Outfit for a Monday: Ruffles and Red

Despite having spent approximately five hours of my beautifully sunny Sunday, the dogmatic and theoretic day of rest, performing formatting edits to a slide presentation for an upcoming important meeting for work, and with a week already packed with prospective work and impending major bills, most outstanding being my auto insurance installment, I rose this morning with a remarkably cheerful demeanor. Never mind that I may have missed a lovely and ideal lazy afternoon spent idle and tranquil by the soothingly cool waters of the local pool; next weekend, I suppose.

This wide smile and these bright eyes may be easily attributable to some simple and superficial matters of artifice: I am wearing some of my absolute favorite professional wardrobe pieces today, in a single outfit. On the top, a cobalt blue and white striped collared blouse, accented with a ruffle running wild along the chest near the top buttons; this was another infamous TJ Maxx find, from Ralph Lauren originally. It is paired with a silk Talbot's skirt, decorated with a cascading necklace style pattern. Finally, I completed the look with red peep-toe heels, with a subtle snakeskin texture.


This skirt is a few seasons old, at this point, however, as I try not to wear it too terribly frequently, despite its high ranking among my adored category of clothing, it continues to look brand new. The colors are simple, a white and cobalt blue pattern, against a navy background. Though I have an aversion to stringent and unwavering didactics, I have preached this stratagem before: pairing seemingly busy bold patterns within a complementing color palette is an excellent method to infuse some energy into even the most well worn, hackneyed pieces. I can, and do, easily wear this skirt with a solid top, either white, cobalt, red, or gold, however, coupling with another strong yet matching pattern is refreshing and, frankly, more fun.


In addition to the ruffle along the neck and chest, this blouse sports unobtrusively puffed bubble sleeves; they are not quite reaching the realm of Victorian ridicule, however, they do offer a unique alternative to traditional button-downs.



Not only do I adore the jewel beaded pattern, this skirt has pockets, which are both convenient and darling. Most importantly, the pockets have been incorporated seamlessly, figuratively, into the skirt, without adding unsightly and unwanted volume to the waist and thighs.


Red shoes are a wardrobe necessity, for both business and for pleasure, as they can be worn with very nearly everything. I like these heels in particular because the height is manageable and they can be worn, and more importantly walked in, for extended periods of time.


Two strands of vintage pearls, one featuring a rhinestone accent, to complete the look.