Making it Work: Classic Teacher Style

thanks to Jessica for letting me use her photo! see her original post here

For September's Make it Work Monday, I'm following the lead of a fellow teacher, Jessica from Here & Now.  The core pieces in this outfit -- a button-up shirt, wool blazer, patterned skirt, and booties -- are all super classic items that I already owned. Yet I'd never put them together before. In fact, I rarely wear a blazer with a skirt and had -- get this -- I have NEVER worn a button-up with a blazer. Yeah, I know, weird. On this classic combo's maiden voyage, I even copied Jessica's cuffing technique. I'll definitely be doing it again!

I'm grateful to Jessica for sharing this outfit and to Erin for hosting this awesome link-up. It may seem simple to copy looks that you like on others, but on both Make it Work Mondays so far I've learn something about my style and how to wear the clothes I already own. If you've got a blog, please link up! If you don't, just try making it work sometime... I promise, you'll like it!

blazer: J.Crew [apparently they've discontinued the Schoolboy, but the Rhodes is very similar] | shirt: Banana Republic [exact on sale] | skirt: LOFT [exact on sale, but limited sizes] | bag: J.Crew Factory | booties: Nine West | watch: Timex, via stolen from husband (will be returned since my new watch came in the mail!) [exact]

Making It Work: Black & Tan

When I first stumbled upon Franish, I thought "that's how I want to dress." Fran's style is classic and classy, professional without being stuffy, simple without being boring. Even better, her outfits and commentaries help me to see my own (far less developed) style in new ways and to translate my favorite outfits into concepts and those concepts back into different outfits. I know that sounds complicated, but here's what I mean:

One of my absolute favorite fall/winter outfits, which I wore about twice a week from 2008 through 2012, is a black wool shift dress with a low-slung tan belt, tan boots, and a black cardigan. I don't wear this outfit quite as frequently as I once did, mostly because my current black shift dress has a defined waist so the low-slung belt doesn't work as well, but it's still one of my favorites. I saw the black-and-tan look all over the place while I was paging through Fran's blog (see here, here, and here), which made me think about my own favorite outfit and realize that I love that pairing. I also realized, looking at this outfit, that tweaking the outfit a bit could make it work for summer, too. So, I present to you, for the inaugural Make it Work Monday hosted by Erin of Teal and Polka Dots, black and tan.

My look doesn't match Fran's perfectly. She's wearing leopard-print flats, mine are solid leather. She has a small cross-body purse, I have my big (and overstuffed) work bag. She's wearing a delicate necklace, I'm wearing a chunky wooden bangle. But this outfit is certainly inspired by Fran (rather than copied) and I think I've made it work for me.

dress: Target | cardigan: Target [this years colors... I love these very affordable cardigans and buy one just about every season] | belt: American Eagle | bag: J.Crew Factory | shoes: Banana Republic [exact] | bracelet: street hawker... four bucks!

Thanks so much Erin for this awesome link-up! I have started a pinterest board dedicated to outfits that I'd like to make work so I'll be ready for future Make It Work Mondays. I'm trying to focus on pinning looks that I have most of the necessary equipment for so I don't feel like I need to buy things to look stylish. Plus, there will be some fudging. But who doesn't love fudge?