a bona fide beach (Vancouver doesn’t count because we were there in the winter time), and they are bound to lose their minds, judging by their love of water parks and backyard splashing pools exhibited this past summer. You know I will be that mom on the beach snapping a bazillion photos. Call me a documentarian of important childhood memories.

The real point of this post (you were wondering, I’m sure) is the packing. Sorry: my tropical vacation capsule. (Totally on top of blogging trends am I.) Normally, I’m all about packing smart and light; this time, I took a slightly different approach. We’re paying a crapton (rough estimate) of money for our tickets, so you better believe that I’ll be taking full advantage of our checked luggage and carry-on allowance. The kids’ stuff takes up approximately 80% of that allowance, but this did not deter me from my plan to take exactly all the pieces I wanted to wear. That was my guideline: take everything I was really looking forward to wearing in a warm climate. Why wait for summer to come to me, when I can go to it.

First order of business: no pants. Except shorts (and my fleecy leggings/lounge pants for the plane ride). For an 11-day vacation, I am packing:

Eight dresses (but of course) …

Five tops, two cardigans, a denim jacket (not pictured), one pair of shorts …

Three swimsuits and a cover-up …

Seven pairs of shoes (I know, I know) …

And a bunch of stuff to wear on the plane. Oh, and workout gear I probably won’t use. Also, 3 books (this is key):

I’ve talked about my approach to picking vacation reading material before, but this time I went with a 2:1 fiction to non-fiction ratio – two novels (one recommended by a BCRL reader, one an impulse buy at Chapters) plus a history book about St. Petersburg I’ve been meaning to read forever. Is a 3-book reading list too ambitious for a 11-day trip with kids? Possibly, but I hate running out of reading material at a resort where my options are really limited, so. Better safe than sorry. That’s why we’re paying the big bucks for all that luggage allowance, right?

Of course, there were some last minute additions. I went out to the outlet mall the weekend before the trip, and $37 later, came home with these:

The J. Crew outlet came out with another print version of my fave 5-inch shorts, and they proved to be sartorial catnip to my vacation-obsessed mind. (Never thought I’d write that about shorts, to be honest.) I threw in a couple of tees because they were less than $5 apiece and you never know when a comfy cotton tee will come in handy. The book was a bargain bin find that had me at “entertaining romp for any Downton Abbey fan”. Talk about catnip!

Because the majority of the pieces I packed are lightweight summer clothes (and the rest I’m wearing on the plane), they take up almost no room. The only 2 pieces that might be overkill are the jelly pumps (but I’m not sure where else but Mexico I’d wear them) and the sneakers (the odds of my working out while on vacation are … slight). But we’ll see how good the pack-everything-you-love approach to vacation capsule-ing turns out to be – stay tuned.

For more vacation capsules, see here and here. And read this for my ~~general~~ random thoughts on vacation packing.

Note: I’ve got a bunch of posts scheduled to run next week, so feel free to stop by. I may not be able to respond to comments right away, but I love getting them so, you know, comment away. Or not. No pressure.

05
Jan
2015

What I Wore: December Work Capsule

categories: Capsule Wardrobe

Oh, December. You deceptively festive month.

work wardrobe capsule; monthly capsule; office style capsule — one, two three

work wardrobe capsule; work capsule; office wear capsule — seven, eight, nine

work wardrobe capsule; work capsule; capsule wardrobe — ten, eleven, twelve

work wardrobe capsule; work capsule; capsule wardrobe; capsule dressing — thirteen, fourteen, fifteen

work wardrobe capsule; office wardrobe capsule; capsule dressing — sixteen, seventeen

There are some really unfortunate hair situations happening up there. I had my semi-annual re-perm at the beginning of the month, and that always results in a few Bad Hair Days until the curl settles. I also worked an insane amount of hours in the first couple of weeks of December, and everything of a personal nature kind of fell by the wayside. Which is by way of saying that … if December posts have been a little sparse, now you know why. I don’t mind sharing all of my outfits here, for the sake of realism or whatever, but I really don’t wish to dwell on ~~many~~ most of them in long post format.

So, I didn’t have many favourites this month. My new Ralph Lauren dress (#8 and 16) was comfortable. And I liked outfits #7 and #12. That’s about it. Let’s bring on January!

10
Dec
2014

The One Where I Go to a Conference

categories: Capsule Wardrobe, Wardrobe Analytics

Yes, you guys: I finally did something mildly interesting. I went to a conference. In Ottawa. It was my first time in our nation’s capital, and it was great. I have the Instagram pictures to prove it, and the bathroom selfies to … prove I wore clothes while doing it, I suppose. And now you’ll get to hear aaaaall about it.

First of all, may I just say: getting away for three kid-free days is blissful. In theory. But between adjusting to a new routine (like, say, waking up without my usual “alarm clocks”), and worrying about how everyone was coping without me at home (short answer: just fine), it wasn’t nearly as blissful as I anticipated. With that said, don’t cry for me Argentina; I got a good chunk of personal reading time, a lovely hotel bed all to myself, yummy food eaten sitting down, some sightseeing, and even a bit of shopping done. Oh yeah … and I learned a bunch of (work related) things. Work is boring, so let’s talk about clothes instead.

First, the packing.

I wanted to enjoy the full benefits of traveling solo, and that included packing light and eliminating the need to check luggage. This went against my instinct to pack All The Things (just in case). But I persevered; I knew that my hotel was immediately adjacent to the biggest mall in town, so I figured I had the worst case scenario covered. In total, I packed 13 items, including shoes and my plane outfit.

packing for work conference — everything but the shoes and coat

Can we take a moment and marvel at the fact that I only took 2 pairs of shoes with me? If that doesn’t win the award for Unlikeliest Thing You’ll Ever Read On This Blog, then we need to run a re-count. I packed my trusty black wedge pumps (comfortable for potentially endless networking events, stylish enough for day- and nighttime wear) plus my equally trusty Ecco boots (comfortable for traveling and sightseeing). That was it. No fancy shoes. Nothing sparkly, nothing colourful. ‘Twas a miracle, I tell you.

But something went terribly wrong: after taking the photo above, I somehow forgot to pack my Yoana Baraschi jacket. This I didn’t realize until I checked into my Ottawa hotel and unpacked. Since the jacket was the centerpiece of my second conference day outfit, I had a bit of a problem on my hands. And I had no handy solution, since I had deliberately under-packed, and had no alternate outfits on hand. As it was, my options were (a) wearing my “plane outfit” sweater, or (b) trying to find something at the mall. More on that in a moment.

My husband’s cousin lives in Ottawa, and he kindly offered to act as my guide. I spent my last afternoon in town sightseeing (and visiting family) and it was super fun.

Ottawa Byward market — Le Moulin de Provence in Byward Market – I can highly recommend the cherry strudel

Notre Dame church Ottawa — Notre Dame church

Ottawa National Gallery — National Gallery

Ottawa Parliament Hill — Parliament Hill – Centre Block

Parliament Hill Ottawa East Block — Parliament Hill – East Block (my favourite)

Ottawa Parliament Hill Centre Block — Parliament Hill Centre Block entrance

Ottawa Supreme Court of Canada — Supreme Court of Canada – impressive, but not nearly as pretty as East Block

Ottawa National War Memorial — National War Memorial

Ok, enough about me. Let’s talk about my clothes. {har, har}

My excursion into Rideau Centre was a disaster. Compared to West Ed Mall, or even Chinook Mall in Calgary, Rideau Centre is small-ish. Nonetheless, on Black Friday (the day I happened to need to shop for a replacement outfit), it was packed to the gills. The sales were mediocre, but that didn’t even matter. At J. Crew, I couldn’t find anything in my size; everything was size 0 or 2. At Banana Republic, the line for the changing rooms was about an hour long. After that, I gave up. I went and walked around the Byward Market instead to get away from the madness, and decided to just make the best of it with the clothes I already had. Thankfully, the second day of the conference had a short, morning-only programme, and I didn’t have to parade around in my makeshift outfit for very long. Speaking of which – ready for those bathroom selfies?

plane outfit; J. Crew butterfly sweater — Plane outfit – there & back

conference outfit; travel capsule; work conference outfit — conference, day #1

And there you have it: the ups and downs of a work travel capsule. Au revoir, Ottawa!

Category: Capsule Wardrobe