building blacks, part 3: inspired

Now that I am on the third post of this series (part 1 here, part 2 here explanation kind of all over the place... reasoning to come), I must say that building a black wardrobe (moreso, learning how to accessorize an all-black outfit) is easier than I originally thought.  Easy like learning how to snowboard or how to land a perfect triple lutz.

Actually, once I found some good source of inspiration the outfits came pretty easily.  The first set that I created using a direct source of inspiration - casual dinner, beachside in the Springtime (or indirect since I'm not actually there which is just plain unfortunate):

building blacks - sequin tank by athenista featuring Stella McCartney tops

I chose black skinnies for comfort (I'm assuming I'd spent a long, strenuous day under an umbrella by the pool... sipping daquiries and reading a trashy romance novel.  Comfort necessary.  Need some black skinnies first.), a light dolman-sleeve cardigan (have one), and a sequin tank to break up all the black (don't have one).  From there, I went beachy with the accessories - light scarf with varying hues to mimic the tide, low light blue heels by Seychelles (LOVE their shoes - on the hunt for a new pair of flats a.s.a.p.) and then some metallic shell earrings to top it off.  Originally, I wanted to go dark teal with the earrings to create a gradient all the way down to the shoes.  But with so much space in between the scarf and the shoes... didn't make sense.

My second source of inspiration came from a scarf I found while browsing polyvore for... hmm, inspiration.  Fell in love with the color palette and went from there... and that was it!

building blacks - scarf inspiration by athenista featuring Alexander McQueen bags

Can you tell I've got Spring on my mind?

Where do you find inspiration for your outfits?

sundry saturday

Lots of odds and ends today...

1) Playing with the blog layout today.  Went back to a 'stretch' option like chailoveyou but nothing too wild & crazy because I am anything but a master of HTML.  That stuff is for the birds, y'all.  Don't get it.  I just know that because of it I now have a fun, pretty font in the date/post/sidebar titles.  Went back and changed the header font to match... not sure I'm diggin' it yet.  Looks like Athen'sista'... which... maybe I could be a 'sista' if only my students didn't remind me on a daily basis that I'm white enough to be Edward Cullen's sister.  Only time will tell... I change the look of my blog like I change my underwear... once every few weeks.  Did I get you there?  Surely I jest.  But I guess you'll jest never know.

2) Twitter... I like to tweet.  Lots of you also like to tweet and I have probably started "following" you.  And you let me... which is good because if you ran I would just chase you anyway.  I tried to put my tweets in the sidebar.  Only I forgot that I locked them up and threw away the key.  (At least until the end of May when school is out... who knew my students would be into Twitter?  Not that they probably care about my tweets buuuut... did I ever tell you about the time this kid totally convinced me he knows where I live?  And that he'd read my "online diary" ... which he said was on Myspace... whiiiiich it totally isn't because I hate Myspace.  Still.  Messed with my mind.  Freaky deaky.)  So... if you're tweeting and you want to share a nest, you can follow me here.

3) Here are the rest of my fitting room confessions from Anthro last Sunday:

Can't remember the name of the dress... I just know I was crazy for the way they styled it here:

 Unfortunately, I was not crazy about the dress itself.  The neckline was too high for it to be flattering and even though I tried it on a size smaller than I thought I would need, it was still loose and bulky in the waist.  So if you like this one, size down.  Still love it styled Anthro's way and the fabric is pretty sturdy, not to mention gorgeous.  Just not gorgeous enough to make up for the fit issues.

Next I the Fragmented Pipevine Dress.  Not on sale but the fit was great - better than the photo shows.  Only thing: it snaps all the way down so it's what some might call "easy access."  Some people are into that.  Not judging.  Just sayin'.

Finally, I tried on this grey, floral button-up sweater cardigan... don't know the name (obviously by my eloquent description).  Loved it on the hanger.  Looked a little big-ish so I grabbed a small and even the small practically swallowed me whole!  Never happens, folks.  Definitely size down if you're looking at this one (I don't think it's on the site anymore).  The armpits are saggy (I know they're meant to be) which could be cute but I felt like a bag lady - the look on my face says it all, I think.  Also, I found the fabric to be a little on the scratchy and staticy side.

After I grabbed my sale rack pieces, I browsed the front tables (naturally... anyone who manages to escape Anthropologie without browsing all the pieces they can't afford is clearly not human.  Beware of those 'people' and walk away.) and came across the Off-the-Tie-Rack blouse.  Wasn't crazy about this one online but it was so much more stunning in person.  I tried this one on first before I thought to document so no photo... but trust me that it's amazing.  Fit is a little roomy up top and maybe a little short if you have a long torso but I thought it was okay for me.  If I wanted to layer something under, I'd probably just use a yellow cami to play off the tie.  Might have to keep this one on my wishlist... you know, once it's on its fifteenth markdown. 

Has anyone tried on the Tassel Fronds Dress?  WANT.  

P.S.... so glad I used my Valentine's Day for the Starbound Dress because it's not on the site anymore.  Whew... could've been ugly.

And here is what I wore for my day of shopping and lusting:



This outfit actually felt kinda dumpy once I was out of the house but I got a handful of compliments on it so I thought I'd share after all...

• Sweater: Cillie's Clothing (in Athens)
• Eyelet tank: F21
• Skinnies: 'Sweetheart' skinny from Old Navy
• Boots: Steve Madden

WOWZA, that's a long post!  Happy Saturday, everyone!

mustard stains

Last night, Paul and I made a sacrifice of time and inches of our waistbands to eat at Abattoir for date night.  It was tough but those inches needed someone to show them what it's like to be loved.  Some fried chick peas, duck meatballs, pork shoulders and a few maple bacon beignets later... we melted into the hot tub (at my parents'... we were house sitting and it's 40 minutes closer to the big city, y'awwll).  Successful date night to be sure.

You're going to have to excuse the grainy cell phone pics.  Didn't want to fuss with a camera (the hot tub was calling).  I love this dress but it needs to be worn without tights - the "catching" drove me crazy.  Post dinner wrinkles and crazy hair... cozy is what I call it.  ;)

Date night was great.  Good food, good man... and some, err, "good" conversation at the table next to us.  A pregnant lady (7 months... I know this because she said so.  I may have an ankle biter of my own but I am certainly no winner of the game "how many weeks?") and her gal pal were catching up on life as it is, having some red wine (lots of red wine, actually... kinda freaked me out by the time we left) and talking about comfort shoes.  Specifically, something like Uggs.  And the prego kept talking about the boots and how she just had to have them but her husband won't let her wear them around the house and keeps telling her that, "Before you know it, you'll be wearing them in the grocery store with an Auburn sweatshirt with mustard stains on it."  HA!  I am an Auburn girl, if you don't know that, which puts it into perspective.  Paul and I almost died.  Because, you know, I am an Auburn girl and he is most definitely not an Auburn fan.  Of course, this reminded me of one of my favorite book quotes of all time that I think of whenever I imagine someone else or myself (usually myself) "letting go" a little...

"Both the five-year-olds looked at me with bewilderment and a bit of fearful uncertainty. I had a sudden horrifying image of the woman I might become if I'm not careful: Crazy Aunt Liz. The divorcee in the muumuu with the dyed orange hair who doesn't eat dairy but smokes menthols, who's always just coming back from her astrology cruise or breaking up with her aroma-therapist boyfriend, who reads the Tarot cards of kindergarteners and says things like, "Bring Aunty Liz another wine cooler, baby, and I'll let you wear my mood ring..." - Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat Pray Love

Bootleg cell phone pics are the gateway.  Next thing you know, I'll be posting outfit pics of me in the brand new muumuu my cousin Alf snagged for me in Hong Kong. 


Materials and Sources:

• Dress: F21 (I think... probably.)
• Brown cropped cardigan: Target
• Tights: F21
• Shoes: Jeffrey Campbell (favvvvorites)

in transition - weekend style

Anticipatory Set: Right now, it really seems like everything is in transition... the weather (though, I do think it will stick with being cold for a little while longer), work life, personal life... just lots of things sort-of changing but not really.  Wanting to change but it just hasn't happened yet... yea...  So I guess my weekend style is maybe reflecting some of that.  Saturday, I slept in with G. and spent most of the day in a hoodie, without makeup, sipping coffee and wearing one of those hats that I'm pretty sure most people find annoying but that does a major job of hiding my crazy weekend bed head.

annoying? maybe. but comfy and functional? a definite yes.

I did eventually get dressed and go out to eat with my parents (and G., of course) while P. worked but that outfit is neither in memory nor documented to show you.  Instead, I'll show you Sunday's really-mega-super quick because it's almost my bedtime and I am in desperate need my beauty sleep tonight. Paul didn't get home until later so it was difficult to get a good shot of the outfit.  Super simple, really comfy... it probably doesn't match but I just really wanted to wear the vest.  It was a shopping-my-closet piece for sure as I don't recall ever wearing it out of the house before.  The top is a little thin and the vest added a good layer of warmth when I took my sweater off later... weird but it worked!  And you can't see them well but I'm wearing my trusty 'Intyce' boots (They still look the same, don't worry...).  I wore them today, too.  Definitely my favorite footwear right now.

Some quick pics:

like the light here. my very favorite time of day. so peaceful.
and I actually wore the vest open pretty much all day and randomly only chose to button one button for the photo??... hmm, something is a'miss...

vest open:

Objective(s) Addressed: Errands; Lunch/coffee/shopping/book browsing date with my friend Summer 

Materials and Sources:

• Top: gift, (from Target, I think)
• Vest: Old Navy (shopping my closet)
• Boots: Steven by Steve Madden 'Intyce' boot, remix'd a lot a lot
• Sweetheart Skinnies: Old Navy, remix'd a lot
• Earrings (not shown): Betsey Johnson studs, remix'd a lot
• Headband: Target, remix'd
  

Input: I could go on and on about how mind-blowingly awesome it was to have adult interaction that was hysterically fun.  We laughed a lot.  One of the many things we laughed at: Nightlight, a Twilight parody.  If you love Twilight but are able maintain a sense of humor about it, you would really like to flip through this one.  OMGhilarious.

Also, this may be random and silly but the top is a teeny bit sentimental to me as my mom actually bought it and gave it to me while we were in the hospital after G. was born.  She wanted me to have something to wear that wasn't form-fitting (due to post-prego belly... yowza) but that would make me feel good.  I remember thinking that was one of the most thoughtful things at that time when everything is all about baby and feeding and sweatpants.

I finally wore my troublesome drawstring cowlneck bubble dress today for work and a family dinner date - look for it tomorrow.  It's a lot easier to dream up ways to remix things when you actually have them on your body, eh?

Hope you all are having a great start to the week!

daytime wedding

Anticipatory Set: This weekend was pretty fantastical.  And by that I mean I slept no less than twelve hours on Friday annnnd Saturday night.  After two weeks of less than ideal sleep that's a step up, I say!  Paul started his new job as a paramedic last week and had his first actual work shift on Sunday so the only real plans we had were to go to my cousin's wedding on Saturday.  The weather was a little chilly and I wanted to wear my black knit dress with half sleeves so I could just use a cardigan to layer (I hate bringing bulky layers in and out of the car if I don't have to).  Since it was a daytime wedding I kept it casual with my Steven 'Intyce' boots, a scarf and a cardigan (not shown).  I also knew I'd be chasing G. around with all of the other toddlers there so I needed to be comfortable.  Pretty simple.



EDIT :: detail pictures ::





Objective(s) Addressed: Casual, daytime wedding; Time with family; Toddler-chasing

Materials and Sources:

• Dress: Velvet Torch (via Nordstrom)
• Tights: Target
• Boots: Steven by Steve Madden 'Intyce' boot in cognac
• Scarf: Target
• Bag: Cole Haan (gift from Mom)
• Gray ruffle cardigan (now shown)

Input: Usually, I dress up a bit more for weddings but I knew this was a little more casual so I just kept it comfortable and toddler-friendly.  The gray ruffle cardigan pulled it together a little bit more for the ceremony but I took it off pretty quickly for the whole hugging-congratulations-"over-here-no-wait-please-don't-break-the-ceramics" thing.  This scarf is one of my favorites - just a teeny bit of sparkle, it goes with lots and lots of my wardrobe and it's warm!  AND I love black and brown together, especially a good cognac brown, so this was a feel-good look for me. :)  How do you guys feel about black and brown?

firsts

Anticipatory Set: Today was G.'s very first birthday party!  What a fun time!  We have some of the very best family and friends that support us and our little nugget.  I'll blog about it over here by the end of the weekend once I pick my favorite pictures out of the 100+ I took of the cake 'experience.'  Great times.  In the meantime... what I wore.  (Photo quality is not great... we took these after the loooong party and drive home and sans any form of natural light but you get the point.)

Objective(s) Addressed: G.'s birthday party!  Mom duty.  Celebrating 5 pound loss!

Materials and Sources:

• Blouse: Yumi Kim (via Nordstrom... clearance! with gift cards!)
• Sweetheart Skinny Jeans: Old Navy
• Cami: Old Navy
• Purple rosebud Flats: Ruby & Bloom (gift from Mom)
  
• Sweater: Ann Taylor (gift from Mom)
  
• Earrings: Betsey Johnson (from last post)
• Bracelets: made by me

Input: Today was the first time I've chosen to wear skinny jeans without boots to tuck them into.  Just plain ole skinnies with flats.  (This is largely due to my 'weigh-in' this morning that marked my first five pound loss!  Five pounds is not a lot in terms of how I look or how my clothes fit but the process of shedding those five pounds has been a big difference in how I feel - more energy!  Plus, these first two weeks of changing the way I look at my health and food choices has been difficult but to actually lose weight on top of it was a huge bonus!  Gives me the motivation I need to lose the next five and feel even better physically and mentally.)  So I wore simple skinnies to celebrate.  I need to get a good picture of the wash of these jeans -- I bought them way back in August or September and haven't been able to find a similar wash ever since.

Should've gotten a close-up shot of the blouse print.  Next time.  The print has bits of purple and a creamy/beigy/pinkish-yellow.  I would love to say that I chose the flats based on how they accent the purple hue or how the rosebuds compliment the floral quality of the print buuuuuut... Nope.  They are just comfortable.  Really comfortable.  Which is important when reporting for Mom Duty.  I wish I'd buttoned the sweater and had natural sunlight for the picture with the sweater... I love this sweater but rarely wear it.  Definitely one of my remix missions.  The color is a dusty pastel pink and it's light without sacrificing warmth or style. 

Final Notes: Overall, this was a great outfit for the occasion and the 'job description.'  I was relaxed and comfy cozy without feeling frumpy or too slouchy.  Since we were indoors with lots of people in the same couple of rooms I was a little worried about the silk of the blouse but I was comfortable the entire time.  I think the silk actually worked for me rather than against me.  I just let P. handle the post-smash-cake cleanup.  ;)  I see this blouse getting a lot of rotation in the remix pool - so many ways to style it up!

a day behind

Anticipatory Set: I'm already a day behind.  And since I still have two days of posts from last weekend, I would just expect for me to pretty much always be at least a day behind on outfit posts from now on...  ;)  After bumming it all day Friday, I just had to get out of the house yesterday and since we have gift cards to get rid of I knew I'd be heading to Barnes & Noble, TJMaxx and Pier 1 to scope out how we want to use them.  (Gift cards are hard for me to part with sometimes.  Especially to places like Pier 1 and TJMaxx because I want my purchase to be fun and extraordinarily thrifty to maximize the credit.)  My hair was all wonky (dang you, static!) so I wanted to at least pull it together with my clothes.  As you're pretty well aware now I am trying to pull things from my closet that are either rarely worn or not worn at all and then either "make it work" or take it to sell/donate.  

Objective(s) Addressed: Browsing books and shopping with gift cards; shopping my closet (safe to say this will be an objective for many days, weeks, months? to come)

Materials and Sources:

• Dress (worn as blouse): Rosebud via Francesca's Collection
• Waist tie: Belt from old Gap trousers (c. 2004)
  
• Skinnies: Old Navy Sweetheart
• Corduroy coat: Gap (c. 2004)
• Boots: Steven by Steve Madden 'Intyce' boot in Cognac
• Favorite handbag: Lulu Guinness
  
• Bracelet: Banana Republic (c. 2005)
• Earrings: American Eagle (I think?... several years ago)
• Eyeglasses: Lulu Guinness
  

Input: The piece I was trying to work with here is the dress (worn as a blouse).  It's one of those items in my closet that I always pull out and then, for whatever reason, move on to something else.  I love it as a dress but since it is a knit material it needs some kind of slip underneath to keep it from sticking to undergarments, leggings, tights, etc.  The neckline is my favorite.  But as I discovered today it's not conducive to cold weather so I just used a simple gray layering tank underneath, nothin' fancy.  Also, it ties in the back to give some shape to the ribcage but since I was tucking it I wanted an additional tie in the front to tame potential lumpage. So I used an old scarf-belt-thing from a pair of Gap trousers circa 2004.

The rest was obvious for me - I threw on my favorite bag, boots and coat to wrap it up. I love the coat because it's so perfect for Georgia's winters.  It's light on days when it's not too cold but it's also perfect for cozying up with layers underneath.  Also, the top buttons all the way to the neck so a scarf isn't necessary unless it's really cold.  The handbag was a gift from P. my freshman year of college.  I'd been eyeing it all summer before I left for school and he surprised me with it on his visit for my birthday.  And, of course, the boots... so comfortable and I love the wedge.  Just a teensy bit of height and the color is so great and warm. 

Final Notes: After P. did his photographer duties I untucked the shirt a little more to lengthen it and make it a little more flattering.  (I'm sure you can use your imagination.)  The coat looks kinda bulky in the photo but I'm not sure what else I would change... I felt really comfortable, warm and pulled together for my little solo browsing rendezvous.  The weekend was nice with the additional snow day but tomorrow it's back to the grind in full force.  Wah.  Everybody have a great start to the work week!

shopping my closet: episode 1

Anticipatory Set: Remember, a few days ago I posted about how I want to shop my closet and also find new ways to wear pieces in my wardrobe that are either a) rarely worn or b) not worn at all.  So last time I chose a dress and a shirt to style and asked you guys how you would style them up.  I polyvored some of my own ideas for them and promised to post.  My goal was to create one look for work and one for the weekend and casual time with family and friends.  Here's the update...

Objective(s) Addressed: Shopping my closet; plan new ways to wear two rarely worn pieces in my closet

shopping my closet 1 by athenista featuring Forever21

Materials and Sources:

• Drawstring Bubble Dress: Forever 21
• Black and white plaid ruffle button-up: Old Navy
  
• Polyvore (materials and their sources can be found on my published polyvore... just click through the pictures)
• I should note: I do not own most of these pieces which you will know absolutely positively for sure when you see some of their price tags (HA!).

Input: First... the plaid shirt was pretty easy once I opened up a new set and started clicking around for things like what I already have.  (It's amazing how easy, and surprisingly quick, it is to choose outfits when you have a blank canvas and items that you can just click and drag.)  Clearly I am thinking in terms of Spring weather with the looks for the shirt.  For a more work-appropriate look I kept the palette pretty neutral and chose a grey, high-waisted skirt (look, a bow!) with a black wrap cardigan and let the accessories speak for a color palette.  I have a purple rosette headband that I left out that would complete a purple-red/orange-green triad (My favorite triad, by the way.  I'll talk about that some other time but you can read all about triads and how to work them in your closet at academichic.). 

Next, for a more weekend/family time look I click-and-dragged some dark wash skinnies, a short-sleeved open sweater cardigan (similar to the one I wore here), grey slouchy boots (like a Steve Madden pair that I own... sure to make an appearance sometime in the near future) and the top item on my current wardrobe lust-list - a Marc by Marc Jacobs bag.  If the weather is warmer I could ditch the boots for the green sandals on the work look. 

plaid shirt two ways by athenista featuring Elie Tahari

The drawstring bubble dress really didn't get styled for work or weekend wear.  I was thinking strictly in terms of how I would wear it on a Valentine's Day date with my dutiful photographer lovely husband, P.  I went pretty romantic with the details on this one.  I own things similar to this except for the ruffly red cardigan from Anthropologie.  (And with a price tag like Anthropologie's, I'm not likely to own it anytime soon.)  I have a dusty pink sweater in a similar shape that might work in its place. Now I just have to convince P. to take me out on the town.  In the meantime, I'll try to style it up in real life for workwear and show you all the results. 

bubble dress - romance by athenista featuring Forever21

Final Notes: I love these options on 'paper' but we'll see how they turn out when I put them to the test!  Or, who knows, maybe I'll come up with something completely different.  Dreaming it all up has been fun!

Do you plan outfits around pieces you rarely wear or have a goal to shop more often in your own wardrobe this year?  If you do link your posts in the comments, I would love to see!

Also... if you don't mind commenting or clicking "Follow" on the right, I would lovelovelove to know who you are!  I see a lot of clicks coming from allll over the place but I'm not sure who you are. And if there is something you'd like to see here (teaching q&a, living in a college town, how being a young mom influences my wardrobe choices, etc.), let me know.  Those are all things I want to cover but I'm not sure how little (or how much!) you know already.

snow day 2k10, uggh

Anticipatory Set: For those of you who are not Georgia Peaches, we had a teeny bit of snow and sleet and got a snow day. Woop!  I know the weather is funky pretty much everywhere and while, yea, this isn't typical Georgia weather... did we really need the day off?  Okay, okay, it was pretty icy this morning.  And I can't complain because I did nothing but act like a total waste of life until... well, actually I'm still acting like that... in between play and cuddle time with G., of course (P. is just now getting off of work so we've been solo and at my parents most of the day).  Poor G. has a pretty runny/congested nose which was so pitiful last night but I was secretly loving it a little bit because he was the most cuddly he has been in months.  He's so wild and independent most of the time now that cuddle time is rare.  So in keeping with that theme, I kept my outfit pretty cuddly "cozy," too.  Just call it bum chic, if you need to, and humor me.  Essentially, this is the kind of outfit I should probably keep to myself but... it's a style diary and, uhh... sometimes this is just the style that works for me.  Do you blame me?  ;)

Objective(s) Addressed: Snow Day, cuddle time, generally taking up matter.

I started the day thinking I would go out into the world.  You know... maybe grab a latte, browse some books.  So I wanted to at least look like I had a will to live.  Between my overnight bag and the boots in my car, this is what I had:

(I didn't have my trusty photographer to do the job so I did a quick polyvore of what I wore and then a quick mirror pic up top for the real deal.)

(The red sweater is the actual sweater just not the actual color... see next.)

actual color and scarf:

Materials and Sources:

• Sweater w/ over-sized collar: Caslon via Nordstrom
• Jeans: Old Navy Sweetheart
• Black thermal: Old Navy, remix'd
• Gray ruffle scarf: Charlotte Russe (again, I know)
• Boots: Target, remix'd again (what can I say, they've been good for the cold and I left my Stevens again... whoops!)
• Stud earrings: anniversary gift from P. (unpictured)
  

Input: This is where I tell you that I did not, in fact, go anywhere and opted for an Alternate Activity. 

Alternate Activity: This is where I reveal to you that I am a closet Ugg lover.  I got a pair during my last winter in Auburn (I had some kind of coupon for Dillard's).  I don't wear them outside of the house or incorporate them into any of my daily outfits but boy, oh boy, nothing beats them inside the house during these frigid, tundra temperatures.  If I could do it again, though, I would've gotten the cheapies from Target or Wally World.  They got me just fine through high school uniforms so they would definitely be more than sufficient for recliner wear.  Still, they are toasty.  And I can even tuck my bootcut jeans into them to keep the draft out.  Classy, I say.

Uggs + glasses + magazines and books + G. + recliner = Snow Day Heaven

Final Notes: Sometimes comfort is the ONLY way to style it up. 

Did you have a Snow Day or a bum day inside?  Did you make an effor to get dressed or did you keep it bum chic with me? 

shopping my closet

Recently, I left out one whopper of a factor for my big goal for Athenista in 2010 (more personal style/outfit posts).  Basically... I have waywaywaywaywaaaa-a-ay-yy-y too many clothes for my needs, as I'm sure my husband will attest to.  Yet... I can find at least five more reasons to buy just one. more. piece.  They're pretty much always cheap one.more.pieces but the key is that I don't need them.  (And really that makes it worse because usually I am of the camp that you should invest in good, key statement pieces rather than a bunch of get-me-through-the-season pieces.  Whatever.  Another day.)  And with the holidays still fresh on our wallets and G.'s first birthday coming up (Monday! omghyperventilate), we really don't have the cash flow for them either.**  Enter my style 'resolution' of sorts... shopping my closet. 

If you're already reading other style blogs or fashion magazines, you've probably heard that phrase more times than you can stomach but you're about to hear it at least once more if you keep reading. I have a busting-at-the-seams closet, this motivating blog at my fingertips, and a whole community of other style bloggers to draw inspiration from... so I have a goal in mind for the next few months/year to literally shop my closet.  Not a shopping ban or anything crazy.  Just shoppin' the laundry pile. 

In my grand that-would-take-forever-and-two-days scheme, I would take pictures and number everything in my closet by category (type, fabric, fit, occasion, etc.).  And maybe if I was feeling real crazy, I would even photograph some potential combinations and post them all over the walls of my closet.  Like a million Polyvore sets.  But for my own closet.  But it kinda makes my noggin hurt just thinking about how completely mammoth that task would be.  So I'll just let Polyvore do it's thing until I find whoevenknowshowmany hours to get started on that. 

Since I have no idea where else to start this little adventure, I'm going to show you a Polyvore of two pieces in my closet (Not because there aren't more.  Don't worry, there are plenty where these came from.  These were just the two I could most easily find on Polyvore and it's best to go in baby steps, right?  Rest assured this could and probably will turn into a never-ending shop-and-style here on Athenista.).  I love these but often have trouble styling them in a way that is fun and still appropriate for work but then comfortable enough for the weekend.  Cue visual:

1. Drawstring Bubble Dress from F21.  The top/cowl portion is a sweater material.  Just a little holey but maybe enough that I might need a cami for coverage, especially at work. And it's a little muddier than the color conveys.  Not quite brown but also not grey.  Love that I can dress it up or keep it natural... it's just a matter of figuring out how. 

2. Plaid Ruffled Flannel Button-Up from Old Navy.  This isn't the type of shirt I normally buy or wear for the weekend or, really, for work.  But I loved the print and the very subtle ruffled neckline.  I also love that it doesn't button all the way to the neck - that makes me chlostrophobic.  Can't handle.  The cut is pretty flattering so the few times I've worn it I just go with a black cami underneath and either skinnies or boot cuts with flats.  But I want to style it up a little.  Make it more work appropriate and feminine.  And then style it down but still keep it fun for the weekend. 

How would you stylin' ladies wear these two pieces?  What combinations would you try for work and for weekend?  I'll post some of my polyvore'd picks tomorrow.  (Or this weekend, depending on how wrapped up I get in this whole snow-in-Georgia-omg-Second-Coming thing.)