I was asked if I could put together some fall/winter business casual workwear outfits to give some inspiration, so this weeks list is a fall/winter workwear capsule wardrobe. I thought it would be a better idea to break it down into what pieces I would include and then make outfits based on those pieces like with the packing lists. That way it’s easy to see what pieces you have that are similar or that you already own and what type of things you might want to add. If you refer to my A Simple Teacher Capsule Wardrobe in 5 StepsI give you a quick way to go through your clothes to see what you have that will be suitable for work and what you may need to add/substitute/or buy. It’s the easiest and most inexpensive way to build a work wardrobe.
I didn’t include bright colours because that is a preference of mine and I find it easier to make everything match if I follow a basic colour palette. But it would be very easy to build a more colourful wardrobe or add some colour with scarves, accessories, shoes. Even a bright blouse, sweater or blazer will add a nice burst of colour. This list is for fall so I obviously picked heavier knit sweaters, wool pants, and a wool jacket. Not included in this list is the rest of your winter gear like hats, scarves, gloves, and boots. When I was working in a professional environment I still walked and used public transport to work. This meant that I had to wear my winter boots and pack my heels/dress boots in my bag and switch over at work. It is a pain and doesn’t usually look very cute, but it is a common practice because a) It stops you from falling on your ass in winter and b) saves your work shoes from being destroyed by slush and snow.
I’m going to pair these in to outfits for the next post. I hope it gives some inspiration.
I can’t believe we are almost here but we are. I really should know better, because it was always the same when I was a kid. Once my birthday past, the summer seemed to fly by. I’m morphing into panic mode though because I homeschool my kids and I haven’t finished buying all the curriculum we will need. I have Roo going into her 7th year (our 8th year of homeschooling) and Merle is starting 1st. I was excited for a bit because people on my local homeschool Facebook page have planned to start a coop. Which is a weekly gathering of similar aged homeschool students to be taught a subject or two in a group setting. Then I found out it was a Christian group. Which in itself is perfectly fine and the most common type of coop in the homeschool world but it is frustrating when you are a secular family in the minority and it wasn’t mentioned until 2 weeks before school starting. The group is open to people of all beliefs, but we won’t join it because while I can usually skip over any religious talk in other subjects, I can’t in this type of setting and refuse to do that for Science. I need to come up with a science alternative and have spent hours pouring over ideas and plans. Honestly, you wouldn’t believe how hard it is to find a secular homeschool science curriculum. It’s like the unicorn of curricula.
So to take myself off the science ledge I put together some things I like for fall. Things that have been on my want list or in my online shopping cart lately. Back to school shopping was my favourite time of year as a kid because of the new wardrobe (I hated the school part). When we were going through the mall the other day Roo was pointing out all these things she liked and I was laughing because I felt like I was transported back to fall of my 1994-95 school year. Half the things she liked I once owned in a similar version. So funny.
Room Darkening Curtains – I don’t know how people can sleep without a dark room. Maybe they get up when the sun rises? I have always wished that I was that type of person but I am a roll over and make a pillow tent to avoid the sun person. At 37 years of age I need to accept that and gets some damn darkening curtains because the pillow over the head makes me wake up with a headache. I saw these curtains at Ikea last week.
Fall Sweaters! I’m not going to lie, I bought these two. The grey one arrived yesterday, the brown one should be coming Monday. The brown one has some awesome wrist ties. I love interesting accents on an otherwise plain sweater.
Grey Sweater from above – This is a sightly shorter, wide sleeve sweater. It will look great alone with high waist jeans or with a longer t-shirt/tank layered under.
Cropped ankle jeans – A 5’3″ any time I get excited about an ankle jean and try them on they fit like regular jeans 🙁 I would love to give these a shot though. Damn short legs, I might have to cut a pair off myself.
Bralettes – I have said I want some for a while and have yet to bite the bullet. I only have two bras that I wear regularly, I just alternate. My size isn’t a size you find in the store very often (28DD) so I order them online which can be pricey. But wearing underwire daily is a literal pain and since I don’t have a large chest I would love to get a few bralettes for under t-shirts and sweaters. They seem loads more comfortable.
Some cool barstools – one of the things that I want in our future home is an open kitchen with a breakfast counter that has barstool seats. I love the wood/black combo of these.
Throw – Where I am partial to neutrals I am also very partial to bright/colourful/patterned accents throughout. This vintage, handmade throw checks all the boxes.
Black Chelsea boot – I want these. They are great for fall with cropped jeans (if I ever find a pair that actually looked cropped on me).
Black Leather Crossbody – I have a brown cross body and would like a black one too. Regular leather, not suede since it is partial to stains and marks when it gets wet which is hard to avoid in the fall.
Red Adidas Gazelles – These come in a variety of colours. I think I narrowed it down to black or red even though the green is awesome.
Yellow Rug – my living room rug is ugly. It is big (covers a very large area and helps to muffle the sounds of loud children. It was cheap, and totally does the job but how amazing would this bright yellow one look?
White Book Case – Quite a few years ago we bought 4 large bookcases to house my collections. They are in a dark black/brown wood and are starting to wear. I want to slowly start replacing them with white ones. This style from Ikea with the partitioned shelves is awesome.
Mirror – This flower shaped, painted mirror would be a beautiful addition to any room. I don’t have a lot of empty wall space (weird shaped walls and windows in random places) but I could probably find a place to squeeze it in.
Oversized t-shirt – Once again, I just ordered this. I love how comfortable oversized tees are. This striped version also comes in a thicker striped pattern. I couldn’t decide which one I wanted as usual.
I notice that I haven’t bought a lot of new things over the last few months. One pair of jeans during a 2.5 month period. But now that it is almost fall it is inspiring me. I wanted a couple more sweaters and t-shirts so this is a good start. What I really need aside form underwear and towel 😉 is a pair of winter boots. I haven’t owned a pair for 6 years since Tom puked both in and on my last pair (which is a story I will share later).
I have a confession to make. I have a thing for sequins. I’m not even too sure why, but it is not as bad as it was in college. That time might have been comparable to looking like I was going to Vegas for the weekend (even mid-week). I do have an unexplainable attraction to sparkly things. Kind of like a crow I guess. When I heavily purged my closet to try to get in to the capsule mindset, I got rid of a lot of it. I think I am now down to 2-3 pieces which are more appropriate for holiday party wear than everyday wear. Back in college I would have rolled out of bed and wore a sequin blazer to class, years later I have mellowed somewhat (although the urge is still there). Now that we have moved in to the holiday season at full force I thought it might be a good idea to put together some budget friendly holiday looks.
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T-shirt • H&M | Striped Shirt • L.L. Bean | White Blouse • H&M | Print Shirt • Mango |
