Word Association

What comes to our mind when we think of leather: 
-a luxurious fabric
-a topic of controversy
-often makes items more expensive than other fabrics
-Sandra D
-bikers
-popular in white on coaches in the 80's and
-can now be found as trim or the core of many ladies' fashions today. 

Does it pass the officewear test? YES. We tried it and it worked well. You just can't go overboard - the same for many other items when dressing (eg., too matchy matchy, too much jewelry, too many different colors etc.).

We paired this lovely reddish/burgundy leather skirt from Madewell wth a black silk top and black jacket. We toyed with the idea of a cream top but went the safer route for the first try.

Click Here to find out where all these pieces are from.

We kept the shoes low-key and low-heeled and added a traditional linked bracelet to contrast the other pieces.

Madewell also had a super cute leather dress in the same color - absolutely wearable with a black jacket to the office and both great for a work to cocktails/date look.

Flat Stomachs Need NOT Apply

If you've been reading our posts you know we really like pieces with peplum, especially for the office. This pretty, lady-like fashion trend has continued for fall '12 and so has our attraction to it....not to mention it's usefulness as a belly-hider. When it comes to the middle area, this is worry-free dressing.

We found this flattering heather grey cap sleeve dress, courtesy of Alice & Olivia. Stretchy without being too clingy, with a color that provides lots of options for whatever you choose to pair it with. Pick a bright color for a pop, like yellow, shown here, or one of the darker jewel tones when it's cooler and you have to wear tights. 

The metal zipper detail on the back adds a little edge.

Another easy office timesaver...and you don't have to go to the gym to rock it!

Yes, Burgundy is Everywhere

And we love it.  Like a new pop song, we may eventually get over it but for now, we can't get enough. Recent purchases in the color family include a great peter pan collared J.Crew sweater and this merlot colored shift from T by Alexander Wang (his lower priced line):

Edgy details within basic workwear is never lost on us. We were really attracted to the flattering and sexy but demure strips of netting on the side. Not noticeable when you have a jacket on (recommend black or grey), but very appropriate for after work drinks, dinner or date. See below..

Not just a basic work dress!

Testing Ideas for Fall

After a little summer hiatus (and much needed vacation - hope you got yours!), we are back and considering fall 2012. What will be in focus this year?

From our research, we made the following list:

• Burgundy
• Baroque (excuse me?)
• Leather
• Peplum (continuing from last year)
• Menswear (it seems every year there is some form of this)
• Polka dots
• Brightly patterned pencil skirts
• Gold accents
• Winter white anything
• Plaid

For us, perhaps the better questions are; what will be wearable at work? how can this be incorporated in to my current wardrobe without buying a whole new one? what exactly is baroque?

To start, we tried something a little different. Combining burgundy, gold accents and the 'baroque' trends, we got a french manicure with a twist, as recently seen in a magazine and on the runways. We're not sure this will fit in our conservative office, but we're going to test it out.

We used Essie's 'bold & beautiful' with their 'good as gold' on the tips.

What do you think? We love it!