Office Polka Dots & Tips for Building a Wardrobe You Love

Today’s look is a fairly typical office ensemble, which features a great polka-dot blouse that I actually paid full price for at my favourite local clothing store, Tonic. I particularly like the ruching at the neckline, the flattering cut of the shirt, and the buttons that go up the entire back. I loved this top so much that I decided to buy it before I even knew how much it cost. I realize this is not a profound move for most people, but for me it’s pretty rare. I fall in love with things pretty easily when I go shopping so I usually reserve my judgement about how much I like an item until I know how much it costs. I acknowledge that this sounds terribly frugal, but it saves me from being incredibly broke.

On the flip side, I generally avoid looking at the price tag on an item until after I have tentatively decided whether I like it. The reason being, I used to have a closet full of clothes that didn’t quite fit right, or weren’t an ideal colour, or were otherwise less than satisfactory, all because I convinced myself to buy something because, “WOW! It’s such a great bargain!” I eventually learned that something is only a great bargain if you liked it before you knew the price and then the price turned out to be less than you would have been willing to pay for it. This mindset is one of my greatest tricks for avoiding the dreaded “I have a closet full of clothes, but I have nothing to wear” phenomenon.

Here’s today’s outfit:

And the look that inspired it:

Link to the above photo: http://pinterest.com/pin/74450200063243506/

Here’s how today’s look breaks down:

-Shirt: Sleeveless polka-dot blouse by lovelygirl. About $40 at Tonic

-Sweater: Fuchsia cardigan by Alfred Sung. $15 at Costco

-Pants: Black skinny pants. About $30 from Winners

-Shoes: Low wedges in black with rounded-toes. About $70 from Aldo

-Necklace: Turquoise statement necklace with gold chain. About $15 from Suzy Shier

-Purse: Burnt orange crossbody bag. A gift

Thanks for dropping by. Check in tomorrow for my final post of the week. I’ll be digging through inspiration photos this evening to find a great casual Friday outfit to share with you.

Ciao for now.

Testing My Memory

I was excited when today’s outfit finally came together. I have had most of the pieces for quite some time, but until recently, I was still missing the skirt. Finally, a few weeks ago I found a great sale at American Apparel (which I have mentioned in a previous post) and they had the perfect skirt to complete this outfit. At the time, the weather was very warm, so I decided that on the first day it was cool enough outside to wear a sweater that I would debut this new outfit.

Yesterday ended up being that day.

The only problem?

Somehow, the inspiration photo for my outfit had completely disappeared! And because I am not used to relying on my memory to get dressed in the morning, I panicked a little; however, after a few sips of coffee I decided to try to find the photo again. Surely someone else on Pinterest would have my picture on one of their boards and everything would be alright!

As it turns out, I would have no such luck.

I tried every search term I could think of that might bring back my photo, but nada! In the end I was able to find another photo that is very similar, so you’ll get the general idea of what I was going for. The most frustrating part of all of this is that I can clearly see the picture in my mind but I have no way of sharing that with you, so the replacement photo below will just have to suffice.

Here’s today’s look:

And my replacement inspiration photo (seriously how the heck could the other one have just disappeared?!?):

Link to the above photo: http://pinterest.com/pin/74450200063422429/

Here’s how today’s look breaks down:

Sweater: White three-quarter length sleeve cardigan sweater. About $30 from Smart Set

Camisole: White camisole with white lace trim. $3

Skirt: Brown pleated skirt. $21 from American Apparel

Belt: Brown woven leather belt with floral etching and silver studs. About $20

Shoes: Shiny nude pumps from the Comfort Plus line by Predictions. $25 from Payless Shoesource

Bracelet: Metallic beaded bracelet by Michael Kors. A gift.

Necklace: Long gold necklace with faded gold pendant. About $5

Lipstick: Lickable by MAC

And that concludes another week here at the Copycat Fashionista. I hope you were able to find something that will inspire you to experiment with some of the buried treasures in your own closet. Remember to check back on Monday for another week of fun and fashion. Have a terrific weekend!

Ciao for now.