Switch it Up

workdress1 workdress2 workdress3 workdress4 workdress5 workdress6

I love that I wore this dress for NYE, and then made it work for the office (yep, back in an office again thanks to my internship this semester). Adding a collared shirt officially makes everything business casual. It’s a rule. Next I’m going to try it with a space suit, and then a bikini. And then a space bikini. That way, if I get into work and my supervisor asks if I can meet with a client who’s tanning on the moon, I’ll be appropriately dressed while still representing the state of Indiana in a professional manner.

Shirt: H&M

Dress: c/o eShakti

Shoes: Sole Society (sign up here)

Lipstick: YSL Glossy Stain No. 16

giveaway

Who Spiked the Sock Bun?

20121023-213626.jpg

20121023-213638.jpg

20121023-213649.jpg

20121023-213659.jpg

20121023-213709.jpg

20121023-213720.jpgI think this was my favorite look of the week. I actually wore it on Tuesday, but I wanted to save the best for last. This outfit was awesome for 3 reasons:

1.  I wore my new spiked necklace I found on clearance at Target for like $7. Score! Like most shopaholics, wearing something new just makes me happy.

2.  I wore my striped peplum jacket, which I got a few months ago and have worn before (see here and here). Even though it’s not new, I got at Zara in Chicago, so wearing it makes me think of how fun that trip was.

3.  I finally rocked a sock bun in true fashionista fashion. Is fashionista fashion redundant? Probably. Anyhoodle, I’ve admired this cute little up-do on some of my favorite bloggers – like Kendi and Kimberly – and I like how it makes a typical bun look more large and in charge. Because that’s obviously what buns have been missing all these years. I made a couple of attempts that failed miserably. In searching for tutorials, I found two different “techniques,” if you can call them that.

One is where you put your sock donut at the end of your ponytail and just magically roll it down into a bun. Apparently it can be done, because that’s what happens in this video, which doesn’t seem to have any special effects. But I tried it and…didn’t happen. According to my trusty hair stylist, it’s probably because my hair has a lot of layers and/or is too straight. Fail.

The other way (and now I can’t remember where I got the link) is to put the sock donut around the base of your ponytail (over the elastic) and just spread the hair out and over the sock, securing it with another elastic and pinning the ends. Well, since my hair is actually pretty long now, the “ends” were several inches long and I couldn’t get them all neatly wrapped around the bun. Double fail.

“But wait,” I said to myself, “why does my sock bun have to look perfect like everyone else’s?” And I responded to myself, “Self, you are so right. You always are.” Then me, myself, and I went on to discuss how we had worn countless perfect ballerina buns in our many years of dance classes and we needn’t try to replicate them now that we’re grown-ups.

So in the end, I went with the second sock bun method, and I pinned random end pieces but didn’t worry about little bits sticking out. That’s me, throwing caution to the wind, as always. But I like it 🙂

Jacket: Zara

Tee: Target

Necklace: Target (I’m also a fan of this gold one and this colorful one)

Pants: Jag Jeans

Shoes: Bakers, old (similar but expensive version here, cheaper version here)