While I’m not big on New Year’s resolutions, I have been thinking a lot this week about my New Year’s blog-olutions! There are so many ways I’d love to improve both my style and my blog in 2011, and I thought I’d share a few of them as part of this week’s Friend Friday post on blogging goals for the new year. While I’ve definitely got some ideas, I’d really love to hear your thoughts: what would you love to read here this coming year? What can I do to improve your experience with Narrowly Tailored?
1. What’s the one thing you vow to learn or do in 2011 to improve your
blog?
The biggest change I’m hoping to implement in 2011 is committing to and using an editorial calendar. Narrowly Tailored is new, and I’m still feeling my way around where I belong in StyleNation beyond being an outfit-a-day blogger with my own particular niche of sartorial demands. In 2011, I’m hoping to develop some recurring features that will be more advice-oriented and less, well, navel-gazing. This is where I’m most interested in and in need of reader feedback: what would you love to know more about or see more of here?
2. What did you learn about blogging in 2010 that you plan to put into
practice next year?
By far the most important lesson I’ve learned about blogging in 2010 is that we’re all in this together! StyleNation is most definitely a community. While everyone has to decide for him or herself the level of commitment they’re interested in making, participating in events sponsored by other bloggers and making an effort to connect with others has been important for me in 2010, and I hope it will continue to be in the future. In 2011, I hope to participate in more of these kinds of events and networks (from Friend Friday to Rule Breaking Monday to Kendi’s 30 for 30 Remixes to Dress Your Best week), which have both pushed me to greater sartorial heights and brought me into contact with some seriously inspirational voices and perspectives! I’d also like to explore guest posting (both as a host and a guest), to help bring new perspectives to my readers.
3. Do you have any high-level goals for your blog in the coming year?
Monetization? More comments? More connections with other bloggers? A new template?
I’ve been implementing a migration to WordPress this week, so my first major goal of 2011 is making sure that everything’s gone smoothly with the transition. Beyond that, I’m hoping to expand my network of relationships with other bloggers, build my expertise in working with WordPress, and continue to customize the blog’s look and feel. Aesthetically, I want to push both the writing and the photo quality to a new level in 2011, to provide both new and existing readers with high levels of content.
4. If you could collaborate with one other blogger within your sphere
of influence in 2011, who would you like to collaborate with, and what
would you like to collaborate on?
I have to pick just one? Sorry, not possible: I’m going to cheat and choose a theme instead (though this is still under-inclusive). I’d love to collaborate with other graduate student/young professional bloggers on one of the key issues of interest to me: how do you build a wardrobe when you’re “in transition”? When your budget is limited and your sartorial demands vary widely, how do you express your personal style while dressing appropriately in all these different settings? Monkeyface, Dotty, Lydia, Beth Ellen, Historiadora (though you’re junior faculty) et. al. — I’m looking at you (among others), yes?
5. What do you plan to do to support other bloggers next year?
As I mentioned, I feel like a really important way to support other bloggers is by participating in their events/linkups/themed posts. While my time isn’t exactly unlimited, I’m hoping to expand my reading and commenting in 2011, meeting more of you and gathering additional sartorial inspiration!
To learn more about Friend Friday, click here.
- Plaid Oxford: Forever 21
- Metallic Braided Skinny Belt: Urban Outfitters
- Orange Floral Cuff: Shabby Apple, gift from husband D.
- Dark Wash Skinnies: Kut from the Kloth, via Nordstrom
- Brown Metallic Loafers: Naturalizer, via DSW
Since I wasn’t home to break any rules on Monday, I seem to have decided to break a whole bunch today to make up for it! I’ve been taking these few days of “actual vacation” easy in terms of work, and was going for low key today (once I finally got dressed!). (Ed. note: Husband D. would probably be correct in saying there’s only so low key you can be in a belt, but bear with me.)
So, what rules did I break, on my day spent mostly on the couch, buried in Literary Criticisms of the Law? Count ‘em: skinnies without boots, cropped just below my ankle bone, cuffs at the end of my legs with (gasp!) flats for maximum leg-shortening effects, mixed metallics, and brights on brights. Debatable: bonus points for the wearing of an oxford shirt when my upper body is decidedly not the shape of an oxford shirt. Despite all the fashion no-no’s (how can you pick just one, anyway?), I loved the overall effect: these flats slipped easily on and off between reading sessions, the oxford shirt felt easygoing (if slightly more irreverent-lumberjack than I had planned), and the beaded floral cuff gave the outfit just a hint of playful specialness I really appreciated.
I’m short on words today, since most of my blogging energy went to working out the details of the site migration this morning. All appears to have gone well, though. Thanks to Beautifully Invisible’s excellent tutorial and a little bit of faith, hope and crossed fingers, if you’re reading this from an RSS reader, BlogLovin’ or Google Friend Connect, it should look totally the same. We’re still working out some of the kinks (the DISQUS comments have been particularly slow to migrate), but I hope you’ll enjoy our new home, which I’m hoping will bring new features and functionality to Narrowly Tailored in 2011! You can find us here, at the all new narrowly-tailored.com, but all the old links from the Blogger page should redirect you as well. As with all the site upgrades I’ve been working on this week, please let me know if you have any problems accessing Narrowly Tailored. I’ve tried to do this as non-disruptively as possible, but if you’re having any trouble, please let me know!
At D.’s excellent recommendation: a detail photo!
- Gigantic Sweater: Vintage Joseph, mommed
- Black Tank: Banana Republic
- Denim Skirt: Gap
- Purple Tights: Banana Republic
- Brown Oxfords: Seychelles
- Necklace: David Yurman, gifted
As often happens, I was planning on wearing a whole lot of things that were not this outfit today. Nearly all of them looked better in my feverish imagination than on my body. Instead, I’m trying one of my favorite rut-busting, comfort-zone-expanding tricks: try on something a little bit out there, and force yourself to wear it all day.
I’m taking advantage of the holiday break this week to experiment with some things I’ve struggled to figure out how to wear. This oversized, heavy cabled sweater is high on that list. It doesn’t play well with pants, and it seems to need both a contrasting texture and a sleek fit on the bottom half to balance out its bulk. Boots are okay sometimes, but not always. It’s kind of picky and unreasonable that way, actually.
Here, I’ve tried pairing it with a basic summer-weight denim pencil skirt, purple tights, heeled oxfords and a belt. I’m mixing neutrals, but not in a hog-wild, brown-black-grey-all-at-once way. The browns of the belt and shoes are similar, and the purple tights pick up the purple in the sweater without being too matchy-matchy. Added bonus: the sweater masks a frustrating fit issue: despite my best efforts, this skirt starts stretching out after approximately two minutes.
What do you think: can this sartorial white elephant be saved? Does this particular remix redeem it from well-deserved wardrobe obscurity? How else should I try it? Do you have any “difficult” items in your closet? How do you decide when to keep trying to remix them or find them a better home?
One quick technical note: in my continued efforts to improve and equip Narrowly Tailored for the future, I’ve been implementing some upgrades this week. I need your help to make sure none of these changes cause disruptions in your access to the blog, so please let me know in the comments or by e-mail if you’re having any trouble. Today, I burned the RSS feed using feedburner, and while existing subscribers should have redirected automatically, please let me know if something isn’t working on your end! Thanks for all your help: you’re what makes this space so special!
On yet another snowy day here in Boston, here’s the second installment of “My Favorite Things,” a (periodic) remix recap series celebrating the potential of some of my uber wardrobe workhorses (wardrobe Clydesdales?). Part 1 highlighted a black jersey dress, Part 2 takes on another old favorite: a long, snuggly grey cardigan.
In order of appearance:
- 30 for 30, day 7, with a peach shell, a textured black skirt and bright tights for a look at the business end of business casual.
- 30 for 30, day 15, with the same peach shell and a bright, printed skirt and boots (with grey boot socks).
- On Thanksgiving, with a black and red printed dress, a woven belt, black tights, boots and grey boot socks.
- 30 for 30, day 22, with that black dress, a scarf as a belt, and green heels.
- On casual weekends at home, with skinnies and boots, layering tees and long, soft scarves.
This cardigan was a gift from my mother in (I think) the fall of 2008. I don’t think I wore it much the first year I had it, but I more or less lived in it my first year of law school, when my uniform consisted of long cardigans, boot-cut jeans and Dansko clogs (I admit it!). I occasionally wore it over dresses, but when it hung unbelted, its blousy shape obscured my waist entirely, smothering me in slightly depressing grey fuzz. For such a theoretically cute clothing item…it was a pretty sad state of affairs.
In time, I branched out: I kept the with-a-tank-and-jeans theory, but adjusted the proportions by wearing it with skinnies and boots. I tried it over dresses, but I added a belt. Eventually, I got really brave, and tried to wear it open with a skirt or a dress, and discovered ways to wear it without feeling like I’d earned a one-way ticket to frumpsville. Because, as we know, I’m a little obsessed with scarves, I think my favorite look so far is this one, where I’ve used the belt to give it shape, but kept some visual interest with the bright, bold pattern of the scarf.
Despite the new ways I’ve discovered to wear this cardigan, I’ve discovered that the trickiest thing about it is the proportions: it can be an awkward length on me, and it won’t quite button all the way down over my hips, so I struggle to find ways to wear it that keep it looking modern and youthful. Are there items in your closet like this, that you’ve managed to make work even if they weren’t the obvious go-to items for your body type? What are your best strategies for making the proportions of a piece work for you, rather than against you, when the item is one that you feel is a stretch for you to wear? And of course, how should I wear this next?
I’ll be back home tonight and back to my regular posting schedule on Wednesday, including some outfit posts and a recap of what I should and shouldn’t have brought to Boston!
PS: As you can see, I’ve switched to DISQUS as a comment platform. I’m hoping this will make it easier for us to communicate, but in this as in all things, I could easily be wrong. Hate it and want the old Blogger comments back? Let me know: leave me a note or send me an email at narrowlytailored (at) gmail (dot) com.
Hi friends! Thanks to yesterday’s Boxing Day blizzard, we’re buried under at least a foot of snow (and counting!), so if I were able to take outfit photos on the road…they’d probably be me in snowpants and eight layers of sweaters. To save you from having to see those, and at Tiffany’s excellent suggestion, I’m bringing you some remix recaps instead. Here, I’ll highlight just a few of the many ways I’ve remixed some of my favorite pieces, starting with a true basic: this black summer-weight jersey faux-wrap dress.
In order of appearance:
- 30 for 30, day 4,as a skirt, with an oxford, boots and a belt.
30 for 30, day 21, layered over a turtleneck, with a scarf, black tights and red heels. - 30 for 30, day 22, with a long grey cardigan, a scarf as a belt, black tights and green heels.
- 30 for 30, day 24, layered over a green tee, with black tights and boots.
- 30 for 30, day 28, layered over a turtleneck with black tights and green heels.
- On an extremely cold day in the library, layered over a turtleneck and under a tweed sweater, with boots and heavy sweater-tights.
I rescued this dress from the final, final, final sale rack at Ann Taylor this summer (for $10!), when I was frantically looking for work clothes that worked in my quite conservative law-firm environment (where suits or matched separates were expected most days). On a particularly “brave” day, I’d wear it under a cropped, tweedy blazer or swing jacket. Most often, though, I wore it one of two ways: under a grey suit jacket with black pumps to work, or by itself on the weekend with a necklace and heeled sandals.
It’s approximately as comfortable as a snuggie, so I’ve been trying to come up with new ways to wear it as the temperature dropped this fall, and to experiment with ways to adjust its level of formality to suit different functions. I’ve had good success with layered tees and t-necks under and belted cardigans over it, but I know there are more possibilities to explore. Perhaps more “dress as skirt” layering efforts, with cropped leggings as the weather warms up, with colored tights, or with layers both under and over (as in the last example)?
What do you think: how should I take this dress to infinity and beyond, so to speak? What are some of your best-loved, most remixed items? How do you define “remixing,” and why do you remix?
Hi friends! We’re off to Boston to spend Christmas with husband D.’s family, and wanted to wish you and your families a very, very happy holiday (whether it’s Christmas proper or, in our case, secular American gift-giving day) season and a wonderful new year! I’ll be checking back in and out over the long weekend, but I’ll mostly be taking a break from my computer to enjoy some quality visiting and relaxing. But, before we go: this week’s Friend Friday questions on holiday memories…
1. Your favorite holiday memory: Husband D.’s family has so many amazing holiday traditions, and it’s been incredible to be a part of his family’s holiday story for all these years, as well as my own. One of my favorite memories is from a few years ago, when we forgot to bring D.’s Christmas stocking back up to Boston with us (after she’d sent it home with us the previous year, so he wouldn’t be lonely at my parents’ place). In less than a day, my MIL had knitted him a new “emergency stocking,” just to make sure he’d have one for Christmas. At the time, I remember thinking that this was a bit extreme (and feeling epically bad about having forgotten the stocking…), but now it’s one of my favorite moments: just a really beautiful, telling story about how much she loves her son, and about how important family is to her.
2. Were you ever a victim of those family Christmas party photo shoots? What do you think about them now?Oh man… My dad, who actually has a very good sense of humor, tends to spend a lot of time around the holidays taking “candid” photos of family members. He has an uncanny knack, though, for trying to take the photo precisely at a break in conversation, so what he tends to end up with are lots and lots of pictures of people looking at him awkwardly.
3. Best Christmas gift you ever gave: Two years ago, I gave husband D. a large-format inkjet printer. It was the first time I’d tried to get him a gadget that I’d heard him talking about for ages, and I remember being inordinately pleased with myself that I had (a) picked out the right one and (b) managed to have it be a total surprise. That was a really great year for gifts, actually: that same year, we gave my MIL a new quilting-capable sewing machine. She’s an extremely accomplished quilter and seamstress, and it was amazing to see how much she appreciated it and all the amazing things she’s made with it.
4. Craziest/funniest holiday family tradition: Every year on Christmas Eve, my mother bakes way, way too many sugar cookies, makes a number of “artistic” colors of icing, and sets the family at work decorating more Christmas cookies than we could ever imagine wanting to eat. Usually this involves the coating of some porous surface or another in food coloring, the scattering of sprinkles and little silver balls and red hots all over the kitchen, and, historically, some comedic territoriality over who gets to decorate the 12” tall giant Santa cookie my mother always makes. Seven years later, people are still talking about D.’s first Christmas with us, when he wrote “this is not a cookie” in icing on a particularly attractive looking cookie. It was yet another indicator that he was going to fit right in.
5. Favorite type of Christmas cookie: According to a very good friend of ours, I have a soft spot for ginger-anything: gingerbread, gingersnaps, etc. I think my favorite only-during-the-holidays cookies are those peanut butter ones with the Hershey’s kisses on them. I never make them at home, but every now and then we run into some at a cookie swap.
What are your favorite holiday traditions? To learn more about Friend Friday, click here.
- Self-Belted Dolman-Sleeve Olive Cardigan: Forever 21, new!
- Mustard Layering Tee: Forever 21, new!
- Dark Wash Skinnies: Kut from the Kloth, via Nordstrom
- Brown Riding Boots: Franco Sarto, via Zappos
- Necklace: David Yurman, gifted
You know those outfits that feel great on, but you just can’t get a good photo of? Welcome to my day, friends. Sigh. But I am all about the (performative!) honesty, so here’s my best shot of today’s outfit. I apologize, but I also blame my hair, which just gave up the ghost this morning and refused to cooperate.
This look is not so much a remix as a refresh: I’ve paired two new pieces (total cost: <$20, thank you, F21!) with two of my most endlessly-remixed workhorses, skinnies and boots. I really liked the proportions of this sweater, with its longer length and funky sleeves. As I did on Saturday, I’m letting color and texture do most of the work here, and I’m loving what this combination of mustard and olive does for me and for an otherwise really simple look. Today I’m reading, running errands and trying to get myself started up again on some original research before we leave town, so I appreciated that this outfit was simple and comfortable (and warm!). And during this epic spell of cold, grey and blah weather we’re having, I definitely appreciated the boost that bright colors brought to my day.
In addition to mailing last-minute gifts and conducting not-so-last-minute (yet!) research, I’m also packing for our trip to Boston. We’re headed north to visit my in-laws for Christmas, and we have a bit of a crazy list of packing demands: the few holiday gifts we weren’t able to ship, casual clothes for everyday, a few dressy outfits, and athletic gear for everything from snow tubing to running to rock climbing…without checking bags. Once I get it all into my suitcase, I’ll post a detailed recap on how I “narrowly tailored” a solution to this crazy balancing test, but I’d love your suggestions before I do.
What’s your packing philosophy? What are your must-bring items on a trip home, particularly if “home” is somewhere cold? Do you try out new items on trips, or stick to old favorites? What’s your theory about traveling with boots? I know there are strong arguments pro and con, regarding space in suitcase, ease of transitions through security, etc, but would love to hear your take.
- Plaid Oxford: Forever 21, new!
- Black Tank: Banana Republic
- Black Wintershorts: Urban Outfitters, new!
- Maroon Tights: HUE, new!
- Brown Oxfords, Seychelles “Mercury,” new!
Oh my, what have we here… You’re thinking, do I know this woman? This woman doesn’t wear things like this: she would never wear pleated anything, and she certainly wouldn’t pair pleated shorts with this vaguely lumberjack-ish oxford. To that I say: you’re right. This outfit is way more like something Kendi or E. or Dotty would wear than something out of my typical lookbook, but here I am, trying it out anyway. After seeing so many of my fellow stylebloggers rock the wintershorts with tights look, I’d been dying to give it a try. What do you think? This first effort combines a number of items from my winter wish-list: these Seychelles “Mercury” oxfords (so comfy!), these maroon tights from HUE, and this oxford shirt, one of the fruits of my slightly impulsive post-exam trip to Forever 21 yesterday. I think I look a little bit more like I belong in a Japanese cartoon than in my regular life, but on this day of running errands, visiting friends and assembling Christmas gifts, I’ll take it. The shorts are way, way, way shorter than anything I’d wear in the summer with bare legs, but I’m liking the look with tights so far. It hasn’t made me want to run out and trade in all my pencil skirts for micro-minis, but it’s making me reconsider the flattering possibilities of a shorter hemline.
What’s a new trend you’ve experimented with this winter? What are your “rules” for trying out new styles and stepping outside your comfort zone? Do you boldly wear these newer, more experimental items out, or do you try them in a quiet moment first?
- Cornflower Blue Felted Wool Blazer: Vintage Michael Kors, mommed
- Black Tank: Banana Republic
- Wool Tweed Pencil Skirt: Vintage Ralph Lauren, mommed (the other half of the “burrito” jacket)
- Black Tights: HUE
- Brown Riding Boots: Franco Sarto, via Zappos
- Necklace: David Yurman, gifted
I know, I know, all dressed up on my first day “off” — what gives? While today is my first day of winter “break,” I’m off to a holiday luncheon for the Member of Congress I used to work for, so I couldn’t quite break out the leggings and floppy sweaters just yet.
Dressing for an event with past (or future) colleagues is always an interesting challenge, particularly for a graduate student (and one on winter break, at the moment). The super-conservative interview suit-type ensemble clearly doesn’t make sense: if it’s a networking event for students, or your former colleagues know what you’re up to, everyone knows you aren’t working full time, so it just looks contrived to show up in pinstripes. On the other hand, both my past and future fields are relatively sartorially conservative, so there’s a limit to how informal or how “offbeat” you can go. Add in the fact that this event is in the middle of the work day, so some decent number of people will be in whatever they wore to work, and you’ve got pretty complicated set of sartorial imperatives. I tried to put together an outfit that was formal enough to clarify that I’m still a grown-up, even though I’ve gone back to school, and that wouldn’t make me feel out of place among people who would be headed back to the office after lunch, but that was a little bit more “me,” and took advantage of the fact that my wardrobe is currently less constrained than it might be in the future. The matched separates bring the level of formality down a bit, and the boots add a little bit of edge, while the mixed neutrals whisper “I’m a rebel! I mixed black, brown, and grey!”
How do you dress for events that are outside of your typical sartorial environment? How do you remix pieces that are much more or much less formal than your day-to-day wear? What rules are you breaking today?
Another broken rule: the rare rear view!
- Scarf: Union Station vendor
- Long Grey Cardigan: Ann Taylor
- Brown Heather Tee: Gap, new!
- Dark Wash Skinnies: Kut from the Kloth, via Nordstrom
- Brown Riding Boots: Franco Sarto, via Zappos
I’m alive! After a furious fight to the finish, I’m declaring victory over Fall 2010, and just like that, law school is half over.* Thanks for your patience as I struggled through the final days! I wore this look for two different holiday gatherings this weekend: to breakfast with my college roommates on Saturday, and to a low-key cocktail and cookie swap with some other college friends that night. It’s still pretty slushy outside as the last of our snow from last week melts (just in time for more on Tuesday, apparently), so I’ve spent most of the weekend in boots. While I loved mixed neutrals, they tend to be dark (usually black tights with brown boots), but I’ve been inspired by so many of Dotty’s gorgeous mixed-light-neutral looks (like this one) to branch out. Here, I’ve paired heathered brown and grey, with a pop of color from the yellow scarf. I felt warm, cozy and relaxed all day, but just a little bit more put together than I might on a normal Saturday morning. The color scheme is doing all the work, which for me is an unusual way of “dressing up” an everyday outfit, but I like the way this turned out. I’m hoping it will embolden me to think more about my use of color as well as pattern to create visual interest in the future, particularly with four weeks of mostly relatively casual dressing ahead of me.
What are your “rules” about using color? What are some of your favorite color combinations, and how did you arrive at them? Do you prefer ensembles with color schemes that “match” versus those that “go” together? How much do your color preferences change with the seasons?
*I am ignoring, for purposes of this discussion, the papers and journal articles I’m still writing that aren’t due until January or February.
Hi! I'm S. Welcome to Narrowly Tailored, a blog about life and style from a law student and new mom. In short: work and life gets dressed; balance mostly gets amused.Follow Along
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