Your work at home wardrobe is really so perfect. You look modern, fun, and stylish. I love the shoes you've added as well as the signature taupe.

I have to admit that I envy your cooler weather sometimes. Living in a predominately hot climate continues to be a fashion challenge to me, and now summer is - well, pretty much here already, as it will be about 90 on Sundy.

Tex, I would probably go nuts in your climate!! It is really hard not to look wilted in the summer. That is my own challenge for this coming season. But as I write, the snow is still flying outside my window and summer seems a distant dream.....

Suz,
Firstly, I almost missed this thread because I've been working around the house for the last few days (on March Break, yeah!) and I've been too tired to check the forum. The forum is moving so fast these days, I would have felt terrible to have missed this!
Secondly, you are most welcome! I love that we can share ideas and insights and grow together on this style journey. I am humbled that I inspired you - I think of you as so evolved in your style and I learn so much from you as well.
Thirdly, the insights in this post are AMAZING! You have really identified some trends and patterns in how you dress at home vs. outside the home. I am still tracking my wardrobe (almost at 200 days - considering a post on this) and I am noticing similar thoughts and ideas.
A year ago, I would never have thought I had so much to learn about fashion, style and how my own lifestyle plays into both. Hooray for YLF! xo

Thanks, again, Krista, and I'm glad you caught this! It was so helpful to me to read what you learned even from the outfits you did not post. That was all the inspiration I needed to take photos of everything for a while, even the ones that seemed "unspecial" and to see if I could identify patterns in what I actually wore. I think this will really help focus my spending for next year and even for this summer....assuming I can find the elusive tops I would love to locate!

Suz, I loved this post. You truly looked fabulous each and every day. I can definitely relate. I don't work outside the home (with the exception of doing the billing for my husband's practice, which I actually do mostly from home). So I need outfits that are practical for my real life, comfortable, yet stylish.

"When you are curled up on a couch writing . . . " Ahhhh - I die! That's what I want to be doing - instead of sitting on a couch entering medical equipment onto a bidding/buying website. How did my life get like this?????

(OK - enough about my angst over hating my job and my life right now This is *your* post, afterall!

First, I felt like I could have written this post myself. I completely "get" what you are talking about and am just finally coming to terms with it. In fact, I had PMd Denise last weekend asking her about the thread she had written on casual vs semi-casual - and had started assessing my wardrobe and facing the reality that when I'm not working at home, I'm usually at the animal shelter (which means I can't even wear my "nice" casual clothes there because they get easily runined) - and otherwise, only have 6 or 7 days each month where I even need to dress any more formally than casual!

And then you should look at my wardrobe - its completely out of synch with my lifestyle. I have a lot of "work" to do.

Thanks Suz, for sharing your process and thinking. Your casual outfits are very refined looking as well as comfy - and it has been a pleasure to observe your style "growth" over this past year!

It's tough, though, isn't it. Marley? I mean....we want to look half-decent, right? And we want to have fun with fashion, after all! It is difficult to have a lot of fun with fashion when you are limited to a simple uniform.

BUT -- one of the things Denise does that makes a ton of sense to me is she puts money into her denim capsule. I mean - why not? If that's what we wear every single day, why not pay for really GREAT denim? Ditto for tops we might wear on a regular basis.

I still think it's okay to splurge on the "hero" pieces that make our smart casual wardrobes shine. But we probably don't need as MANY of those as we might imagine.

I am sorry about your job woes. That is really tough. I am so lucky in my job; I really truly enjoy it. But I still complain because I lack time to do my creative work. So there you go...it's always something.....

Tina, you always look fantastic and WAY more put together, current, and fashionable than I do; I aspire to style as great as yours (not to mention a closet as great as yours!)

Brilliant and inspiring Suz!

Personally, I think it is a much larger challenge to be stylish when working from home as it can become very easy to live in sweatpants and oversied tees. I mean really...who's gonna see you?

You call you outfits in this thread "simple" but they are anything but - they are pulled together, stylish, the right amount of trendy and yet still comfortable. That takes skill, thought and imagination.

You almost have a split personality when it comes to how you dress - casual for home and your writing persona; dressy when in the city or traveling. I don't think there's anything wrong with that and recognizing it leads to less purchasing mistakes.

Well done!

Fascinating and, honestly, kind of comforting--I feel the same way about my at-home wear, but sometimes I still start to beat myself up for not wearing more fashion-forward or creative outfits. My mantra: at least it's not yoga pants! (And sometimes, on those on at-home-all-day-cleaning-the-bathroom-and-cooking days, it IS yoga pants.)

Thanks for the reflection and insights, Suz. I've been suspecting recently that I need to do something similar, and to make a distinction between weekend-casual and work-at-home-casual : I could wear the same things but I don't /want/ to, for several reasons. So I really need to develop the comfy but nice for days when I don't have meetings or appointments segment of my wardrobe.

It does seem, eh, silly or spendthrift to spend on casual wear but it's really not if you wear it all the time and it makes you feel great.

Suz, I love your post and it all makes so much sense to me. I really identify with needing to dress casual Ina comfy way that still looks good. I also identify with needing to dress up a bit when you get the chance, like trips. And you rally made me think about which items I need to put most of my money into, it's those items that are most comfy to be at home In but still look good. Sorry, this is not all about me though!

I must say, your style is perfection, and I love your musings becaus they always leave me considering things I need to change for myself. You seem to have Inge figured out now, so I will take all the wisdom for you that you will give!

Fantastic musings, and lovely outfits to go along with it! I think you have a great handle on what works for your casual wear, and you are spot on in your findings. I also think that these types of "simple" outfits are just as wonderful to look at as dressier office-y types! These are often the most difficult to pull together in a stylish way, and you are doing a smashing job at it. I know that for myself, I would find these types of outfits inspirational especially as my weekend wear looks very, very similar

(And can I just say please wear #8 all the time for me, I loooove it ^^ All hail the Taupe Queen!)

I'm inspired! That is such a great analysis Suz. Your description is spot on. I too suffer the same, except my job is teaching, outside the home, which means I get more "smart casual" wear. But as soon as I come home I change into either lounging or casual clothes. So I have a schizophrenic wardrobe in this way, but it's okay.

Yours is a very good example of how keeping track more closely of each clothes you actually do wear helps assess our needs. It really is an area where you can't just go with your feeling.

I am already keeping track by writing down my outfits, and now rating them afterwards; but I think taking pics everyday for a chunk of time is even a better idea and could give a more comprehensive global picture.

Thank you so much for sharing this.