Wardrobe Planning Hits and Misses Volume 1 Week 6

Last week should have been a fairly relaxed work week given the holiday, but not so much as it turned out.  Luckily, I had Jamie Bisel‘s great style to give me some extra energy!  To see our wardrobe planning session, check out the Closet Reboot YouTube channel Sunday Night Wardrobe Planning with Jamie Bisel video.  I challenged Jamie with planning three outfits using one garment that looked so different, I could get away with wearing them all the same week.  And without further adieu, here is how it played out.

Honestly, I loved Tuesday so much that I moved it to Monday.  I loved the color combination, getting to wear my sarong that I’ve never worn before and this sweet gold and blue necklace I acquired from Lucy Jolicoeur in Montreal.  So, did you ever play those games in the newspaper or a puzzle book where you are supposed to figure out what is different in two pictures?  I loved to do those with my Dad growing up!  But, I digress.  Check out the first two pictures on the left and see if you can figure out what is different.  2 things: 1) the sarong is a little lower in the first picture so it doesn’t cover my waistband, and 2) Lucy’s necklace is tucked inside my shirt where only a small portion shows, but my collar is more open.  I love these pants, but they have an elastic waste which I’m just not used to exposing.  Normally I either have a belt covering an elastic waistband or I wear my shirt untucked or a sweater over it.  The sarong didn’t quite cover the waist either though and frankly looked better lower on my hip.  As for the necklace, I’m thinking maybe we should have used a bracelet to extend it so that I could have worn it outside my collar where it could be better seen, but I still didn’t have to button too high.  Thoughts?  Either way, I still enjoyed this outfit – especially the jewelry and the multi-color crystal bead pin holding my sarong on.

On Tuesday I was feeling a little bloated so I wore my Thursday outfit which covered my waist.  It’s good to have options!  Same pants, only now we went with a much more casual version.  If you’ve been following me for a while, you will recognize this vertical pattern Terra by SJ Apparel vest that Mom gave me on my birthday (see Sunday Night Wardrobe Planning with Mom).  I thought it was way too casual for work, but Jamie disagreed and showed me how to dress it up with  this three quarter sleeve black sweater from White House Black Market that I usually wear open as a cardigan, my Gucci shoes and some pretty jewelry.  Also note the “jungle love” necklace mom got me from It’s All About You that Jamie had me wear as a belt. I still can’t believe I got that thing over my shoulders, but I did and it worked!  I still think this outfit may be a little casual for some work environments, but my current client just changed their dress policy to include jeans so this ensemble was perfect.  And, I was really excited to get another chance to wear my Gucci shoes which up until recently, were getting very much neglected.  One of my colleagues asked me if my theme for the week was green, but she didn’t seem to notice it was the same pair of pants  – so far, so good!

Wednesday was July 4th and I was supposed to go to Galveston to hang out with my honey and his family, but once again the skies opened up with hard core rain in Houston and I was trapped in my home along with a lot of my neighbors.  Fortunately, not many homes flooded this time, but a few cars were lost in high water on the roads.  Oh well, at least I got a lot of work done that day!

Since there was no food in the house on Wednesday, I didn’t eat much and was all ready to wear my original Monday outfit on Thursday.  I was seriously excited about this one!  My sweet mother-in-law (technically former mother-in-law, but we’re still on great terms) made this top for me from fabric that came with a sari she and my father-in-law bought me in Toronto to wear to their nephew’s wedding.  I love love love this sari (will post a picture another time) and was showing it to Jamie when she told me she could use the top in an outfit.  No way had I ever thought to wear it with anything other than the sari, but look how cute this is!  Originally she put me in a spaghetti string taupe colored camisole under the sari top, but when I got dressed that day I realized the inside seams were a little scratchy so I switched out for this short sleeved pink t-shirt which was more comfortable (sorry, Jamie)!  And once again, when Jamie searched for the chain belt that was surely hanging on my belt rack and came up empty, she redirected to my necklace rack and found this one from Premier Designs.  Again, I never thought it would fit, but it worked perfectly!  The shoes were a bit of an issue.  I liked the way they looked with the outfit, but I remembered why I don’t wear them for more than a few hours – not the most comfortable walking shoes!  For jewelry, Jamie had me wear the lovely bangles my mother-in-law brought me back from India along with a necklace from Premier Designs that she tripled up to act as a bracelet (Angela Britt would be proud!).  And then she went for these pink pearls which are also spending more time in the light of day lately thanks to my wardrobe planning guests!  My ex-husband got me these on a trip to Prague back in 2000 and I’ve never known what to wear them with before.  My Kendra Scott earrings were the finishing touch – lots of taupey-pinky-green that blended nicely for this outfit.

Friday was fun lunch day with a fellow consultant that always has great advice and wonderful taste in restaurants.  For lunch at Toulouse Cafe and Bar (think wonderful French food), Jamie really wanted to forgo the green work pants and find something fun to pair with my faux white leather skirt – another piece that is seeing a lot more daylight than usual.  I almost fell over when she grabbed this Athleta top off my workout rack, but I’ll be darned if it didn’t work!  Don’t let the long sleeves fool you, this top is very light so even in the July Houston heat, it was pretty comfortable especially with a skirt.  And once again, Jamie also grabbed a piece of Indian jewelry my in-laws gave me on my wedding day to dress up the neck along with these Guess pumps.  A pair of large, but light hoop earrings given to me by my friends at Design at Work Creative Services along with some bangles from my mom rounded the out fit out.  Toulouse is located in the very fashionable River Oaks District of Houston, but I felt very comfortable in this ensemble!

Saturday I got to re-purpose my July 4th outfit for filming this week’s Sunday Night Wardrobe Planning video with Misti Pace-Krahl of The Mommie Series as well as a trip to Galveston that evening where I got to hang out with Greg’s family after all.  I’m patriotic and wanted to wear red, white, and blue for Independence Day so I didn’t make Jamie stick with the green pants theme this time either.  Instead, she grabbed my DYI blue dress which we tried with several tops before settling on this striped oxford tied at the waist.  We also tried to incorporate a red scarf, but couldn’t quite make it work so we went with my Kendra Scott necklace and earrings instead. They ‘re really more purple than red, but for July 4th we thought we could psyche everyone into seeing red.  Instead of my blue denim slides which I normally pair with this dress, Jamie gave me an opportunity to grab my super comfy white (sort of) chucks.  I also got to wear the bracelet my sweet son brought me back from Japan – yay!  Maybe not the most flattering outfit since I couldn’t get the oxford to tie quite right, but very comfy!

This week I actually tried everything on so we knew how it fit, but I still learned a few lessons.  I got so excited about the new combinations I never would have thought to wear, that I forgot about comfort.  I loved wearing the top from my sari, but I’m thinking that outfit may be more appropriate for a day time luncheon or event than for work.  I’m also still struggling with the exposed elastic waistband – anyone have an opinion on that?  Either way it was a great week and I had so much fun with Jamie who will definitely be invited back!  Jamie and I also filmed a couple of segments with Amy Davis of KPRC Channel 2 here in Houston which is the local NBC affiliate.  Those should be airing soon so I will definitely keep you posted.

Thank you again to everyone who watched and commented on our video on the ClosetReboot YoutTube channel!  The winner for our give away is Anne Morrison – can’t wait to post a picture of her in the lovely item Jamie found for her!  In the meantime, have a fabulous week and be sure to check out this week’s wardrobe planning video with Misti!