Fashion Crisis

I emailed my supervisor this morning with “I’m running late, I’ll be in by 9:30.” When I got into the office, I had an email from him saying, “No problem.” I then replied, “I didn’t want to tell you that it was because I was having a fashion crisis. But it was because I was having a fashion crisis. Lame.” He walked into my office and was like, “so let’s see.”

I hate days like today when I’m attempting to look cute and I just feel like I totally missed the mark. I have on a navy blue shirtdress, belted at the waist with a brown belt, a brown blazer and a teal and navy blue scarf. If you can envision this, I’m sure you might be thinking “super cute” - at least that’s what I hope you might be thinking. In fact, I was thinking the same thing this morning, but now I just feel like crap. A bad outfit can quite easily ruin one’s day.

I always seem to have fashion crises when I’m getting ready for work. I have this problem because I like to look nice, I like to dress up and be fashionable (or at least try to be), but most of the females I work with are pretty casual in their attire. So, when I wear heels or a cute outfit, everyone’s immediate response is – “do you have a meeting today?” or “what’s the occasion?” Really?! Can’t I just look nice because I want to? Does it really have to be for a reason?

So, this morning I thought about wearing this shirtdress – it’s a little short considering it’s from when I was in 8th grade and I’m now 28 yrs old (that’s wrong for more than one reason), but no one would ever know by looking at it. It’s kind of baggy, so I decided to belt it – super cute, right? Well, then I thought – it is fall, my favorite time of year, and I have yet to bust out my boots. So, I try on my brown knee-high boots with the outfit and I’m thinking “Ok, this is freaking adorable!” But then there was a split second when I thought - people at work are going to think I look overdressed or like a hooker because I’m wearing boots without leggings or tights. So, I chuck the boots and put on my nude heels. As I’m walking out the door with coffee and keys in hand, I take the nude heels off and try on my silver flats – at which point, I have to take the brown belt off and put on the silver belt and take off the brown blazer. I look in the mirror and the outfit no longer looks "freaking adorable" but "sad and miserable". So, I put the brown belt and brown blazer back on and swap the silver flats for caramel wedges and say “fuck it, let them think whatever they want to think.”

So, to make a long fashion story short – I’m wearing an outfit, when worn on the weekend or out to dinner with my friends would be completely appropriate and adorable, however at work I feel out of place, to say the least.