What I Wore to Work: January in Review

Looking at these pictures from January is a depressing experience. Most of these outfit are pretty dreary (the drab wall, linoleum floor, and crappy camera work don't help much either). Some of the looks are OK, but overall this months' looks are pretty pathetic.

The main reason I started taking outfit photos again was because I wanted to have a visual record of what I wore so that I can get a better handle on what I'm wearing and how it actually looks. So what can I learn?

• I wear a lot of black. That's kind of on purpose. About a year ago, I decided to put together a comprehensive set of basics in my primary neutral, black. This has made getting shopping simpler (because can focus on seeking out stuff will look good with black, like patterns with a black base) and getting dressed easier (most of the thing in my closet match).
• Proportions matter. The worst outfit by far is the second outfit in the first row. Oof. The oversized sweater makes me look top-heavy, and I've exacerbated this issue by rolling up the sleeves to the widest part of my torso. On the other hand, the third outfit on the second row is almost the same -- same black ponte pants, same white button up -- but a slimmer sweater looks so much better. I also like pretty much all the looks with my new wide-leg black pants, which balance out my top half well.
• Hair matters, too. This isn't actually related to my clothes, nor should it be a major revelation.  Even thought it's not what I actually wore, it changes how I feel about what I wore. I've been working on stretching out my blowouts using some tips from Merrick and on putting my hair up for real rather than the nonsense updos I was trying to get away with in the first row up there. 

 In February, I'm going to try to focus on improving my outfits by paying attention to the things I've noticed this month. On the black front, I probably won't stop wearing black, but I'm going to try to incorporate some color and make sure I'm not using black as a crutch. For proportions, one thing I'm going to change is sticking to work clothes on work days and not trying to sneak my super casual clothes (my black tunic sweater and flannel check skirt, for example) into work outfits. And for my hair... I'm going to pay attention to my hair. Simple as that.