Outfit Post: Pajama-Like

Necklace: J.Crew Chain Tassel Necklace

Top: Grana Silk Drop-Shoulder Tee, teal, M

Pants: Grana Silk Ankle Pants, black, M short

Shoes: M.Gemi Felize, gold shimmer (sold out at M.Gemi, similar, but in limited sizes or weird colors)

I thought this outfit was fun, which isn't something I say too often because I tend to stick to the same outfit formulas over and over. For work, it's almost always a dress and sweater, whether a typical cardigan or something trying to be a blazer. The dresses and sweaters aren't all similar to each other, I have a variety of colors and shapes for each, and for the dresses, there are prints too, but the formula is always the same. I go through more or less the exact same weekly rotation of dresses all year round, switching up coats, sweaters, shoes, and tights or bare legs based off the needs of the season. Each of the work dresses in my "core" rotation gets worn at least once every two weeks. Even when I pick out one of the colorful or printed dresses, it's not something I think about much when I put them on in the morning. For weekends, my clothing is often even more subdued. In the cooler seasons, it's almost always jeans and a neutral-looking sweater or top (the Uniqlo ones from early 2015 remain some of my favorites) or in high summer, it's one of my summer dresses (all black or navy) and my trusty Fit Flops. I tend to stick to my wardrobe comfort zones, and it's difficult to drag me out. I may never get used to wearing a-line midi skirts, for instance! 

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This casual Friday work outfit was a significant departure from my usual work formula in a few ways, and one I liked. It was very comfortable, basically like a pair of pajamas. I love those Grana silk pants (also seen on Jane and Elaine) and wear them to work maybe once every three weeks in warmer months, but pretty much always with an untucked top. I generally find that my proportions look a bit awkward when I tuck tops into relaxed-fit pants with an elastic waist. I like color, but the teal of this Grana silk top is a bit louder and brighter than I'm used too, especially when paired with a more attention-grabbing shoe and accessory. It's also been a long time since I wore a more statement-sized necklace to work. 

And yes, I know I was just fussing about the decline of J.Crew, but Engineer L's recent shopping roundup reminded me that I missed having a longer, less dainty necklace in my collection. I still have quite a collection of colorful, short statement necklaces tucked away in my dresser, the vast majority of which predate this blog and haven't generally been worn since, but my long necklaces from back then were generally Forever 21, and had long since been decluttered away. I did quite a bit of online window shopping, including on Etsy, and was fairly certain that this J.Crew tassel necklace was the best choice. Baublebar was just about the only other brand that had a larger gold tassel necklace I liked the look of, but I know from past experience that their costume jewelry is worse quality than J.Crew - flimsier materials, more obviously plastic-looking stones for designs that have them, less weight, uglier designs, and more likely to cause contact dermatitis on my sometimes-sensitive skin. 

Between the size of the necklace and the contrasting texture panels on the top, which aren't as visible in this photo, but are fairly noticeable in real life, I find that this outfit has a slightly dated? retro? vibe. The matchy-matchy shoes and necklace might contribute. I can't quite put my finger on it, but the rather assertive size of the necklace certainly feels a bit "off trend" to me, like it's something you generally wouldn't see in stores right now. If you go to say, Nordstrom, and look at their entire selection of tassel necklaces at the moment, you'll barely see anything similar, most are either significantly more delicate or, alternately, far more colorful and loud, not much in between.

Did anyone else really buy into the colorful short statement necklace trend that I think hit peak saturation from 2011 to 2014 or so? Some current examples are illustrated in the above widget, though they're not particularly popular at the moment and not very common. Back then, up until when I started this blog, I basically didn't meet a single example of the trend I didn't like, and generally couldn't resist buying every single one I saw for a sale price, including an extremely plastic H&M knockoff of that J.Crew bubble necklace.