Styling looks that are a. work appropriate, b. slightly “well dressed” but still meeting some level of comfort, and c. fun is not exactly an easy thing to do. Some days when I go to work, I am thankful that I had enough energy to wake up and dry my hair. Other days I’m stuck to what’s clean and available. Then I have my on point days, where the stars align. I can fix my hair AND have an outfit that not only “works” for work but also is an expression of my style. The following look is one of the latter–though, I’d make a small edit next time…

I put this look together when working on a project with other bloggers (more details about that to come next week). I don’t often think too far ahead about my looks. I usually just document an outfit when I can or when I get an item I want to show, but for this project I wanted to illustrate different aspects of my style. One of those aspects is that balance between well-dressed and comfortable that I try to get when I go to work. For those who do not know, I teach at a university, and I also hold an admin position. While I want to look professional, I’m really only comfortable in either jeans or dresses… and mostly only jeans. This means that I rely on my tops, accessories, and hair and make-up to make the whole outfit work in my workplace setting. For the project, Torrid kindly sent me some items of my choosing to put together a look that showcased my work style. If you’ve read my blog for awhile, you know that I have a lot of love for their jeans, but their extensive size range allows me to find comfortable pieces in every category of clothing they sell.

For this look I chose the following items: Torrid’s Crepe Laser Cut Blouse and their Lace Up Block Hills, both given to me courtesy of Torrid. I also was given a pair of jeans that I decided didn’t work for this particular look, but I’ll show those in a future post. I wore my own pair of Torrid jeggings in black.

I love the laser cut detail of the blouse. It gives a scalloped hem and a nice small detail to the outfit. I find that a lot of plus size clothes leave the detail for the neckline, and I liked that this piece left space for jewelry up top but was not basic at all. I wondered how the laser cuts would show up with black-on-black, but the different materials worked well next to one another.

I’ll admit that the shoes.. these shoes.. they are so cute! BUT! I am not someone with the ability to walk long distances in them (read, here long distance means 3 feet). As much as I admired their design and liked the look, in the future I will need to go the flats route. Luckily, Torrid has me covered with flat sandal designs that are similar to this heel, such as these three designs: 1, 2, and 3.

I wanted to go for green accent pieces, so I opted for this Shiraleah ‘Dora’ purse that I purchased last year from Nordstrom Rack and this Florence Collar from BaubleBar. I also “accessorized” with some hair extensions from Irresistible Me. I had been eyeing this necklace for a long, long time, but I couldn’t convince myself of the $58 price tag. It went on sale earlier this summer, and I picked up for around $30, which is more appropriate for its worth.

By the way, Brittany (my lovely sister-in-law) helped me take these pictures in scorching-early August-North Carolina heat. We deserve a cookie or something for making it through ;-p.

I can’t wait to share more details about this project and even more looks that define my style very soon. Fall is also an especially good time to experiment with new work styles because being cool will no longer be my top priority. Keep checking back to see the other looks, and I will, of course, let you know once the full project is live :-).

*Torrid gifted me two items in this look for use in a project. I chose the items featured.