Outfit for a Monday: Cream and Black Cascades

When a substantial portion of the office is donning some iteration of comfort casual wear, ranging between sweatshirt and flannel button-down, maintaining the inspiration and the impetus to wear something structured and sophisticated can diminish surprisingly quick. While I have certainly succumbed to the evils of the lackadaisical dress code more often than I would care to admit over the last handful of months, my dignity and desire to appear professional and presentable typically prevails. This classic cream button-down, sheer, embellished with an asymmetrical hem and some demure cut-out patterns along the shoulder blades, was infused with some neutral sparkle in the shape of this cascading layers beaded necklace. Discovered amidst a hovel of various vintage flotsam in a small shop near my former town in New Jersey, this necklace fast became one of my favorite pieces, particularly to pair with monochrome black and cream looks. Bold alone, I occasionally adopt the bigger-is-better bombastic attitude of former decades, draping another layer of black beads to the mix.

Rebelling against my typical mantra of not matching pieces of jewelry, my earrings mirrored the iridescent crystal beads of the necklace. I rarely, rarely wear these earrings, so had to dust them off and shine them up a bit before adding them on for near lascivious flaunt of glint and glitter. Against a back drop of cotton, they were a beacon, like most of my rhinestone costume jewelry.

 
Leaving my apartment this morning, I was greeted with cold winds and a spitting of snow-rain; unfortunately, the days of dainty sling-backs may be behind me, until the new year.