Business Casual With a Twist

♦

Lovelies! I hope you've all had a delightful week and are looking forward to the weekend, I know I am! Anyways, I wanted to talk about business casual clothing today. As you may or my not know, I'm in the sorority Kappa Kappa Gamma, and we are required to wear business casual to our meetings. At first, this was a huge challenge for me because my style is just not conservative. However, I've been able to figure out some easy and classy business casual options. It's really great to know how to dress this way because if you want to be successful in any professional setting or interview, a solid business casual outfit is a must.

Firstly, I want to introduce you to the general rules of business casual:

1. No jeans. Even colored jeans.
2. No leggings and boots.
3. Nothing shorter than finger tip length for skirts.
4. Nothing too low cut.
5. Avoid showing undergarments such as bra straps.
6. Never wear things with lots of logos or letters.
7. Think "professional," "appropriate," and "put together"
8. If you would wear it to the gym or the beach, it's not business casual.
9. If you would wear it to a club or party, it's not business casual.
10. Platform stilettos and other sky high heels are probably not appropriate.
11. Think classy! 

Here are some ways you can dress to impress without sacrificing your personal style!

Here's one of my favorite strategies. Find a black pencil skirt that you like and make endless outfits with it. This allows you to buy less items of clothing because once you have a pencil skirt, you can add a variety of blouses, accessories, and blazers to make it an outfit. I would recommend finding a comfortable, high waisted pencil skirt that is almost knee length. I find that peplum style blouses look the best with these; I get annoyed with tucking shirts in. Mix and match your blouses, flats, heels, and accessories and you're good to go! Add a blazer to polish your look even further!

This outfit is super simple and classy. Try a dress that has a boat neck like this one. The quality silk fabric will make you look put together and professional. Make sure to steam or iron it! The 3 inch nude heels will add length to your legs while keeping it classy. Throw on a pair of stud earrings, dangly ones look much less professional. 

Throw in a couple statement pieces like the jewelry and skirt while keeping to a similar color scheme. The golds and pinks will make you stand out in a sea of grey and black! This skirt can still show off your curves while still being appropriate for the workplace.

Hope this helps!!
♦

Poppin Tags: Part Five

♦

I know that prom is coming up for those of you that are still in high school, and for those of you that aren't perhaps there is a sorority or other formal event that you need to dress up for. I know that these events can be pretty cruel to your wallet, so I wanted to share my two cents worth of advice on this subject. In a nutshell:

Don't discount thrift/consignment/vintage stores for your formal attire needs!

We all know that you can find a great deal on every day clothes at these types of stores, so why would you not be able to find a formal dress? I went to prom 3 out of my 4 years in high school, and I wore vintage dresses the first two years. 

Here's my dress from sophomore year:

The dress was a layer of lace with sequins sewn on top in a pattern like a heartbeat on an EKG monitor. Super cool!  I decided to edge up my look with the chain necklace, enormous earings, and silver clutch also from the same vintage store. I tried to find jewelry I'd use for everyday as well as this special occasion. Gotta get more bang for your buck.  The shoes I picked up from Nordstrom's Rack, which is also a great place to find some designer steals!

Yes, I did take my pictures on the snow at a ski resort... Squaw Valley to be precise. The heels were fun to walk on the snow in... Haha!

This one I got at a vintage store in Santa Rosa, California. I'd been shopping around looking for a great dress at the classic "prom dress" stores, but I just wasn't finding anything... I also didn't feel like spending more than $150, and as I'm sure you know,  most formal dresses cost well over that. I zipped up this dress and had that feeling that people say they feel when they try on the "right" wedding dress. I knew it was the one. It was love at first sight... Or first zip, I guess. Not to mention the coolness factor of my dress being from the 1940's!

This is my dress from Junior Year:

I picked up this gem from the Unique Boutique in Truckee, California. If you live in Tahoe, or ever plan to visit I would highly suggest paying Viviane a visit there. It's a bizarre store filled with crazy things and owned by an equally crazy, and awesome woman! This dress was $26! I love the way it accentuated my curves and flattered my figure. The slit was also a nice touch. I like dresses that make you look good and have an unexpected gimmick, if you will. In this case, the gimmick is the giant sequined orchid on the shoulder. This dress is from the eighties, and it's quite obvious, but not in a horrible, "Oh lord... that's from the eighties" sort of way. 

We took chairlift pics again. My date, one of my best friends, and I are both skiers so it was quite appropriate.

I accessorized with some faux Louboutins and elbow length gloves.  Red lips were another nice touch. Here you can see the orchid a bit more clearly. It's almost as big as my face!

♦

Perfect pants with pretty prints!

♣

As I've been walking around campus lately, I've noticed quite a lot of people sporting some pretty rad printed pants. Florals, stripes, and polka dots are just a few of the prints that have been spotted not only on campus, but in many of the places I've been in the last few months. 

Printed pants can be preppy, edgy, or simply casual; it all depends on what you pair them with!

For a more causal look, you can pair them with simple, comfortable shoes, a t-shirt or plain top, or a comfy sweater.

For a preppier, more classic look, you can pair them with cute flats, a pull-over sweater, or a nicer top/blouse. Don't forget about throwing in some chic jewelry too! Notice how Taylor's pearls and the girl below her's chunky necklace and bracelets really dress up their looks.

The only unfortunate thing about printed pants is that they are not flattering on all body types. Personally, I have short, stumpy legs, which do not look the best in printed pants. The most print I would wear is a very subtle polka dot, or a pinstripe. But that's just me; if you want to rock the floral and tribal prints, by all means do it! It's all about pairing them with the right top, shoes and accessories, and most importantly, being confident in yourself!

have a perfectly printed day!

watch of the week

♥

So if you know me you know I have a slight obsession with watches. It started last summer with my first job at a watch store. I fell in love with the michael kors' watch collection (seriously who wouldn't?). Since then three watches have been added to my collection, yet I won't be satisfied until I have eight (the average number of watches a watch collector owns).

in all honesty I truly believe a nice watch can bring a whole outfit together. so weekly I will feature a watch or a style of watch I find trendy.

to start off, I will discuss my new favorite MK watch.


Watch of the Week is Michael Kors Horn Jet Set Watch 

I love the color and texture of this watch. It's gold accents and mother of pearl face make it classy while it's still stylish. Jet set is one of my favorite collections from MK, it is sleek and feminine with out being too dainty (boyfriend watches are VERY in). Another quality I love about this watch is the color makes it versatile, making it easier to pair outfits with.

Here are some similar watches:

Anyone can pull off a watch, so why not start your collection now?

♥