(Not) Playing Dress-Up: Office Wear for the Real World

I want to do a post soon about the basic items needed to put together an office wardrobe straight out of college, but before I do, I thought I'd start with something I'd wear on a typical work day.

My office is business sometimes-casual-ish? The men are required to wear ties, and the women are supposed to wear "something comprable," whatever that means. For me, it usually means a pencil skirt, a blouse or solid colored t-shirt, and a cardigan, but what other women wear is all over the map, from jersey dresses with open-toed sandals to skirt suits with tights.

Top: LOFT scoop neck tee sz xs (on sale for $7.50, similar here) /
Cardigan: Target cardigan sz xs ($19.99, buy here) / Skirt: Ann Taylor Pencil Skirt sz 0p /
Shoes: Target Pearce Pumps ($29.99, buy here) / Earrings: Gift / Bracelet: Vintage

This is a pretty typical work outfit, in which I try to walk the line between looking like a teenager and looking like a teenager playing dress up in her mother's wardrobe. I'm one of the youngest people at my office, so I'm a little bit self-conscious about trying to look ever-so-slightly more grown up without looking like I'm playing pretend.

Two of the three dogs make an appearance.

In order to go for that slightly-but-not-too-much grown-up look, I like sticking with the basics. This black pencil skirt is timeless and makes the heaviest rotation in my office wear--I paid full price for it last year, but I love it and it was well worth the money! I also love this lightweight, incredibly soft cardigan from Target, but the cheapness of the design does show when it is buttoned, as it tugs and pulls in a sort of strange way.

And the cat shows up too!

I like the easy chic-ness of the tone-on-tone tops (the tee shirt is much more purple-y in real life) and tried to accent their cool tones with a bit of silver jewelry. (I need to work on my accessorizing! My instinct is always so basic it boarders on boring, so I'll be working on that!) The earrings were a gift from my brother, bought in Mexico, and the bracelet is inherited from my grandmother. She bought it in Japan while living there after WWII. It was made in what is now Thailand, but is old enough to have "Made in Siam" engraved on the inside.

Vintage bracelet, inherited.

I hope you are all having a great weekend!