Casual Friday

 

Necklace: Gorjana Taner Small Bar necklace

Sweater: H&M Premium Quality cashmere sweater, M

Tank Top: H&M Basics tank top, S

Skirt: J. Crew No. 2 wool pencil skirt, 4P

Tights: Mukluk fleece-lined tights, S

Shoes: Sam Edelman Petty booties, 7.5

I call my office dress code "casual business casual" because, in my experience, almost anything remotely reasonable goes. Jeans are almost the only item that is off limits. For further context, all of Adina's office-wear would work perfectly at my workplace. In fact, many of my colleagues like to push the envelope towards a slightly more casual direction. A majority of the work outfits on Nine-Thirty to Five are also on-point, though they might work in Southern California, so certain items they can wear wouldn't be suitable for NYC corporate offices.

I wore this outfit last Friday, though in practice, it'd be okay any day of the week. This outfit is about as far on the casual side of the business versus casual spectrum as I go. All of the elements: sweater, pencil skirt, even the ankle boots, are solidly in the middle of the spectrum for my office. It's the design of that H&M cashmere sweater (a birthday gift) that skews extremely casual, and it's made even more so by being slightly big for me on top of being designed to have a slouchy, oversized fit. The rest of it is fine and dandy: that pencil skirt from J. Crew sits a tiny bit higher on the waist and is a little slimmer than my other pencil skirts, which helps balance out the outfit a bit, but either way, none of the other elements would ever raise an eyebrow.

The sweater is one of those things that brings me joy despite being a less than perfect fit. I like that it feels like I'm wearing a cashmere blanket, and that's the only selling point I need to incorporate it into my work outfits. The cashmere is decent-quality for the price - a bit plusher and thicker than Uniqlo's. Some of the design elements might seem strange though, especially the very pronounced dolman sleeves and rather extreme high-low hem along with high side slits.

My Sam Edelman Petty booties are fantastic: very comfortable, true to size, and took absolutely no time to break in. I wore them to work all the time with skirt suits when I was interning in a very formal government workplace earlier this calendar year. After a full fall/winter season's worth of heavy wear last year, I had them reheeled last month ($22 at a moderately expensive cobbler), and they look almost new (there is a tiny scuff in one toe that couldn't be completely fixed, but can be covered when they're cleaned, shined, and polished). I wear them throughout the winter, avoiding only the very wet or snowy days.