As you know, I’m a huge believer in tailoring clothes so that they flatter and highlight my shape; often times, clothes off the rack don’t quite fit people properly, and a little tailoring can do wonders. I wanted to share this amazing dress that I bought a while back. I found it at a consignment store and immediately saw its potential. Here are some deets about the dress: It’s a designer dress… a MaxMara piece (scoresies!!) It’s a simple black dress with corrugated detailing down the front It’s a size 14! I almost put this dress back on the rack because it was just not my size, but there were one thing that made me hold onto it. It was on sale at 80% off (crazy, I know) and ended up being only $30 (I’m so proud of this find)!!! I, of course, had faith in that my very talented tailor could alter this dress and make it my size – without losing its shape or delicate finishing. Though I loved the dress, I went back to my simple rules to see if it made sense to buy this piece: How much is the garment? With the crazy sale, this garment was just under $30. For a designer dress of this quality and versatility, I felt that this one was a no-brainer. How much will tailoring cost? Based on all the work I’ve done with my tailor, I ballparked that alternations would cost about $60. I could live with that to have a beautiful designer piece in my closet. Do I REALLY love it? Yes! There are many business and social situations to which I could wear this magnificent piece. Also, because it’s so versatile and well-constructed, my small investment would surely pay off. This is what the dress looked like originally (my tailor took these pics!): When I went for an initial consultation with my tailor, this are the alterations that needed to me made: It took my tailor about 3 weeks and 2 fittings with me to make sure that this dress was PERFECT! I am happy to report that the dress is exactly what I envisioned it to be on me. Here’s the final product: This is what was done to the dress: The back and sides of the dress were taken in because the circumference of the dress was too wide for my frame. A zipper was put in on the back of the dress and taken out from the side panel. This alternation was done to allow me to slip into the dress with greater ease. The shoulders were raised because the torso of the dress was too large for me (clearly the dress was cut for someone with a longer and larger torso). My tailor had to pay special attention to the arm hole to ensure her alteration didn’t cut too high into my armpit… that would just be uncomfortable. The waistline was raised to align with my torso (again, the torso of the dress was
Reader Spotlight: People at my new office are
Hi Lazina, I’ve been working for the past six years in a mid-management role. Recently, I’ve moved over to a new organization where I feel I can really grow my career, however, I’ve noticed that some people in my office (those both senior to me and those at my level) keep giving me “odd” looks. I’m not sure whether I’m just plain paranoid or am doing something wrong! I don’t think it’s because of my office attire though. I even asked one of my colleagues (who I’m a bit closer with) if I’m dressing too provocatively. She seemed very supportive of this weird situation but I didn’t really feel that she gave me a straight answer. Could I be one of those fashion disasters in the work place and not even know it? L Hi There, First of all, you deserve a pat on the back for being as open and honest with yourself and taking that hard look in the mirror. That’s a tough thing to do! Trust me, not many people do that! Let’s focus on YOU and what you might be doing right or wrong when it comes to attire in the workplace. Here are some simple guidelines that you might want to use to see if you need to step it up a notch (or two): Necklines: There’s a quick test you can do to see if your girls are making too much of an appearance at the office. When you’re getting ready for work, look straight down at your chest. Can you see more than just a bit of cleavage? If so, you’re probably showing too much for the office. Now I realize that this can be a tricky area to dress, depending on your body type, so I would suggest playing around with different necklines to find the shape that works best for you (check out one of my past posts on necklines… this might give you a few ideas). Material: I’m not sure what type of material you are choosing when buying professional attire but here’s a good rule of thumb: the more structure a garment has, the more professional and appropriate it looks (it won’t cling to your body) and the less likely it is to be seen as bar or club wear. Skirt Length: This is an area where I often see many style ‘mistakes’. Here’s a simple checkpoint to see if you’re a showing too much leg: with the skirt or dress you would normally wear, sit down and see how much of your leg is showing. If it’s more than a couple of inches, your skirt is just too short for the office (check out this past post on skirt lengths)! Heels: I do agree that heels give the leg a longer, leaner look. They do wonders in completing a professional look but sometimes women take high heels to a whole new level – like a 5 or 6 inch new level! If you’re wearing shoes that are much more suitable for a bar (one that is just too sexy) than for the office, you probably want to reconsider this
Stylish, warm winter boots… do these exist?
I’ve been stumped by this problem for a while now. When I started my first big-girl job, I quickly realized that I needed professional-looking winter boots for my commute to work. I thought the task of buying new winter boots would be the best thing ever (after all, who doesn’t love a new shoe purchase??) but it turned out to be quite frustrating and disappointing. If I actually wanted to be warm as I walked to work, I was going to have to suck it up and wear a warm, functional winter boot. While this would work and keep my feet warm, this option would simply not do – can you image me walking to work, with a lovely suit, stylish wool coat and THOSE boots?! I can’t either! Needless to say, I ended up getting stylish boots…. that didn’t keep my feet warm for 4 blocks…. but I looked great! Brrrr… It still amazes me that most winter boots on the market (available to those of us in real winter weather) aren’t stylish AND warm. Most of the fashion-forward boots I come across wouldn’t hold up for 30 minutes in any real Canadian winter weather. They just aren’t made for “real” winter. To me, these are “pretend” winter boots…. like the ones I bought a few years ago. What a waste of hard-earned $$!! On the other hand, we have those boots that are perfect for -30 or below (Celsius) but most certainly don’t belong in any urban setting… and definitely won’t go with your outfit as you commute to work each and every winter day! I thought I would do a bit of digging to find boots that are: Work-appropriate Comfy for commuting Stylish Warm For dryer winter weather, here’s what I found: Joan and David Florita Wedge Boots Cole Haan Air Tali Wedge Boots Sam Edelman Jayla Wedge Bootie For those slushy, wet winter climates, here’s what I found: Sorel Cate the Great Tapeet Flat Puffer Boots Michael Kors Brandy Snow Boot Which of these “real” winter boots suit your fancy?