Some clothing pieces just look right when worn together. The camel cardigan + burgundy blouse top half may look familiar, as could the lace pencil skirt + leopard pumps bottom half. Piece the two halves together and voila! A brand-new outfit.

Weekly work customer meetings call for a slightly dressier attire than usual. And I'm not the only one with these thoughts. My coworker showed up in the male version of my outfit -- a striped dress shirt in the same color scheme tucked into black pants. Seems like a fairly standard work uniform, right? Yet we were the only ones in the room who could almost pass for twins... if only he had worn red shoes instead of black ones.

When DH saw me wearing my new white dress shirt with shorts, he said I looked like I wasn't wearing any bottoms. Err... I guess I'll take that as consent to raid his closet instead!

Photos thanks to DH!

I love the color white. I already own a white skirt, two pairs of white shorts, white skinny jeans, a white dress, and multiple white tees -- all of which I wear on a regular basis. I can now add another to my ever-growing white collection: a pair of wide leg trousers.

I saw the Chelsea28 pleated wide leg pants on Taylor and Julia awhile back. I was immediately smitten with the flowy look. It gave off such a sophisticated vibe a la Lauren Bacall. Being the casual dresser that I am, I didn't know if I could pull it. I also had doubts about my ability to keep the pants clean -- a long hem nearly touching the dirty ground?!

I couldn't stop thinking about the pants, so what the heck, I had to see it in person myself. Not surprisingly, I loved it. The pants are fitted through the waist, then straight down the legs, which makes it so comfortable to wear. I'm used to wearing skinny jeans, so it's always an adjustment to wear items that aren't restrictive at all. For reference, I'm wearing sz 00.

The pants were very long on my 5'4" frame (~35" inseam on the pants, iirc?) Nordstrom offers free alterations on select services for full-priced items, which happens to include hemming pants. I had bought the pants online, so I just walked in to any of the women's departments at my local store. A sales associate will call someone from the alterations department to come up while you change. He/she'll then just pin the pants to the correct length (make sure you bring the exact shoes you'll be wearing). I was handed a slip with a pickup date a week later. It's seriously so convenient and hassle-free.

I definitely saw wrinkles appearing throughout the day, mainly around the thigh area. Sigh. Unavoidable I guess, so I've come to terms with that. My worries about keeping the pants clean? Perhaps I was overreacting because they were just as clean at the end of the day as they were at the start.

P.S. - Thank you Jean for introducing me to the H&M top and Suddenlee for tracking down my size for me!

I'm veering solidly into the ladylike category in today's ensemble. I picked up this H&M one-shoulder dress recently because the silhouette reminded me of togas -- which I'm oddly fond of. The draping, the one-shoulder design, the cutout at the waist (not visible in my photos), and even the longer midi-length are all features that I really liked. Unfortunately the cotton material wrinkles easily, so I'll probably be dry-cleaning often when I'm too lazy to steam. For reference, I'm wearing size 2 (typically wear 2-4 in H&M), which fits a little loose in the bust and a little tight around the ribs.