Hi friends! So here’s the thing, I work in an elementary school and for the most part that means I get to dress pretty casually. Sure we have two days each week devoted to jeans and sneakers but the other 3 days I am not required to wear pantyhose (yuck!) or dresses. In other words I am lucky because I can dress pretty comfortably while still looking put together and professional. Typically I decide what I am going to wear based on my schedule for the day. If I am meeting with parents I definitely take it up a notch. The day these photos were taken I did not have meetings with parents and the schedule consisted mostly of paperwork. And let me just be clear about something, I feel strongly that educators need to look put together and respectful, I am not a proponent of the “I look like I just rolled out of bed” look nor do I care for the excuse of “I work with kids all day so I have to be comfortable.” There’s a fine line between comfortable and sloppy, don’t cross it.
Okay, on to my look for today. I have been eyeing bomber jackets since Fall and when I saw this one from H&M drop in price to $19.99 I took the plunge. It’s lightweight and neutral in color. I am wearing the light taupe but if you click on my link you’ll see many other color choices. The price will depend on the color you choose. If you are new to H&M you should know that their sizes run small, definitely more in line with junior’s sizing than women’s so keep that in mind. I am wearing a size 8 in this jacket.
My Caslon gray jeans are so comfortable! They have plenty of stretch in them so they don’t look baggy by the end of the day. I am wearing a size 26 in them but you may want to go down a size when ordering these. My exact pair seems to be sold out but they are still available in Plus sizes (and they’re on sale – SCORE!) so I linked a similar pair.
My tee is by Madewell and although you can’t see it in the pictures it has a small pocket on the left side. I really like this tee and will order it in other colors for Spring and Summer. I like it because it has washed well and kept it’s shape. It’s $19.50 but worth every penny. This is a good time to mention the importance of investing in a few nicer basics. Wearing colored jeans and a tee could be disasterous if the tee is too thin, pilling, or stretched out because it’s lost it’s shape. A better quality tee layered under a jacket looks polished and put together.
I added a simple necklace. Mine is old and from the BP line at Nordstrom so I linked a similar necklace. A bolder statement necklace would have worked well and after seeing the pictures I probably should have added one with a little color. There’s always next time, lol.
Let’s talk about these comfy boots I am wearing from Lucky Brand. These are super comfortable leather booties. The foot bed is made of memory foam and they are a dream to walk in. It’s often hard for me to find shoes comfortable enough to wear all day because I need extra padding in the foot bed, an MRI informed me that I have almost no padding at all in the balls of my feet so it is a challenge. Sometimes I add an insert or orthotic to my shoes or boots but I did not have to do that with these.
I want to say a big thank you to my friend Allison for taking these pictures. She teaches first grade at my school but is also a fabulous professional photographer. I brought my camera to school and asked her at the end of the day to snap these photos and she was kind enough to say yes! These were taken in the back of our school after dismissal and I am so grateful. Our friend Kelsey (also a first grade teacher) tagged along and she and I both learned a little something about photography. This year I am going to work on getting more comfortable in front of the camera, seriously I don’t know the first thing about posing!
