Teacher Style: Gray Pants Inspiration

Excuse the crummy iPhone pictures that chop off my face. However, when I asked Mom to take my pictures for this week's posts, it was so blasted hot that we made it through two pairs of pants before copious amounts of inner thigh sweat just made my pants slide right off again. Okay, not really, but it was uncomfortable playing musical outfits. As a result, you must deal with the following images and their lackluster quality. Maybe the outfits make up for it? Sure, let's go with that logic.

Anyway, I bring to you my gray work pants that I love so very much, and they sat on my "wish list" for a long time before I finally found a suitable pair. Momma says the shade of these pants makes every outfit "pop." Yes, Momma, you are right as usual.

 Pants: The Limited (exact stretch)

Options: darker gray option from The Limited

*****************************************

Look 1: colored cardigan + printed blouse + metallic flats
Yeah, it's this floral blouse again. Feel free to get sick of it. 

(Cardigan: NY&Co. / Top: The Limited / Belt: The Limited / Shoes: Audrey Brooke via DSW)

Look 2: printed cardigan + colored blouse + neutral shoes
Polka dots make everything better. So does this fuchsia shirt. (It took an embarrassingly long time for me to commit the spelling of that color to my long-term memory.) 

(Cardigan: gift from my sister-in-law / Top: The Limited / Necklace: NY&Co. / Belt: Express / Shoes: J.Crew Factory)

Look 3: colored cardigan + printed blouse
I love the color of this cardigan, and it almost made its way to the donation pile. That would have been a terrible, terrible mistake. 

(Cardigan: Express / Blouse: WHBM / Shoes: J.Crew Factory)

 Look 4: colored cardigan + printed tee + colored flats
Don't these colors make you happy? Or, are you sick of seeing my yellow and pink color combination? Eventually, you will want to pair them as well. Also, for the reader who asked me about bringing summer tees into fall, I've created this look for you.

(Cardigan: Express / Top & Necklace: Old Navy / Flats: Merona via Target)

Look 5: lace top + tassel necklace + colored heels
I decided to go neutral for one of the outfits. However, the lace of the shirt gives the look a bit of visual interest, no? 

(Top: Old Navy / Necklace: NY&Co. / Shoes: Dana Buchman via Kohl's / Belt: Express)

Look 6: neutral shirt + pendant necklace + colored flats
This peplum top is so pretty, which means it's no surprise that Momma got it for me. 

(Top: LOFT / Necklace: Old Navy / Flats: Merona via Target)

Okay, which outfit is your favorite? How do you wear your gray pants? I love gray with blush/any pink as well. It might be my favorite neutral.

Show Stoppers

I decided that if a stranger walks up to me, compliments something I'm wearing, and asks where I bought it, then whatever I'm wearing is a winner. Today's winner is these shoes. Jeff and I went to the market this past weekend, and a lady stopped me in the aisle to ogle my shoes. When we were walking the streets of downtown, a lady said nothing but stared so hard at my shoes that I feared for her forehead because she was a few steps from Mr. Magooing a tree. These flats are show stoppers. They're comfortable. They add a nice pop of color to otherwise neutral outfits. And I love them. I think you need a pair. I wear a 8.5, and they're true to size for me.

Oh, and my juniors' interviews went pretty well yesterday. One student said, "I was expecting it to be a waste of time, but it really wasn't." In teenager speak, that's the highest of compliments. If you can prove their expectations wrong, then you have won the war on apathy. 

So, yesterday you saw that I found my perfect leopard print top. For quite some time, I've been hunting high and low for a floral top (silk, with or without sleeves, smaller flowers, enough colors to match a lot of things, looks good tucked or untucked), and I keep coming up with nothing. I'm not spending $80 on a floral shirt. That's just highway robbery I will not condone. I looked at H&M, LOFT, Banana Republic, The Limited, Francesca's, and most of my regular haunts. Any suggestions?

The Look:

Top: Old Navy (got this bad boy last month for $6! exact)

Jeans: Lauren Conrad via Kohl's ($10 woot woot--similar)

Vest: American Eagle (here is a green one at Nordstrom)

Red flats: Sole Society (exact--feel free to use my referral link)

(You're welcome.)

Linking up with

* All Things Thursday at http://www.glitzandgold.com

* Look What I Got (for cheap) at http://pennilesssocialite.blogspot.com/

* Three-fer Thursdays at http://www.everydayfashionandfinance.com

* Tres-Chic Fashion Thursday at http://vodkainfusedlemonade.com/

Peekaboo Lace

Though this title is mildly suggestive, I assure you there's no funny business going on in this post. For Marion's challenge of the month, styling lace, I went with something a bit different that incorporates some of my favorite things: plaid, flannel, lace, and bright colors. I rather like my little bit of girly, little bit dude-ish, little bit casual, and little bit sophisticated. And what do you know? I'm a little bit of wowe. That's how it's done, folks. 

Note: tights are not my favorite, but they are a necessary evil at the moment.

(Damn you, cold, pale legs.) 

I love orange and blue together. Of course, I'll tell you that very same thing when I wear just about any other color combination. I just love color, and who am I to resist it? 

I need to brush my hair.  Yikes. 

I really can't wait for the weather to warm up so that I can get this porch in tip top shape. 

I considered boots, but I love these brown wedges...a lot...and decided they were better for a work environment (not that boots aren't good for a work environment).

Outfit Deets: 

Plaid Shirt: Old Navy (all they have left)

Blue Skirt: The Limited (very similar)

Brown Wedges: Aerosoles via Marshall's 

Lace Shirt: The Limited (straight up sexy)

Earrings: Kohl's

Oh, and I also styled the plaid shirt this way. 

If you want to see some other fashionable ladies, check out Marion, Shanna, and The Pleated Poppy.