Hi, friends! How was everyone’s weekend? Mine was good—I’ll be sharing a bit more about it in a post later this week, but two highlights—seeing Reese Witherspoon on her Whiskey in a Teacup book tour and my old roommate’s wedding on Saturday night! I woke up on Sunday with a terrible head cold, which given the go-go-go pace of life lately, was bound to happen. I’m hoping to feel better soon though—I’m not good at being a sick person!

Though I definitely miss the warmer weather, one of my favorite things about the seasons changing over is rediscovering clothes in my own closet. At the end of summer, I was pretty much over all my work clothes and had fallen into a rut of wearing the same things over and over again. When I switched my closet over so my fall clothes were out front and center, I rediscovered this Zara tartan bell-sleeved blazer I picked up last spring. (It’s sold out now, but there’s one on Poshmark here and this and this are similar and currently on sale at Zara.)

I didn’t wear it much then, so started experimenting wearing it with my fall clothes. It is on the shorter side length-wise, so I find it’s best layered over dresses and skirts instead of pants—unless you opt to tuck your shirt in. As such, I paired it here with one of my favorite navy shift dresses (you can grab a similar one here) to create a new business casual outfit for fall, just by shopping my own closet! Now that the temperatures have dropped, I’d swap out my J Crew Factory Patent High Heel Sandals for booties with tights.

While I’ve been shopping my own closet to create new work outfits with clothes I already own, I have been thinking about what work clothes are missing from my collection. Now that I’m five years into my career, I’ve been trying to be more proactive about making sure that the clothes I wear to work are polished and professional. While overall I think I’m usually put-together at work, I was slacking a bit this summer and definitely found myself in some outfits that were fine for a weekend brunch, but probably not the best for the office. Most of the women senior execs at my office dress up for work everyday and since that’s where I’d ultimately like to drive my career too, I think my clothes do matter—even if others are opting for more casual looks.

As such, I’d love to add a classic black pencil skirt, a few new pairs of work trousers, a pair of classic nude and black pumps (that I can actually walk in all day!), a classic black blazer, and a few new blouses to my closet for work. If you have favorite pieces that match any of these categories, let me know in the comments below—I love talking workwear with you all!

*** SHOP THE POST ***
Zara Peplum Blazer—old, similar here and here and on Poshmark here
Navy Shift Dress—old, similar here
J Crew Factory Patent High Heel Sandals
J Crew Factory Earrings
Zero UV Round Retro Oversized Sunglasses

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Photos by Kimberly Graydon