From Style Per Diem

Pants: Same old Guess jeans, somewhat skinny. They are fading now, and well-worn. 

Top: The black and white striped tank is an old piece from Forever 21 that I have recently taken a liking to. The horizontal stripes are nicely offset by the ruffle at the bottom. The ruffle also calls attention to the hip, which, if I were even slightly wider there, would not have been flattering. The top has buttons running all the way down the front, like a button-down shirt. Even at my height, the top noticeably cuts length. In short, this top works on my frame in a very specific way, which is probably why it has grown on me. I layered this with another simple black tank underneath. 

Sweater: Previously posted black sweater from Old Navy, which has now become a staple. 

Shoes: After a long time, I made a shoe run to DSW recently. These BCBG suede shoes are my new go-to flats. They need to be broken in still, which was part of the purpose of wearing them yesterday. 

Accessories: T knitted me this pretty grey scarf during my trip to Boston. Though we chose the wool together, she had to cut the length short due to technical constraints. So I had to come up with an ingenious way to wear it without looking like I was wearing a half-scarf. I thought the bow-tie worked nicely. It also brought some visual interest to an otherwise-neutral outfit. Other than the scarf, just my criss-cross leather strap watch.

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From Style Per Diem

Dress et al: Previously posted grey dress from H&M, with a winter twist. I layered the previously posted almost-perfect white dress shirt underneath, and added grey stockings to reinforce the winter look. After I put together the whole ensemble, it reminded me so much of my school uniform that I was tempted to put on canvas shoes and carry a backpack. 

Shoes: Burgundy wedges, seen earlier. Since my feet mysteriously shrank an entire shoe size last year, I have been slowly retiring shoes from my collection prior to said mysterious event. This is the last pair left, and it works perfectly with this outfit. But alas, today had to be their last day with me. They will be missed. 

Accessories: An old chunky beads necklace in a nice deep red to tie in the shoes. Other than that, nothing special. 

Except for the shoes being way too big to walk in, the outfit was comfortably stylish. And, when people asked me if I had come from a job interview, I cryptically answered “Yes.”

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From Style Per Diem

Costume – Facebook Wall: I would have loved to do this with a dry-erase board so I could keep changing my status and let people keep updating my wall. But I have no room to keep a whiteboard in my already cramped apartment, so I favored the disposable cardboard instead. 

I knew I would need felt pens and color pencils. After some deliberation, I also picked up dark blue construction paper for the global nav. In hindsight, that was a great idea, because negative-coloring the lettering would have been a royal pain. I also made a second trip to the craft store to get a white ink pen. 

Once all the materials had been bought, the only decision I had to make was how I wanted to approach the profile picture. One option was to hang the wall around my neck with a photo glued in the profile picture position. But I was already going with a relatively low-effort costume, so I decided to take it to the next level and cut a piece out of the cardboard in the shape of my face. Again, in hindsight, this was a crucial point in the project. I miraculously managed to get the shape and size right the first time. Had I gotten that wrong, it would have been difficult to recover from. 

The rest was easy. I opened up my profile page and went about replicating all the UI elements the best I could. I was determined not to turn it into an architectural drawing, so I did not bother much with measurements and proportions beyond what looked acceptable to the eye. For my photo album, I used arbitrary pictures from magazines. My total effort was 4-5 hours over a course of four days.

Accessories: I carried a blue felt pen with me and asked people if they wanted to write on my wall. By the end of the day, my mostly blank wall had been filled up with messages. Success! 

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From Style Per Diem

Pants: Dark wash blue skinny jeans from Guess Jeans. I love the fit of Guess Jeans denim at my size, and this uniform wash has a nice clean evening look. 

Top: I normally go into a coma the second I enter Gap, but this time I was pleasantly surprised. I found this lovely printed top at one of their stores in Boston. Now that I have embraced skinny jeans, I figure I might as well do them right. This top has the perfect length and silhouette to complement a well-fitted pair of skinny jeans. I love the floral print and the paper bag neckline. The fabric has a slight shine, which did me in. 

Shoes: Much vaunted grey pointy pumps. 

Accessories: Fetish accessories have officially taken over. I wore this funky studded leather bracelet – another Boston find, my floating crystals watch, and carried a trusty old brown clutch.

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From Style Per Diem

Skirt: A linen-cotton blend, faux wrap pencil skirt. Who knew such a thing existed! It has an amazing fit and just the right length. It curves in all the right places and stays put all day. I wore it to work, but I can see myself wearing it on the weekend or to a casual dinner as well.

Top: A simple knit turtleneck with short sleeves, from Zara. I love the color, but I am still not happy with this to go with the skirt. The sweater would have been a much better choice if it were navy blue. I can live with this for now. In itself, the sweater was a great find. It is the lightest knit and works really well for fall.

Shoes: I went with my grey pointy ones again.

Accessories: Silver necklace with a geometric pendant from Fossil, and the Skagen chronograph.

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From Style Per Diem

Pants: Newly acquired black cropped pants from Zara. 2 is the smallest size at Zara, which is common for European retailers. However, when I tried these on in the store, they were loose all over with the crotch hanging a good 2” to 3” below my anatomical crotch. I loved the pants so much though, that I decided to bet my money on the 97% cotton claim on the tag. And it paid off, because once I shrank them at home, they became the most perfectly fitting cotton pants. They have a comfortable high rise and just the right length on the leg. In fact, I liked them so much after wearing them out that I went back and bought another pair in grey. 

Top: This long-sleeve ivory blouse is reminiscent of Jerry’s puffy shirt from Seinfeld. I had a very specific vision for it from the second I saw it in the store, and I hoarded the blouse for a couple of months before I was finally able to put that look together last night. I love the vintage, black and white detail around the neck and the ruffles down either side on the front. 

Shoes: The high rise on the pants combined with the top tucked in made my somewhat disproportionately long lower half look even longer. Oddly, I enjoy quirks like that so I exaggerated it even more with the help of the shoes from the last post. I love the drama of the overall effect. 

Accessories: After toying with a few different belts, I preferred to go without one for a more streamlined look. The only visible accessory was my black mock croc clutch. I also had on a pair of silver geometric earrings, but you can’t really see them here.

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From Style Per Diem

Pants: Grey, true skinny jeans by Helmut Lang, recently acquired from Gilt (thanks, Nidhi!) at a ridiculous discount. I had never bought clothes online before, so it was not easy choosing a size. Finally, I decided to trust the “true to size” claim on the website and reluctantly chose 24”. And am I happy I did, because the fit on these jeans is beyond perfection. Now I know why the elite go bespoke. I am sure to wear these again soon, and I promise to get better photos. I will reserve the singing of more praises for that future post as well. For now, drool on.

Top: Previously posted black sweater with a twist, from Anthropologie. In case you have not noticed, my style is more about me, and less about the clothes. Needless to say, I do not shy away from print and color, and you will rarely see me wear neutral-on-neutral just to show off the clothes themselves. But with those jeans, I had to make an exception. Black on grey. There, I did it.

Shoes: To take those jeans to the extreme, I went with the previously posted brown-black suede pumps with the cut-out wedge heels. As I was rushing up the ramp at the Bowl to a show I was already late for, a woman simply pointed at my shoes and yelled, “New York or Italy?” Enough said.

Accessories: I cinched the previously shown white crochet belt at my natural waist to keep the sweater in check, and carried my big white bag. Other than that, nothing worth mentioning.

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From Style Per Diem

Dress: Previously posted printed jersey dress. The holes in the braid detail at the waist were a nice bonus for air flow on this hot day. 

Shoes: Previously posted bronze gladiators. I have not gotten enough use out of these, and I am trying to make the most of them while the summer makes up its mind about leaving for the year. 

Accessories: I got this long necklace with a round pendant recently. I love the pendant and the idea of a long chain, but every time I wear one of these, I can’t help but think that I look like a call center person with her ID around her neck. I pulled the chain up a lot from its natural position using a safety pin, and I am still unsure about the look. For what it’s worth, it goes well with the dress.

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From Style Per Diem

Pants: Guess blue jeans, kind of skinny, medium wash. 

Top: An old faithful T-shirt. I love the simplicity and the glamour of it. When it says GLAM right on the front, how can you go wrong? 

Jacket: The Dosa Truck’s Monday location is right around the corner, so I did not want to get all dressed up. Just jeans and T-shirt would have done fine, but it was too cold for that. So I brought out my new purple corduroy jacket. I have always wanted a corduroy jacket, but never found one that fit. When I found this one at H&M, I snapped it up, and just in time for fall, too. More on the jacket another time.

Shoes: I had originally put on sandals, but as soon as I stepped out I realized they were a bad choice. So I switched to the black slingbacks posted before. 

Accessories: Nothing special. The T-shirt does the talking.

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From Style Per Diem

Skirt: This mixed wool skirt in brown, muted yellow and all kinds of earth colors has a cool uneven hem. Depending on how adventurous I am feeling, I wear it short in the front and longer in the back (shown here), or have it fall asymmetrically from left to right. The mixed wool is light enough for fall/autumn.

Top: After many years, my long quest for the perfect dress shirt ended (kind of) at H&M a couple of weeks ago. The dress shirt is one of the most difficult items of clothing to get right. This white shirt has it all – almost. The top button is in the precise location it should be, allowing just the right opening at the neck. The construction has darts down the torso, front and back, which lend the perfect fit without bunching up. It even has the horizontal seam on the upper back without which I think a dress shirt is worthless. This superbly tailored masterpiece has rolled up sleeves with tab buttons to keep them in place. This casual, albeit stylish detail brings down the dress value of the shirt a notch. But all in all, a great find. I like the way it grounds the skirt in this outfit.

Shoes: Grey, faux patent leather (yes, hippies, rejoice) pointy pumps from the Nine West outlet. My intention with these is to replace the worn-out brown pumps from Chinese Laundry. These grey ones have a nice medium-low heel that works well for me.

Accessories: Nothing special.

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