Lex and Ludlow: January 2012

Sunday, January 29, 2012

All time classic for work or play: the blazer

The blazer is a staple for any wardrobe. And, the right blazer can quite literally slim you down. With so many styles to choose from, you can find one that works, no matter what shape or size you are.

Lex keeps it structured at the office with a classic tailored version (a favorite: Theory). On the weekends, she throws a looser boyfriend blazer over a dress or skinny jeans.

Ludlow found this Joy Cioci blue silk blazer at one of her favorite boutiques, Jessie James, in the West Village. The color is really nice (for the spring blue trend), and if you look closely, the shoulders have a really nice stitching detail.

For the office, we matched it with brown wool pants from Tibi (on sale here) and a cream silk blouse (similar).

For the weekend, the same blazer dresses up a simple white tank and blue jeans (with a gold belt for some shine). Leopard flats would round out this look (Ludlow loves these: from Steve Madden).

Sunday, January 22, 2012

How to work the neon trend into your office wardrobe

Following from blues, another trend for Spring '12 is neon. Very fun and nostalgic of the 80's, but not exactly the most office friendly. You are the best judge of what you can get away with at your office, but generally the level of stuffiness is negatively correlated to the amount of neon you can wear. Ludlow would love to wear this hot pink blazer to her office: Preen jacket, with the pants to match, but alas it would not add to her career (and also diminish her savings account!).

We think the best way to incorporate neon is through accessories:

We found these really great necklaces from Bloomingdale's with a hint of neon in three colors (pink, yellow and blue). A nice price as well, $40!

For the office we suggest a single strand, and love the pink with a navy blazer and white tank.

For a weekend look, we doubled up the yellow and blue and grabbed a black blazer for a fun night out.

Accessories aren't just jewelry - we found this pink plastic pouch (from ASOS) perfect for your mini toiletries for the days you plan to hit the gym.

It fits easily into your purse and can double as a clutch, BUT only in a pinch.

This laptop case (from ASOS) adds a bright spot to your travels.

Monday, January 16, 2012

Office blues

We spent some time studying the Spring '12 RTW shows over the weekend to absorb upcoming trends and get ideas to incorporate into our looks for the office. Amongst a number of trends we observed, the aquatic theme was in almost every show, manifested more simply by various shades of blue to literal fish scales (seen here on the Chanel runway).

Wearing blue is obviously a much easier choice for the office than looking like a fish. A bold cobalt was one of our favorites. As always don't go too overboard with one trend, stick with one piece as a highlight.

DVF Jeanne wrap dress
$473 - boutique1.com

Alexander McQueen cowl dress
unfortunately no longer available

Forzieri fitted oxford shirt
$95 - forzieri.com

HUGO one button jacket
$470 - stylebop.com

DVF Harrington coat
$404 - matchesfashion.com

Ann Taylor ankle pants
$88 - anntaylor.com

J Crew wool skirt
$120 - jcrew.com

DVF Reiko jacket
$365 - dvf.com
DVF Koto pencil skirt
$198 - dvf.com

Jimmy Choo Agnes patent leather pumps
$525 (splurge) - net-a-porter.com

Tory Burch Eddie ballet flat
$125 - toryburch.com

Balenciaga zip bag
$1,545 (splurge) - balenciaga.com

Tory Burch leather gloves
$150 - toryburch.com

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Patterned Tights in the Office

With winter in full swing finally, tights become an integral part of any work wardrobe.

Firstly, it's another great accessory for the LBD. These pattern tights from Wolford (Ludlow's fav) dress up a simple LBD for the office and cocktails (or dinner). Notice the belt is black this time. Generally, other accessories should be toned down with patterned tights.

A couple of our other favorite tights, from Hue (Lex's fav):

Some tips when it comes to tights at the office:

Fishnets are fine as long as they are small patterned.
Personally, we don't love nude colored tights, but love nude colored fishnets (again small patterned) which are also great in trouser socks.
For plain black tights, we tend to do them a bit cheaper and go for Leggs from our local drugstore.
Colored tights are really tough to pass off at the office. We suggest sticking to blacks and grays.