Wednesday, October 17, 2007

The Uniform

I think the only thing worse than actually being sick is being repeatedly asked, "Are you sick? You look sick." Well meaning people suck, if you know what I mean. If you read my last post, you know I've been a bit under the weather lately. Yesterday was my gross day--I came home from work, put on my pj's and absolutely refused to move. However, when I got up this morning, I knew I needed to venture out and meet with students. After all, rescheduling five lessons is much more painful than actually doing the lessons while sick. But what to do? I didn't feel like dressing up, or even wearing jeans, which can dig into my waist. But I knew that if I didn't look halfway decent, I'd get the brunt of my passive aggressive co-worker's well-wishes, plus, I'd feel like crap for the rest of the day. Well, rather, even crappier.

Luckily, I have a uniform of sorts--a group of seperates that I can mix and match to create looks that are comfortable, alluring, and pretty thoughtless. They are all things that I know look nice on me, won't wrinkle during the day, and can stand up to the day's torments. Of course, it changes by the season. In the summer, it consists of a knit dress of some sort (usually a black one), wedge flip flops, fun jewelery, and my denim jacket. But for fall, my uniform is a sweater (usually merino and v-neck, and most often from J. Crew, but I do have a black cashmere turtleneck that gets into play quite a bit), opaque tights, a skirt (tweed, corduroy, wool, or even denim), and cute low-heeled shoes. I've determined that I can wear this outfit anywhere, from errands to lessons, and feel confident that I look nice and well, not sick. This morning I got up, and instead of reaching for sweats or something equally as horrible, I pulled out black tights, an ivory wool skirt with a cute trim that I bought at the J.Crew Outlet ages ago, a black cami, my purple merino v-neck, and red ballerina flats. I took my freshly washed hair and pushed it back in a black leather headband. I then added tinted moisturizer, Nars Orgasm blush, DiorShow, and some Bare Escentuals lip gloss. Now, I'm not saying that I looked perfect, but I made it to work without anyone giving me sad looks or asking me if I was ok. This helped me get through the day. What's better is that I can wear something incredibly similar tomorrow and because I have enough things to mix and match, no one will be any the wiser.

What's your uniform? Do you have something you can turn to day after day, no matter how you feel? Let me know in the comments.

4 comments:

Zenobiah said...

I wish I was as interesting as you. I wear jeans or slacks, a knit top and a cardigan in the fall/winter and just jeans and a knit top in the summer. Boring. I walk home from work and cannot be bothered to wear a skirt or a dress because it is usually either raining or about to rain. Or snow. And I wear this with either Timberland shoes or combat boots so I can walk and not hurt my feet.

Anonymous said...

I have a uniform :-) I always wear the same type of things regardless of how I feel.. It consists of jeans and t-shirts in the summer and jeans and cotton sweaters in the winter..
Not very original but I don't like how skirts and dresses look on me and can't wear heels becasue I have to walk a lot everyday to university...so that narrows down my choices significantly.

Alison at Wardrobe Oxygen said...

Last winter it was ivory wool trousers and a black merino sweater and heels when I felt like crap. This year it has been dresses with my peeptoes. Dresses have been a lifesaver because you don't need braincells to coordinate and match.

Now I want to go buy a dress!

Anonymous said...

I'm with Allie on the dress thing. So easy & so comfy!
I have a black 3/4 sleeve button up that's kinda stretchy. It's my go-to for those mornings when I change 4 times because I look "fat" or I'm just being indecisive. It's not the most fashionable thing to wear but it's a good basic top & it's been a lifesaver!
Hope you're feeling better soon :)