Petite Fashion Challenge #2

After completing my first Petite Fashion Challenge I was excited to hear about Petite Fashion Challenge #2  hosted by Alterations Needed.

But then I kind of started panicking because September was filled with personal highs (friend's wedding!) and personal lows (2 funerals :(  )  and the rest of what makes life so hectic all in between.  I had pictured in my mind to turn a Summer Dress into an approprial Fall outfit which seemed easy in theory but turned out to be quite a challenge!

Here is the dress I picked:

Dress:  RW&Co size 00

Here's my spring/summer look:

Wedge Sandals:  Avon

This is a dress I ususally only wear on vacation because it's quite low cut.  Sometimes I would wear this over my bikini if we were walking around town.

So here is how I changed it to wear for Fall/Winter:

Short Sleeved Turtle Neck:  Joe Fresh

Cardigan:  Loft XSP

Boots:  Nine West

Tights and Belt:  Winners

Necklace:  Avon

I didn't want to just throw a cardigan over it and say "yay this is Fall" I wanted to really show the layering.  I put the turtle neck underneath for a bit more modesty and to make this work friendly but buttoned the 3rd button of the cardigan up so the neckline of the dress wouldn't really show.  I also liked putting on textured tights with this.  I thought it was interesting with the pattern of the dress.

So...how'd I do on my 2nd challenge?  I think this one was even more challenging than the first LOL!  But I'm so glad I did it, I would've never thought to wear this dress to work since it was so summery and revealing but now I can, YAY!

OOTD (from the weekend) all in black

Even though I've been trying to wear brighter colours or add interesting elements of colour to my wardrobe sometimes black on black is just a really easy and pulled together look.  

Top:  Joe Fresh (cheap! a few years old.) 100% silk!

Belt:  Winners

Jeans: Gap Legging Jeans faded black wash size 00 regular

Shoes:  Nine west westies size 6.5

I need to get another pair of black heels - have I ever mentioned how badly I wear out my shoes?

These could probably still be repaired by replacing the rubber at the bottom of the heels.  But seriously, this happened to ALL my shoes!  Does anyone else have this issue?  Hmmm...maybe this is my excuse to buy more shoes and rotate more often?  ;)

Work Wear: Black and White

In general I'm a really organized person.  While I don't need every single minute of my day planned out I do like to have an idea of how my day will go in my mind. 

This includes what I will wear for work.  If things go well in my day and evenings I usually plan out what I will wear the following day.  This usually ends up only working for Mondays and Tuesdays.  The rest of the days I end up staying up later than intended (this is even MORE true now that I've discovered the blogging world!) so the next morning I hit my snooze button one (or two, or three...) too many times to get that extra few minutes of sleep.  This routine ALWAYS leaves me scrambling for work.  On those days I tend to gravitate towards my "go to" work outfits.

This combination has become one of my favorite "go to" outfits for work.

Skirt:  Mexx size 2

Blouse:  Mexx XS

Camisole:  unknown

Shoes:  Westies by Nine West size 6.5M

Necklace:  mark by Avon

The skirt is admittedly a bit lose on me as it sits more on my hips than at my natural waist but I think the height of of the skirt suits me well.  The blouse itself is completely sheer so a camisole is a must.  I have many camisoles as I usually don't fill out a lot of shirts so I always need to layer!

I really like how the skirt is pretty full too so it swings when I walk :P

Another reason this is a "go to" work outfit is that the blouse doesn't need to be ironed!  I HATE ironing so this is DEFINITELY a bonus :) 

The skirt is super comfortable too.  It's a mix of linen and viscose so it's light and airy but it doesn't get wrinkly throughout the day.

Any other ideas for great "go to" work wear?