What I Wore To Work

Tara over at Mix & Match Fashion is hosting a "What I Wore To Work" linky today!  I've linked up with her for "Teachers Have Class and Style" a few times, but this time she wanted to open it up to everyone.

Since I don't really have anyone to take pics of me and I don't have a tripod, I decided to have a little a lot of fun with my camera and my mirror.  Just be warned I got a little cheesy.

Sorry these don't show my full outfit, but I can never seem to get good pics from my full length mirror.  The bottom half is pretty dull anyway...  Just dressy black skinnies and black boots (that I don't even think look all that great).  

These are 2 looks that I'd put in the "dressed up casual" category.  They're not super dressy or all that professional, but they're also not completely schlumy and frumpy.  These are the types of outfits you'd find me in on a typical non-jeans day of teaching when I don't have any special meetings or observations.  

I love my denim jacket from Gap.  I wear it to work a lot because it's so versatile and a great layering piece. This one is a nice medium wash that goes with pretty much everything.

This is my new color block tee from J.Crew.  I wasn't so sure about the orange and navy combo, but I actually really love it.  The necklace is from GroopDealz.  

I told  you I had some fun with my camera!

Yes, the sunglasses had to come out.  I'm just that cool.

What I wore to work yesterday:

J.Crew Colorblock Stripe Boatneck Tee (exact)

Gap Denim Jacket (newer version)

Mossimo Stretch Ankle Pants (newer version)

Sorry this is a little fuzzy, but it's pretty much the only glimpse you get of my pants.  I love this outfit combo!

I was super happy to find this sweater at H&M recently.  I'd totally been itching to pair some black and white strips with my leopard scarves.  

Here's a look at the outfit with my gray leopard scarf.  

Too cool for school.

What I'm wearing to work today:

H&M Stripe Sweater (similar)

Gap Leopard Scarves

Mossimo Stretch Ankle Pants

So, I took these pics yesterday...  I woke up to get ready for work only to discover I had no running water in my apartment!  Ugh!  (Some sort of pipe burst in my neighborhood.)  I couldn't take a shower or anything, so I had to prep myself as best as possible without running water.  My hair isn't at its finest, but not horrible either.  Thank God for headbands and ponytails!  

Come back tomorrow for my Fashion Friday post on my fashion fails!  

Have a great Thursday and don't forget to check out "What I Wore To Work" over at Mix & Match Fashion! (Click to go there now!)

Teachers Have Class and Style: My Teacher Fashion Story

In honor of Teacher Appreciation Week, Mix & Match Fashion is hosting the Teachers Have Class and Style linky party!  OF COURSE, I had to participate in this par-tayyyy!

I thought that'd also share my teacher fashion story with you and how I've transitioned my everyday wardrobe to function for work and play!

My teacher style isn't as fancy as some or as casual as others...  I feel like I fall somewhere in the middle erring with more on the side of function than fashion.  As someone who is all about dressing on a budget, my ultimate goal in buying clothing for school is to buy items that can also be easily worn for everyday.  I'm not a heels and pencil skirt kinda girl (though I do think all of you out there are super adorable), but I'm more of the type that tries to bridge the gap between teacher and regular 20-something.  

Pretty much my favorite kind of outfit...
Other than sweats, of course!

I feel like creating a teacher wardrobe was almost as much of a task as preparing my actually classroom when I first got started.  Before student teaching, I worked an office job a few days a week on campus.  I splurged on a couple pairs of black pants from Express and the rest of my office wardrobe consisted of my church clothes. I wore heels to work almost everyday since other than walking across campus to work, I spent most of the day sitting at a desk or walking around our small office.  On my days off, I was found in the typical college student gear of jeans and hoodies.  My nice clothes never made it to class unless I was working in the office that day.  When I got to the point of teaching full time, I realized I really needed to up my teacher wardrobe and cross the lines between fashion and function.  I had a wardrobe full of K-State t-shirts, American Eagle hoodies, and Gap tees and suddenly had to make it work in a more professional setting on a daily basis.  (I pretty much lived in Gap and AE since those were practically the only two stores I liked in our little mall in Manhattan.)  I also had to do this on a budget!

My style has grown up a little bit since college, but honestly I still shop at pretty much all of the same stores, I just have a different eye for items I purchase.  I try to buy items that can be worn for work on for the weekends.  In addition, I've expanded my favorite stores to a few more "grown up" stores that meet more of my professional wardrobe needs, but that still represent my personal style.  I think it's about how you pair items together and with a little creativity you can be comfy, cute, and professional all at the same time!  

Always a bargain hunter!

Here are my top stores:

Gap

American Eagle

Banana Republic

Target

Loft 

J.Crew

Old Navy

Limited

In the warmer months I love wearing comfy knit dresses, my beloved denim jacket, cropped pants, warm weather sweaters, and cute knit tees.  When it's cooler I'm most frequently found in v-neck sweaters and cardigans, black pants, adorable scarves, and cute jackets.  I believe you don't have to spend tons of money to be a fashionable teacher and that your wardrobe can cross the lines between work week and weekend.  It's all about creativity, mixing and matching, and being youself!

Now it's your turn to head over the Mix & Match Fashion and link up with all of the other awesomely stylish teachers out there! 

Follow this link to Mix & Match Fashion!

 Show us what you've got!


PS ~  If you're new to my blog, CLICK HERE to check out my other fashion and style posts!

Teachers Have Class and Style

The fabulous Tara from Mix & Match Fashion is hosting her Teachers Have Class and Style linky this week in celebration of Teacher Appreciation Week.  I discovered her blog sometime last fall around the last time she did this feature.  The last couple times have been where bloggers submitted pics to her and she put them onto her own blog.  (Check out last fall's post...  I'm the 6th pic down..)  This time around she's hosting a linky that will be open this Friday!  It's a super fun way to discover blogs of other awesome, fashionable teachers and see how they mix style into their teacher wardrobe!  I wanted to share this with you all in time for you to participate and enjoy this linky on Friday!  I'm super excited to connect with other fashionable teachers and discover some awesome new blogs!  :)

Click here to visit Tara's blog, Mix & Match Fashion!

Today was pretty much my only dress up day this week...  Tomorrow is bully shirts, Wednesday will be casual for out baseball game field trip, Thursday I'm out for reading training, and Friday is Field Day!  It's not really a good week for me to be bragging about being fashionable since I'll probably be schlumping around in jeans and tees and baseball caps half the week.  Oh well, that's just how things go every now and then!  

See you Friday for the party!