business casual.

i have a simple question for you, since when did business casual translate into boring and boring-er?? i recently attended a leadership conference, no laughter please, and lucky me the dress was business casual. i honestly am not even sure what it means... business casual?? by definition, thanks to wikipedia, it's, "For women: A reasonable length skirt or trousers of a non-jeans material combined with a top (such as a dress shirt, or sweater set) is considered acceptable. An informal dress with appropriate skirt length is also acceptable." holy shit does that say sweater set!!?!? i just threw up in my mouth. so, mini-soapbox: i feel like i need to say that i don't understand why jeans are so frowned upon... i guarantee you that i can look more pulled together in a pair of jeans than the average woman does in a suit. true story. but okay, i get it, those are the rules... so this is my 3 step guide to business casual with personality.

{pants, top, blazer, shoes, cuff}

{1} no matching suits. i'm sorry. i hate suits, unless they are perfectly tailored and on my super hot husband. but lady suits, yuck. that's not to say that cute suits don't exist, but i think they are mostly boring and can get you caught in a rut of wearing the same thing EVERYDAY!!! so i like separates. great pencil skirts, great cropped pants, a midi-skirt, and a pair of wide leg trousers and bam! you have the beginnings of a kick ass wardrobe. you are gonna need cardigans and blazers. lots of them. lots of colors and fabrics. which brings me to my next piece of advice... 

{skirt, top, blazer, booties, necklace}

{2} use color wisely. don't pigeonhole yourself into just black and gray, just because you wear color doesn't mean people won't take you seriously. if anything, i think, it makes you stand out and when you want to get ahead sometimes standing out is the best thing you can do. depending on the environment that you work in you how you incorporate color might have to be a little different, but alas color is color. use it.

{pencil skirt, top, cardi, pumps, chain}

{3} don't be scared of pattern. don't get me wrong i love a bit of color blocking, but there is nothing i detest more than a black suit with a white shirt... BORING. so i think cleverly adding both subtle and bold patterns can really be a way to instantly brighten your face... and when i feel pretty, i feel confident and when i feel confident, i can take over the world. 

yes, i'm a little bit obsessed with jcrew at the moment... OBSESSED. okay, these are fabulous, right!?! so maybe business casual isn't so awful after all :)