I had to travel for work last week, making it the first time since April 2012 that I was in an office setting (I changed jobs in Apr 2012 and now work from home). In the meantime I had baby #2, also (Oct 2012).

So this was my first outing wearing business casual in quite a while. Since I was unfamiliar with the client's dress code, other than knowing it was "business casual" I erred on the conservative side and went with dress pants - but not the usual lazy back formula of black pants + any random top, thanks to my YLF education.

This time I *tried* to be more creative, but this stuff is hard! YLF inspires me to dress better, but I feel like I pretty much failed on at least 2/4 outfits last week.

I recently bought a lot of pants, but none in the dressier category. I was sorely lacking WFH and MOTG bottoms after baby 2, so I focused on buying leggings, jeans, etc. So that meant I was wearing pants I bought post baby 1 which now seem to be a size too big (nice problem to have, I guess). Long story but post baby 1 I had a freak out session and bought a lot of dress clothes since that was my work wardrobe at the time. Now it rarely gets used since I WFH, but on occasion I will need to fall back on this capsule (like last week).

Anyway, I will stop rambling. I am not very happy with the results of last week's outfits. I have a lot of hope that I can do WAY better once I get back into WFH / MOTG mode this week.

A lesson learned that I should spend even more time preparing to pack. I used to live out of a suitcase so spending time packing is a foreign task to me, but something I will have to suck it up and do if I want to look better next time.

On to the outfits...

Pic 1
11 Feb: Eloquii charcoal pants, Lands End no iron white button down, Eloquii red jacket, Target scarf.
This outfit looks really stuffy to me, even with the scarf to add some color. Help me diagnose why? Is it the white shirt? I tried other tops but they did not "go" with the pants very well.
Oh and I did adjust the rolled up sleeves after I took the pic, I think that helped marginally. Still a fail in my book.

Pics 2-3
12 Feb: My fave of the week. Foxcroft animal print shirt (Nordstrom), Bernardo green moto (Nordstrom), grayish green color pants part of a suit (Calvin Klein, Macys)
This one is not too bad. I *LOVE* the green moto and got compliments all day

Pics 4-5
13 Feb: Sejour split neck chambray shirt (Nordstrom), NYDJ white straight leg jeans (Rack), Target scarf again, Harley Davidson boots (who knew? bought in Mexican dept store Liverpool)
This one is ok, but I felt kind of like the country version of myself, perhaps bc of the top and boots together? I have not worn a denim top in YEARS. I like this, it just needs to grow on me. Need to find new ways of tying scarves but that still give a good vertical visual line.

Funny part of this is that I brought along a black sheath and animal print cardi to go over the top with a red belt and purse, but it was rainy/cold so I deferred to some newly purchased items to put together an alternative outfit for the day. So glad I did, I was comfy all day.

Pic 6
14 Feb: Jag pull on jeans (Nordstrom), Caslon long sleeve tshirt (Nordstrom last year), HD boots again, scarf from Mexican dept store Liverpool (made in Italy for what its worth)
Not bad, I guess, but not fab, either. First time wearing the jeans and super comfy. Haven't worn boot cuts in a while, felt good for a change.

Pic 7
Bonus pic: new Michele watch, scored at Rack last week. Tag $345, now $145. Yay! First new watch in probably 10 years.

Sorry for the bad hotel mirror pics, that was the only mirror in the entire room! And haha on the boxes you can see in the background, they're from my online orders (taking advantage of being in the USA!)

Thanks for looking and any feedback on my questions is greatly appreciated (why pic 1 looks stuffy and how to tie a scarf other than the way I showed, but still give a visually enlongating line)

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