Summer Officewear: Blazers, Bright Tanks and Blue Pencil Skirts

While I'm still on leave, I haven't shared these outfits from before the Christmas break yet! Summer in the office is usually pretty relaxed, when the heat gets too much they often change our already business casual dress code to be even more casual. If I'm worried my outfit is a bit too casual though, even with relaxed dress codes, I add a blazer, just like I've done in both outfits below.

What I wore:

Jacket: Jeanswest grey jersey blazer
Necklace: Starfish Project Veronica short yellow multi strand necklace
Tank: Jeanswest Maya gather back tank in mid turquoise
Skirt: Warehouse navy jacquard pencil skirt
Shoes: Walnut Melbourne 'Ava' black lizard ballet flats (also available in silver)
Bag: Rebecca Minkoff medium MAB tote in moon navy

Why I wore it:

I'd just worn this blue tank a few days before, but wore it again to the office to squeeze in one more wear before the month ended, to meet my 'wear things twice in the month I buy them' goal. It's a great casual top, so I added the blazer to ensure it would work for the office as well. Although the turquoise tank and the navy skirt are very different blues, I thought they would look great together, and I couldn't resist adding this colourful yellow statement necklace for even more colour.

I really liked all the colours in this outfit together. The neutral black ballet flats and grey blazer were good accessories, and my Rebecca Minkoff navy MAB tote matched the jacquard pencil skirt well.


Last worn: grey blazer, turquoise tank, navy jacquard pencil skirt, Walnut Melbourne ballet flats, Rebecca Minkoff medium MAB tote.

Other ways to wear: grey blazer and fit and flare dress, turquoise tank and printed shorts, navy jacquard pencil skirt and winter layers, ballet flats and skinny jeans, Rebecca Minkoff medium MAB tote and maxi dress.

Perfect for pregnancy: navy jacquard pencil skirt in first trimester, Walnut Melbourne ballet flats and wrap dress, Rebecca Minkoff medium MAB tote in third trimester.

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Bright Tanks Under $50:

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What I wore:

Jacket: Zara cream jersey blazer
Necklace: Starfish Project Hannah turquoise bead necklace
Tank: Jeanswest Maya gather back tank in chartreuse
Skirt: Asos blue textured lace pencil skirt
Shoes: Marc by Marc Jacobs logo plaque flats in camel
Bag: Rebecca Minkoff medium MAB tote in moon navy

Why I wore it:

Wasn't quite so sure about all the colours in this outfit. I love yellow and blue together, and the green necklace is great with the yellow tank...but I think that something was off about this outfit, I didn't like it as much as the blue one above. Getting woken up far too early by baby boy and being too tired to consider my outfit properly that morning may have impacted how I felt about it, ha! I am always harsher with my outfits if I'm not having the best of days.

I was hoping for an easy day at work for being exhausted before my day even began, but when I realised it wasn't looking that way I popped out to Starbucks for a little morning tea treat between meetings.

Thankfully my day improved when I got home, it's impossible to have a bad day when you get excitedly greeted by 2 little boys and a very fluffy dog.


Last worn: cream jersey blazer, mustard yellow tank, ASOS lace pencil skirt, camel flats, Rebecca Minkoff navy MAB tote (above).

Other ways to wear: cream jersey blazer and skinny jeans, mustard yellow tank and printed shorts, ASOS lace pencil skirt in monochrome outfit, camel flats and sheath dress, Rebecca Minkoff navy MAB tote in winter.

Perfect for pregnancy: cream jersey blazer and hidden baby bump, ASOS lace pencil skirt in third trimester, camel flats in second trimester, Rebecca Minkoff navy MAB tote in third trimester.

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Blue Textured Pencil Skirts Under $50:

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How You Can Wear It:

Your casual summer tanks can easily do double duty in the office when worn under a blazer and paired with a classic pencil skirt. If you're worried a bright tank may be too bold for your office, try picking neutral layers and accessories to wear with it. A blazer definitely isn't needed in the middle of a Brisbane summer, but you can easily take it off for the commute and slip it on to combat the cold aircon at your desk in the office. Such a simple layer to make any outfit feel more pulled together and office appropriate.


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Christmas Eve and Christmas Day Outfits

Skipping a few outfits I still haven't shared from December to post my Christmas outfits before we get too far away from Christmas day! I've linked to a few of the Christmas day photos I shared too, in case you missed them on social media.

For Christmas Eve, we traditionally do crafts, make and decorate cookies, listen to Christmas songs, and just relax and enjoy spending time together while wearing our Christmas tees. Christmas day was a busy one, we had both sets of grandparents in Brisbane so we split the day between them both. Different activities means two different outfits.

What I wore:

Earrings: Jeanswest Evy dangly earring
Tee: festive glitter Santa tee
Skirt: thrifted Billabong red printed maxi skirt
Shoes: black slim Havaianas thongs
Bracelets: the usual plus Christmas bow bracelet (with bells!)
Bag: Rebecca Minkoff Love cross body bag in grey with Rebecca Minkoff Crystal Star Shoulder Guitar strap

Why I wore it:

As Christmas eve was on a Sunday, we took advantage of the special Christmas service at our local church in the morning, before heading down the coast in the afternoon to spend time with my family.

As you might have seen from my overshare on Insta stories, we all wore our Christmas tees, made and decorated cookies, did some craft, ate a lot of good food and watched Polar Express with the boys for the first time. They loved it!

I often wear this tee with shorts to beat the heat (even while pregnant!) but decided to be a little different this year and wear with a skirt instead. Thanks to everyone who voted on Instagram to help me pick, I went with this red skirt over the chambray one I was also considering. Red and green are perfect Christmas colours!


Last worn: santa glitter tee, red printed maxi skirt, Havaianas, Rebecca Minkoff love bag. First time I've shared the guitar strap on the blog.

Other ways to wear: santa glitter tee and denim shorts, red printed maxi skirt and leather jacket, Rebecca Minkoff love bag and gold jeans.

Perfect for pregnancy: santa glitter tee in second trimester, Rebecca Minkoff Love bag in third trimester.

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What I wore:

Earrings: Jeanswest Evy dangly earring
Necklaces: Tiffany diamonds by the yard necklace layered with Tai gold alphabet necklaces, Silhoupette gold plated Shih Tzu necklace and gifted Lovisa gold filigree heart pendant

Dress: Gypsy 05 orange ombre maxi dress
Shoes: slim gold Havaianas
Bracelets: the usual plus silver charm bracelet, gifted Lovisa rose gold beaded bracelet stack
Bag: Balenciaga envelope clutch in 2012 mangue with giant 12 RGGH
Nails: OPI Breakfast at Tiffany Collection Five and Ten

Why I wore it:

This is what I wore for our family filled Christmas day. We started earlier than expected of course when the boys woke up, and spent the morning exchanging and unwrapping gifts. After playing with the new toys a little and dressing the boys in the new clothes Santa brought them, we headed out to Christmas lunch at the in-laws. Another Christmas tree, more Christmas presents and some yummy food and drink.

Instead of putting the boys down for a now much needed and overdue nap, we hopped into the car to drive to my parents and thankfully they slept a little then.

Another Christmas tree, more presents to be exchanged and so much good food, we a delicious Christmas dinner there. A storm hit in the evening so when it briefly stopped we headed home, perfect timing as once we were home again we got hit with a second storm.

With traveling, unwrapping presents, playing with toys and lots of food, I went with a classic maxi dress. It's my go to for Christmas day as we all like to get dressed up for it in my family. Hubby's family is much more casual, but a maxi dress is perfect for both places. With 36 degree heat too (97 fahrenheit) this light dress was all I could stand to wear.

Although it's been a while since I've bought a new dress for Christmas, I was happy to shop my wardrobe and pick out an existing maxi dress. My bestie gave me this one, and it never fails to get compliments. Added lots of gold and rose gold accessories to compliment the peach ombre maxi dress and colourful yellow Balenciaga envelope clutch.


Last worn: Gypsy 05 ombre maxi dress, gold Havaianas, Balenciaga mangue envelope clutch.

Other ways to wear: Gypsy 05 ombre maxi dress and kimono, Balenciaga mangue envelope clutch and printed jeans.

Perfect for pregnancy: Balenciaga mangue envelope clutch in third trimester.

How You can Wear It

Formal or casual, however you dress to celebrate Christmas, comfort is key. With all of the good food you want something non-restrictive, so an empire waist maxi dress or elasticated maxi skirt is a good idea. Perfect for when the aircon gets too cold as it covers your legs, but loose enough to catch the breeze and keep you cool when it's a hot and humid day. You can wear a maxi in winter too, although snow might make it a little harder!

Hope you had a wonderful Christmas last week and you're having a great start to 2018!


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Outfit Formulas: Stripe Tees and Floral Embroidered Olive Shorts

Everyone repeats clothes at some point (even celebrities who probably have more clothes than they could ever possibly wear). In my quest to try and get more use from my wardrobe, I try to wear things a little differently now and then. Instead of completely repeating an outfit piece by piece, I'll take elements I loved and use it to come up with an outfit formula to follow to wear the same thing slightly differently. Like everyone else though, sometimes you just have to repeat an entire outfit head-to-toe!


When I saw these olive embroidered shorts, I instantly thought of wearing them with stripes. I decided to wear them with my foil striped tee, and loved it so much the next time I wore them I picked another striped tee. Same formula, slightly different results.

What I wore:

Necklace: Nibbly Bits Feather pendant in peach (C/O)
Tee: Jeanswest Anika foil stripe tee in white and silver
Shorts: Jeanswest Tessa olive embroidered shorts
Shoes: Wittner 'Jasmarie' studded sandals
Bracelets: the usual plus Christmas bow bracelet (with bells!)
Bag: Rebecca Minkoff metallic silver mini MAC

Why I wore it:

I wore this back in December! I'm usually a little behind with sharing my outfit photos on the blog, but nothing makes me feel more disorganised than sharing December photos in January, with the new year making these last years photos 😂

Delayed posting aside, I really liked this outfit! I wore this for our playgroup Christmas party which I overly shared on Insta stories. I've been going to this playgroup since Toddler T was a baby, he had his first Christmas party there and I always go snap happy taking tons of photos of the boys enjoying the massive picnic spread. There were chocolate eclairs this time, and so of course I have a fair few chocolate face photos!

I thought the metallic foil stripes on the tee and the Christmas bow on my wrist were nice nods to the Christmas theme without getting too dressed up, as there would be a lot of sitting on the ground and running around with toddlers. I did dress the boys up in their novelty Christmas tees though!


Last worn: metallic stripe tee, olive embroidered shorts, studded sandals, Rebecca Minkoff metallic mini MAC bag.

Other ways to wear: metallic stripe tee and floral kimono, olive embroidered shorts and black tee, studded sandals and maxi dress, Rebecca Minkoff metallic mini MAC bag and denim jacket.

Perfect for pregnancy: studded sandals and maternity shorts, silver mini MAC and maternity denim.

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Embroidered Shorts Under $50:

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What I wore:

Necklace: Nibbly Bits Abacus teething necklace in pop
Tee: Atmos&Here navy stripe v-neck tee
Shorts: Jeanswest Tessa olive embroidered shorts
Shoes: Wittner 'Jasmarie' studded sandals
Bag: Rebecca Minkoff micro Regan satchel in Harvest Gold

Why I wore it:

I liked the first metallic stripe tee outfit so much that I planned this one, again with the same shoes, although a different Rebecca Minkoff bag. I liked this resulting outfit much I wore it twice! Wore it on Monday, for some errands and a specialist appointment and then again a couple days later on the Wednesday. There was a bit of a stressful day or so in between with an unexpected overnight hospital stay for the little one, and some frantic rescheduling of planned appointments and work for me so that Baby Boy was taken care of.

To make things easier on myself, I just pulled on Monday's outfit again. Another doctor's appointment but also the opportunity to work from home while my mother in law looked after baby boy. An outfit formula is a wonderful way to make getting dressed easy, but there is nothing easier than repeating an entire outfit when you're too stressed to think of anything else!

Crazy backstory aside, I did enjoy wearing this outfit. Nothing really matches, with the navy stripe tee, olive floral embroidered shorts and mustard bag, but I do love the way all of the colours work together.


Last worn: navy stripe tee, olive embroidered shorts (above), studded sandals (above), Rebecca Minkoff micro Regan bag.

Other ways to wear: navy stripe tee and chambray skirt, olive embroidered shorts and floral kimono, studded sandals and a dress, Rebecca Minkoff micro Regan bag worn 30 ways.

Perfect for pregnancy: studded sandals in second trimester, stripe tee in third trimester.

How You Can Wear It:

Nothing wrong with repeating an outfit combination you love! But if you want to change things up a little, try using the pieces that you loved from the outfit to make up a formula to follow to recreate a similar one with different pieces. This also works if you're inspired by an outfit you see but don't have the exact pieces in your wardrobe - identify what you liked about the outfit and see if you could create something similar based on that formula.

Outfit formulas work well when you're pushed for time in the mornings too. You can use an outfit you loved for inspiration for a quick outfit another day, just by following the formula you create.

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