The Frock Doc

I tried on a Kate Spade skirt today at lunch - despite the fact it was about 8 sizes too big for me and was like wearing a whale skin (hence no pics) - but I am truly in love with the brand. I am thinking of making an investment purchase, but I have noticed that a lot of the dresses and skirts they have (that I like) use white.

I am not particularly a dirty person, but I do take public transit. I usually wear a long coat over whatever I am wearing, so my clothes generally are not soiled too much. That being said, generally my clothes are not white. In fact, I have no white clothes.

Is white super easy to get dirty and will I be pulling my hair out because my dress/skirt will never look the same again? :(

I think I've realized why I don't like pants (again) - I've tried on about 50-75 pairs of dress pants in different stores; various cuts, sizes (00 to 8) and materials.

In general, they all have something wrong with them.

1. The dreaded crotch clumping
2. Too tight in the thighs
3. Material too itchy
4. Material too shiny
5. Pockets too pokey
6. Wrinkling over thighs
7. Wrinkling on side of thighs
8. Crotch clump when sitting
9. Wrinkling on thighs when sitting
10. Too short
11. Too long - if this was the ONLY problem, then I can get them hemmed, but it's not

That's it. No pants.

I don't know how you ladies do it.

I hadn't originally planned on wearing this dress today, but it is one of my favorites and I decided to try it out this morning to see if the shoulders would be a problem to dress up/down (as Shannon had suggested on my other thread). I also have been having some second thoughts about toppers to go with my dresses, so this is what I tried to do...

WiW Today (1 to 3) - I ended up going with look #1 for the morning, and not buttoning up the blazer when I was doing individual therapy. I thought it looked too formal and not relaxed enough ...

Dress 1 (4-6) - There is a bit of sparkle to this dress in the material which was actually a nice surprise, and it was also lined quite nicely in a dark material too! Super excited about that; I think it would be easy to mix and match up the belt. #5 - Blazer; #6 - Cardigan. It doesn't seem to lend itself as easily to this type of round-neck cardigan, I am thinking I will have more luck with a V-neck. I don't feel too pooch belly in this.

Dress #2 (7 to 11) - This reminds me why I dislike tailored pieces. All I see is stomach. GAH. It's so incredibly frustrating. All I can see when I wear this dress is how my stomach sticks out which is really kind of silly because I'm sure it sticks out for the majority of the people who wear this dress. It's just making me very unhappy. 9/10 - Blazer. 11 - Cardigan.

Any thoughts?

Dear YLF,

I am trying to change my fashion outlook to a quantifier of "Flirty Tailored" and as such, I defer to your expertise! I have enclosed all 50 pieces of my closet (yay; 50!) that I hope you will be able to tell me what will work for me, what won't and should be culled, and hopefully what items I still need to buy.

I am hoping to stick to a mostly monochromatic scheme for now, to maximize workability, and have colours in my accessories. These are just my winter clothes; I'll have a new post when summer rolls around :D

I don't physically own all of these pieces yet; some of them have been ordered and I am waiting for them to come. I think these things fit reasonably well, and don't think any of them need culling for that point of view.

Thanks in advance for all your help!

Pic 1 - The Blazers
** I would like to add a red blazer, but haven't come across one I love
** Navy Peplum - Dorothy Perkins
** Brown Check - ?Zara/H&M
** Chanel-esque Crop - Rickis
** Cobalt Blue - Rickis
** Black - RW&Co

Pic 2 - Cardigans
** Teal: Rickis
** Black: Rickis
** Robin: Rickis
** Pink: Rickis
** Striped Navy: Winners
** Black: Rickis

Pic 2 - Belts
** I didn't count these; but thought I'd give you an idea what colours I had :)

Pic 3 - Tops
** Striped Peplum - Modcloth
** Dotty White - Forever21
** Navy Stripes - Smart Set
** Black Peplum - Modcloth
** Blue High Neck - Jacob
** Navy/White Pattern - Modcloth

Pic 4 - Tops II
** Black Turtle - Rickis
** Black/White Dot - Rickis
** Jumbo Dots - Jacob
** Black Pussy - Modcloth
** White Dot/Pussy - J. Crew
** Purple Pussy - Le Chateau

Pic 5 - Skirts
** Plaid Flare - Rickis
** Painters Splash - Anthropologie
** Forest Pencil - Rickis
** Dotty - Modcloth
** Magenta Pencil - Rickis
** Teal Pencil - Rickis

Pic 6 - Dresses
** Black/small pattern - Jacob
** Navy cowl neck - ModCloth
** Navy/red bow - ModCloth
** Black/White - Closet UK
** Navy Flare - Closet UK
** Burgundy Sheath - Le Chateau

Pic 7 - Dresses/Pants
** Purple Flare - Closet UK
** Black/Feather/Tie - Jacob
** Charcoal Trousers - Le Chateau
** Jeans; casual wash - Zara
** Green Flare - Closet UK
** Dark Grey Trousers - Rickis
** Black Trousers - Rickis

Pic 8 - Assorted
** Dotty Sheath - Le Chateau
** Peplum Sheath - Le Chateau
** Floral Sheath - Jacob
** Royal blue wrap - Jacob
** Colour block skirt - Rickis
** Charcoal skirt - Rickis
** Black skirt - Le Chateau
** Black wrap - Jacob

Thanks for all your helpful suggestions! Be ruthless! I can toss it all ... and show up naked at work (or in scrubs) - har, har.

ETA: I have my navy plaid dress that everyone loved on here too on its way! Forgot to include it, but I figured you all loved it - so 51 pieces :)

I found #1 on my phone and thought I would throw it in for laughs. I can't believe I used to dress like that and it wasn't that long ago! In fact, I have all of the pieces still and look how short my hair is! I think that is within four or five months!

I went with Suz's suggestion and went with navy, but still feel that I was able to keep a bit of my signature style. Only compliments so far... but the night is still young!

Can you believe I used to wear that? And why didn't you guys stop me? LOL!

Good night! :)

Greetings!

Had a smashing day today! Met with some really amazing patients and worked with very dedicated staff ... and managed to drive through a snowstorm! On the plus side, +6 next week in January! Wow, super spoiled!

I went with an old favorite today, and put in a touch of my own personality with the bright cardigan over a faux-wrap sheath dress in grey. Gold coin earrings in (#5).

SURPRISE - Had to be filmed today doing a patient encounter for teaching the medical students! And the outfit looked great in HD! Apparently I have a very annoying verbal tick that they all picked up, and my chin looks HUGE in HD (I think it was the angle of the camera), but aside from that, the pink looked really nice on TV.

What do you think of the dress? I feel it was a bit bum-showing if I didn't wear the cardigan, so I had mixed feelings about a cropped jacket with it.

Is this outfit more successfully less flirty? Might still be romantic princess though!

A non clinical day! Finally! I can pull out this dress today as it is a little short if I have to whip it out in clinic!

I experimented with letting the shirt's sleeves fold out and over, but unfortunately they were too short as they are this weird length (on between t shirt and elbow length).

Thought this look would casual down the brocade which I love, but definitely isn't too casual.

Definitely a variation on a theme with the outfit from last week!

Cheers!

Ugh. I guess I can try pants again. I ordered two pairs today; as they were on sale and I can easily return them.

1. Black with flare!
2. Grey bootcut...
3. Treat: dotty top!

In other shopping interests:
4. I am quite attracted to this blazer, although it looks better with pants, so we'll see how the pants work out first. :p
5. What I worked call last night for - I can't wait for it to come! Cambridge satchel :)

:) See how accountable I am? LOL.

Didn't have to go into work today! Some personal stuff is going on, so to distract from it, went out to take a look at a few pieces I had spotted online that had caught my fancy - unfortunately, it didn't really translate in the real world, and I walked away empty handed. Oh well! Funds for another purchase, perhaps?

I thought they were "fine" but I wasn't really happy with spending money on "fine" anymore - the pink dress was about $120 (Reg $169) and the plaid dress was $46 (Reg $169).

I usually don't get a lot of chance to wear jeans, so I thought I'd take the pic to show you guys - otherwise this outfit isn't too exciting! :)

Earrings: Forever 21
Top: Jacobs
Jeans: Zara
Boots: Flurries
Pink Dress: Le Chateau
Plaid Dress: Le Chateau
w/ Jacket: Zara
w/ Cardigan: Rickis

ETA: Plaid Dress - http://www.lechateau.com/style.....undy/Black

I have been struggling with this dress in the worst way (unworn for months!) but I tried to google it last night and found a cute blogger (The Clothes Horse - #3) who not only has a lot of the same clothes as me, but we have a similar aesthetic!

I hope you will bear with me as I try out a few new looks! I will try to post the inspiration outfit at home. Can't figure it out here on the iPhone. LOL!

Any other suggestions for this dress will be awarded with virtual cookies!

ETA: Inspiration link - http://theclothes.blogspot.ca/.....-chou.html