Two takes with one striped tank

Today’s post incorporates two different looks with the same striped tank (alert — lots of pics ahead!). Instead of a day-to-night, it’s a weekend-to-work kind of post.

And if you’re asking yourself, “Wait, hasn’t Jennifer worn this top once this week already?” The answer would be yes AND no. I  wore this new striped tank for the first time last week, but the post didn’t get published until Monday of this week.

Casual weekend wear (Look 1):

I wore this outfit this past weekend while running errands. The top’s untucked, so you get to see the dark navy stripes at the bottom. The denim jacket and cropped khaki ankle pants  add to the “casual” vibe, and switching out the flats for sandals during the summer would definitely amp that up. It’s still a bit chilly up here for spring, hence the flats.

Details:  Striped top:  Old Navy (on clearance and gift-carded two weeks ago)  /  Denim jacket:  Kohl’s, old  /  Khaki ankle pants:  Macy’s, gift-carded this winter  /  Flats:  DKNY via Macy’s, Fall 2011  /   Pearl drop earrings:  Bridesmaid’s gift, old

Work wear (Look 2):

For work on Wednesday, it was our day to wear the color blue to support our faculty union, so I turned again to this striped top for its many different shades of blue. What made this combo more work-appropriate was the swapping out the khaki ankle pants for wide-leg trousers, and the denim jacket for a cardigan.

And pattern-mixing stripes!!! I think it works here because the navy background of the cropped cardigan echoes the dark stripes on the bottom of the tank. It looks more proportional and purposeful in a surprising way. Or at least, it surprised me how well it all went together.

Details:  Grey trousers:  Gap, old  /  Striped cardigan:  Old Navy, gift-carded this winter  /  Bar drop earrings:  Kohl’s, old

And there’s no need to scroll up again, as I’ve put together a side-by-side comparison from weekend-to-work:

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Happy Friday!

Link ups:  Friday’s Five  /  Casual Fridays  /  Fashion Informant Linkup  /  Friday Favorites Remix

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Of classics and comfort

I wore this casual combo last weekend. I’ve been wearing these graphic ankle pants with black tops (see here and here), and I wanted to break out of that style rut a little… with a grey sweatshirt. Doesn’t sound exciting, I know, but what a sweatshirt!

I picked up this sweatshirt at my college bookstore during National Library Week — combining school and library spirit! — and used my faculty discount (so it still kinda counts for my shopping limitations, right?). You can also pick up this adorable design through ModCloth.

I’m a huge Jane Austen fan, and how adorable is this Pride & Prejudice-themed design?!

Details:  Sweatshirt:  Out of Order, new  /  Ankle pants:  Ann Taylor, on sale this winter  /  Flats:  DKNY via Macy’s, Fall 2011

And… sometimes this happens. Obviously, scoring this Austen-themed sweatshirt (it’s soooooo comfortable!) left me jumping for joy!

Happy weekending!

Link ups:  Friday’s Five  /  Casual Fridays  /  Fashion Informant Fridays  /  Sunday Style  /  Watch What I’m Wearing

Inspiration Monday: Stripes + glasses

This week’s “Inspiration Monday” challenge is a casual look via Selma Blair and her cutie-patootie son, Arthur. Red, white, and blue (denim) PLUS stripes?! I am there! It was a perfect kind of casual outfit for a day of running errands.

And the day turned out to be a saga of picture-taking! We took some quick pics  before heading out, but after wrapping up our errands and shopping, I got a call from the optometrist that my new glasses were in. So we headed back out, bringing the camera to get some shots with my new/old sunglasses (my mom’s vintage frames with my new prescription lenses) as well as my new set of specs. 

First up, the inspiration for this week’s style challenge:

Inspiration Monday — April 15, 2013 — Selma Blair

Glasses 1:

I couldn’t NOT bring out my new striped canvas flats again for this week’s challenge. These shoes make me smile every time I put them on. They’re my style, personified:  classic + comfy + a bit of quirk.

After uploading pics, I realized that my sunny yellow tote bag echoed the yellow pail that Selma’s son is playing with!

Details:  Tan ankle pants:  Macy’s, gift-carded last month  /  Striped canvas flats:  Target, new and on sale  / Striped tank top:  Gap, gift-carded last summer  /  Denim jacket:  Old Navy, gift-carded last fall  /  Canvas tote:  Recent gift from my mom

Glasses 2:

And just for a refresher, here’s a closeup of my mom’s sunglasses, which she recently came across in storage and sent  along to me. I couldn’t wait to update them to my prescription — they are in pristine condition! Also, if you wear glasses and don’t yet have prescription sunglasses — believe me, they will change your life!

As it was a bit colder and windier outside than expected, I added my new red cotton jacket, which also fit in with this week’s inspiration pic!

And this is me jumping for joy outside our optometrist’s office:

Glasses 3:

And last but not least, my new specs!

These glasses are from a Portland-based company, 141, that donates a pair of glasses for every pair they sell. They name their designs after local streets, and the style I chose turned out to be the “Alberta,” a street and district near where we live! ♥

Link ups:  Inspiration Monday  /  YOLO Mondays  /  Monday Mingle  /  My Style Monday  /  Monday Bloom

Related articles:

• Random facts & vintage sunglasses (librarianforlifestyle.wordpress.com)
• TREND ALERT: Vintage Sunglasses (5pinkave.com)
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Random facts & vintage sunglasses

Tomorrow is a big day:  I’ll be announcing the winner of my first-ever giveaway (so excited!), celebrating my first-year blog anniversary, and kicking off a week-long “Mutually Inspired Series” with my blogger friend, Erin of Loop Looks. Stay tuned!

Today’s post is another combination of sorts, including this week’s “Inspiration Monday” challenge (on a Sunday) and my answers to a recent Liebster Award nomination from the fabulous Kari of My Fabulous Frugal Life.

First up, the inspiration for this week’s challenge, via Jessica Alba:

Inspiration:

Inspiration Monday — April 8, 2013 — Jessica Alba

Interpretation:

I stuck to peep-toes (mine are wedges), skinny jeans, and a (more structured) tan jacket, but added a bright striped tank. The theme of this week’s inspiration was all about spring, and bright colors make me think of spring!

Part I of the Liebster Award is to share 11 random facts. Here goes:

1. I went to a K-12 school (for all 12 years!) in Texas and graduated in a class of 24 (half of whom had graduated early).
2. I was Homecoming Queen nominee my senior year. Not because I was particularly popular, but because I was just about the only girl left in my class who hadn’t been nominated. 
3. I was also the class valedictorian, for both high school and junior high.
4. I got an award and letter from President Bill Clinton for having never missed a day of school, K-12.
5. I still feel a bit guilty when I need to take a sick day for work.
6. Not counting the U.S., I have visited a library in 8 different countries (Thailand, UAE, Kuwait, Austria, Netherlands, Canada, Scotland, and Mexico).
7. I met my future husband my senior year of high school while interviewing for a scholarship at the college he was attending. I like to say that I got the guy as well as the scholarship!
8. I love cheese. Like, on everything! Even when eating a multi-cheese pasta dish or pizza, my husband still knows to bring the parmesan.
9. I like to wear 3-inch heels so that I can say that I’m 6 feet tall.
10. I prefer email over the telephone. I’ve even set my work phone to automatically forward voice messages to my email account, so I can respond via email.
11. I’m wearing my mom’s vintage sunglasses in today’s post. Plus, I just went to the eye doctor to update the prescription, so you’ll soon be seeing them a lot more!

Details:  Tan blazer:  The Limited, Fall 2011 (part of a suit) /  Striped tank top:  Old Navy, last summer  /  Skinny jeans:  Target, last winter  /  Peep toe wedges:  Franco Sarto, old  /  Vintage sunglasses:  My mom’s

Part II of the Liebster Award is to answer 11 questions from Kari, who nominated me:

1. Why do you blog? For myself! It’s been a fantastic way to pay more attention to my style and how it evolves. And I have to say, almost a year in, I feel so much more confident about not only my style, but also about my body in general. Every woman should feel more confident about herself — why not?!
2. What is the last book you read? I just finished reading the latest Phyrne Fisher mystery, Unnatural Habits. My mom and I have read the entire series, which is like an Australian version of Miss Marple — if Miss Marple had been a flapper!
3. What is the last item you purchased? This black & white graphic top with tie, seen here. It cost me 74 cents! (Read what I bought with gift cards last month by clicking here.)
4. What is the last meal/food you prepared? Ummm…. I don’t like to cook. I guess it was when Sam was on a research trip during Spring Break, and I fixed myself a baked potato for dinner. With cheese.
5. Where do you find home decorating items/inspiration? Young House Love! I looooove this cheerful DIY site and have been a daily reader for 3+ years (and counting).
6. What do you love? So many things… the first things popping into my head (and in no particular order) include how delighted my husband gets when he makes me laugh, lounging in bed on a Saturday morning with our kitties, talking to my mom, sleeping, reading, watching a really good film, discussing said film afterwards over coffee and pie, helping out a library user when they really needed it, the feeling I get when someone says “Thank you” and means it. So many things!
7. What’s something you know you do differently than most people? Hmmm… I really try to be a good listener, and I read emails and letters and blog comments quite closely. I don’t always succeed, but it can frustrate me when others don’t put in that same kind of effort.
8. What would you do if you won $1 million? Save most of it and plan for a couple of awesome vacations.
9. What is your guilty pleasure? Watching cheesy romances or romantic comedies, I guess. But I don’t feel that guilty about it. Sometimes, you just need some Bridget Jones or Queen Latifah (The Last Holiday, love it!) in your day.
10. What is your favorite store and why? Whichever store I have a gift card for. I really love gift cards! And a gift card for a particular store is like a puzzle:  Can I find something here that fits me/my style/my lifestyle? How can I get the most out of this gift card amount? What’s on sale? It’s like giving the gift of choice AND the gift of using one’s imagination at the same time. So if you know me well enough to give me a gift, you know me well enough to give me a gift card.
11. What are you grateful for?  The feeling of being grateful keeps you humble in the best possible sense — that you are open to new experiences and ways of thinking. I am grateful that I am able to enjoy my life, my family and friends, and my work more now than ever before. For both me and my husband, our 30s thus far have been a time of self-reflection and discovery, and we have made big life decisions that are now paying off – like moving from overseas to Portland two years ago and buying a new house this past fall!

And last, but not least, a rare back view! (Sam couldn’t resist)

I’ve nominated most of my daily reads for similar awards, so I’m not going to tag anyone else, but I’d like to invite anyone to answer those questions above in the comments below. Or just leave a comment with one random fact about yourself!

Link ups:  Sunday Style   /  Watch What I’m Wearing  /  Monday Bloom  / Inspiration Monday

Related articles

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• TREND ALERT: Vintage Sunglasses (5pinkave.com)
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Captain Ms. America

We’re getting closer to my one-year blogiversary on Monday, so if you haven’t already (thanks to all those who have entered so far!), please help me celebrate by entering for my first-ever giveaway, a $25 Old Navy gift card. Just click here for all the details!

And now it’s time for another Style Imitating Art challenge! Today’s look was inspired by a mustachioed Captain America. Oh, yes, that’s right. Mustachioed Captain America. (Say that 3 times fast!) If that’s not awesome, then I don’t know what is.

Inspiration:

SIA challenge — Mixed media painting — Alex Gross

I looooove me some red, white & blue (see here, here, here, here, here, here and here just for starters), so the biggest obstacle for me was to narrow down my options. And I *still* have two looks for you — one workplace appropriate (that I did indeed wear to work) and one casual. Just call me Captain Ms. America.

Interpretation #1 (work):

Having no star patterns in my wardrobe (first-world problems, I know), I paired dots and stripes together instead. I double-looped my belt to look more interesting, and as a subtle riff off superhero buckles and emblems. To infinity! And beyond!

Details:  Dotted skirt:  Lands’ End, gift-carded in February  /  Striped blazer:  Gap, gift-carded last summer  /  Red skinny belt:  Target, winter  /  Grey flats:  DKNY via Macy’s, Fall 2011  /  Navy trench:  Jason Wu for Target, Winter 2011

Interpretation Look #2 (casual):

For the casual look, I simply switched out my grey flats for my new red-and-white striped canvas flats, and my striped blazer for a chambray shirt. That’s it! Thirty seconds, and presto, new outfit! Superman really should have come to me for advice on the art of the quick change.

And no, I never pass up an opportunity for cheesy humor. Or cheesy poses:

And sure, my pose is really more Wonder Woman than Captain America — I am equal-opportunity superhero!

Details:  Chambray shirt:  Target, last summer  /  Striped canvas flats:  Target, new

I gotta say, I felt super-cute and super-comfortable all day! Which look do you prefer?

Link ups:  SIA  /  Casual Friday Link Up  /  Friday’s Five Linkup  /  Friday’s Fancies

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• Captain America Infographic | MilitaryVALoan.com (militaryvaloan.com)
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• Lace confessions and dark florals (librarianforlifestyle.wordpress.com)