As most of you know, I have a pretty straight body type. Not a ton of curves going on. I thought it might be fun to do a week dedicated to creating the illusion of a larger waist-to-hip ratio. Lots of belts, high-waisted skirts, and cinching were used to attempt this. I think it was at least mildly successful.

Monday

This one I should have done a belt with. While the pants have a high-waist, they don’t really “cinch” in my waist as much and I would have liked. Plus I thought the outfit was a little plain. I would probably like to add some kind of either texture or pattern next time.

 Top: J.Crew, Pants: Asos, Jacket: Olivia Grey, Shoes: 1.State,

Tuesday

Tuesday’s outfit very effectively got the waist accentuating goal, I think. The skirt does a great job of creating some shape on me that doesn’t technically exist. Also, this jacket is so dope.

 Top: Topshop, Skirts: ModCloth, Jacket: Tahari, Shoes: Kelsi Dagger

Wednesday

I think these pants do a great job of highlighting the waist I do have. I think the looser, boxier fit of the type is a good shape contrast to the pants which sit high and tight around my waist. I think this outfit was a complete success for the theme.

 Top: Lumiere, Pants: Anthropologie, Shoes: Dr. Scholls

Thursday

I really like this outfit, because the dress does all the work. The detailing at the waist highlights where it needs to be and bell shape of the skirt of the dress really accentuates the hip to waist ratio. And outfit-wise, the turquoise necklace and blue houndstooth heels look great with the white.

 Dress: J.Crew, Shoes: Antonio Melani, Necklace: Charming Charlie

Friday

This was my favorite outfit of the week. It’s the most me for sure. I loved the color complement of the green top with the red belt. I even wore this out after work to a friend’s party. I normally never wear work clothes out for weekend fun.

 Top: Anthropologie, Pants: Alexa Chung, Shoes: Monki, Belt: Asos

I moved to Atlanta in August., and I’ve been working at the bank since October. And yet there are still professional clothes I own that I’ve never worn here.

The reality of why is this: I don’t really like these clothes. This week was me forcing myself to put on pieces that I don’t gravitate towards.  I learned a couple things this week. Some pieces I was wrong about. I will definitely begin incorporating some now. And others, I probably need to donate.

Originally, I had 5 outfits this week. Each outfit contains two pieces I’ve never worn while here. But I was sick Monday, so I never ended up wearing one outfit.

I hope this inspires you to take pieces out of your closet and make yourself wear them. Or at least get rid of them and make more space for better-loved items!

Tuesday

The shirt and the shoes have never been worn in Atlanta. I actually love this shirt. I used to wear it all the time in Omaha. I think I haven’t worn it here yet because it’s sheer and for awhile I was nervous about whether or not that was “appropriate” at SunTrust. Then I decided I didn’t care. Welcome back sheer shirt.

The shoes. lol. I can’t even be sure why I own these. There are so many things about these that aren’t “me”

 Top: Ann Taylor, Skirt: J.Crew, Shoe: Truffle Collection

Wednesday

Again, top and shoes are the pieces I haven’t worn. The shirt just.. isn’t really my style. It’s a cute top, but I find styling it hard.

And the shoes. These shoes. At one point in my life, did I think I wanted to be a diet cowboy? I don’t understand the shape and cut of these shoes. I will be honest. They’re incredibly comfortable, and it is nice to own a full foot-covering shoe for winter that isn’t a boot. But that’s what brogues are for.

 Top: Sugar Lips, Skirt: The Limited, Shoes: Lucky Brand, Cardigan: Ann Taylor Loft

Thursday

Again, top and shoes are my pieces in this outfit.

This is probably my favorite outfit this week. It was somehow winter floral.

I don’t pick up this shirt a lot, but I realized this week that I genuinely like it. I will be re-wearing.

The shoes I really like the idea of, but I have a hard time finding outfits to go with them. I think it’s the rounded toe? I have some kind of bias against rounded toes.

 Top: LUSH, Pants: J.Crew, Blazer: J.Crew, Shoes: I have no idea

Friday

Today was cardigan and shoes. I’m realizing there’s a slight pattern to some of the shoes I never wear. These felt a little cowgirl, similar in shoe genre to Wednesday’s shoes.

And I haven’t worn the cardigan just cuz I don’t often wear cardigans, but I definitely like this piece!

 Dress: J.Crew, Cardigan: Anthropologie, Shoes: Lucky Brand, Necklace: Thrifted

Four day week, four pairs of shoes I rarely wear. Most of them are new and are also opinionated. So it felt appropriate to make a week dedicated to the strength of the shoe.

The outfits I chose this week are meant to highlight or complement the shoes. And while the focus isn’t necessarily solely (hah) on the shoe, the purpose of my outfits this week was to bring attention and appreciate the shoe choice.

Hope you like it!

Tuesday

Just bought these babies. They’re tweed texture and have a short block heel. Which means they’re infinitely comfortable and much more interesting than a plain gray heel for me.

 Dress: J.Crew, Shoes: Marc Fisher

Wednesday

I got both compliments and questions on this outfit. Yes, it’s technically winter in Atlanta. Winter, at its coldest down here, is about 30 degrees. So while this outfit may not be 100% appropriate for winter weather, keep in mind that I walk to work every day in workout clothes and change into my outfits at work. So it really doesn’t matter if my outfits match the weather outside, as long as they’re fine indoors. Hence why I rarely wear tights to keep my legs warm (also because tights are annoying and I don’t like wearing them) and also do things like wear obviously summer-appropriate slip-ons. See below for reference.

 Dress: Ralph Lauren, Blazer: Doc & Amelial, Shoes: Franco Sarto, Belt: No idea

Thursday

Grandma librarian. I really enjoy chunky cardigans and pencil skirt combos. These pale pink corduroy loafers look great with the gray.

 Top: Dex, Skirt: J.Crew, Cardigan: BDG, Shoes: Kelsi Dagger

Friday

These shoes are so great. They’re such a strong statement, if felt appropriate to go entirely black and put the entire focus of this outfit on them.

 Dress: Antonio Melani, Shoes: ASOS

Okay, everyone. It’s menswear week. This is part two of a two-part Esther Quek theme. I like menswear-inspired looks independently from her fashion choices, but girl was revolutionary in the modern take on menswear. Bright, primary color suiting, fitted in a feminine way. It’s such a beautiful balance of men’s and women’s stylings, that is both professional and interesting.

Esther was doing this stuff like 5 years ago, so I’m coming a little late to the party. But, to be fair, I’ve been choosing menswear inspired fits for most of my life.. so who’s borrowing from whom, really?

I’d like to go on record saying I loved this theme. I had some very high-level meetings at the end of the week, so my Wed-Fri outfits are a little more stepped up than I would usually do it. Still managed to make them my own, I think.

What’s bizarre is that I actually own and regularly wear several men’s shirts. I chose to wear none of those this week, as I was going for truly feminine silhouettes, while borrowing outfit ideas from my well-dressed brethren (shout out to Connor, who I’d like to believe would appreciate these fits)

Monday

I loved this look. It’s cheetah print, something I never see on men in my office, but it’s such a masculine silhouette. I love it.

 Top: J.Crew, Cardigan: Express, Pants: Everlane, Shoes: G.H Bass & Co

Tuesday

Check out my dang sweatervest

 Shirt: Forever21, Sweatervest: Jones New York, Pants: Gap, Shoes: MONKL, Necklace: Francescas

Wednesday

 Suit: J.Crew, Top: Ann Taylor, Shoes: Antonio Melani, Necklace: My grandma’s

Thursday

This was probably my favorite outfit this week. I really enjoyed the femininity of the pink contrasted with the black blazer and shoes.

 Top: Gianni Bini, Blazer: Doc & Amelia, Pants: ASOS, Shoes: Tahari

Friday

Yes, this is a velvet blazer. It’s amazing.

Top: Ann Taylor Loft, Blazer: Fashion Union, Pants: Gap, Shoes: Madewell, Belt: Nations Leather

Okay. I did Audrey a couple weeks ago. I realized one of my outfits felt more Katharine than it did Audrey, so I decided to do a week dedicated to her.

I always assumed these two were related? They are in fact not related, at all. They just both happen to be fashion icons, came to prominence around the same time, and have the same last name.

Anyways.. I recently saw the Martin Scorsese film “Aviator” and was obsessed with Cate Blanchett’s take on Katharine. Her outfits made me so happy in the movie.

It was a very short week (3 days), but I really enjoyed it!

Wednesday

Katharine was a vocal opponent of skirts later in her life. She hated them. But obviously, as a actress in the first half of the 20th century, she wore them.

 Top: Southern Lady, Blazer: Ann Taylor, Skirt: Dillard’s Clearance, Shoes: Tahari

Thursday

This silhouette was lifted straight from the golfing scene in “Aviator”.

 Blazer: Ann Taylor, Top: Lumiere, Pants: Spacegirlz, Shoes: Com+sens

Friday

 Top: J.Crew, Pants: Frank and Oak, Shoes: Madewell, Belt: J.Crew

This week went badly. About 1/2 the way through the week, I realized that the lighting in my bedroom is not as honest as the lighting in my work bathroom. You’ll see what I mean on day 2.

Monochrome week was harder than I realized. I was fearful of becoming over matchy the entire week, and I realized that I mostly have the exact same color in several different articles of clothing, but I do not own the requisite shades, tints, or tones (oh my!) to properly create monochrome outfits.

Let’s super quick talk about hues, shades, tints, and tones. They’re supposed to be important in monochrome outfits, but I wanged it.

Choose a color. Let’s choose maroon. That’s our hue. Now if I had black to our hue, that becomes a shade of maroon. Add white, that’s a tint. You can also add gray to your hue, now you have a tone. Color theory is a lot more interesting and complicated than this, but it felt good to write down the basics.

Monochrome outfits would ideally follow this line of thought. Choose a hue, and then wear shades, tints, and tones of that hue.

My monochrome week was a failure by that standard. Oh well, not every week is gonna be great.

Monday

Deep Blue Something

 Top: Lumiere, Pants: Everlane, Shoes: Antonio Melani

Tuesday

Here it is. My three entirely different hues of yellow-orange. One thing I noticed about this outfit was that if I removed my shoes, the dress/cardigan looked fine together. And if I removed the cardigan, the shoes/dress looked better together. The three of them together look all over the place. This was a terrible monochrome outfit.

 Dress: Asos, Cardigan: Urban Outfitters, Shoes: Franco Sarto

Wednesday

Black feels like cheating. I realize that I own so much black clothing, I could probably do a black week. #postgothchic

 Blazer: Doc & Amelia, Top: J.Crew, Pants: Spacegirlz, Shoes: Kelsi Dagger

Thursday

I have a maroon shirt I was originally planning to wear, but decided that was way too over the top maroon. I have another lighter pink nude shirt I should have worn that would have worked better for the theme. Oh well.

 Top: Pins and Needles, Skirt: no idea but purchased at Dillard’s Clearance, Tights: no idea, Shoes: Antonio Melani

Friday

If black monochrome felt like cheating on monochrome week, then suiting IS cheating. This is my first ever suit that I own.

 Suit: J.Crew, Top: TopShop, Shoes: 1.State, Necklace: Forever 21