Work Life Balance

James Perse long sleeve T, French Connection linen trousers, Zara gladiators, Armani glasses

I woke up with a stabbing pain in my left eye.  Which meant I had to wear glasses.  Which meant I had to wear black, to match my glasses.

Man my work outfits are BORING.  

I think a big reason is because I under-accessorize for work.  My watch, conservative necklace, conservative earrings.   That's it.  Look, they're not even VISIBLE in the picture, they're so small.  One time, I wore a big gaudy old lady ring (you guys, it TOTALLY matched my dress; I couldn't NOT wear it) and EVERYONE noticed.  That's a HELLUVA ring you got there! 

Not that it's bad to draw attention to oneself, but at what cost?

I try to look professional, but without stifling my personal taste too much.  This outfit is teetering on the edge of "too casual for the office."  But I don't WANT to wear polyester slacks all the time!

The thing is, I'm afraid that if I don't dress "boring" at work, people won't take me seriously.  To some degree, I get it.  You wear your priorities on your sleeve, so to speak.  If you're putting in a lot of effort to dress well, carrying an expensive bag (I've gotten comments on THAT too), matching those bangles to the buttons on your blouse, maybe that's more important to you than getting ahead at work?  Maybe you should be spending less time STYLING and more time WORKING?  It's hard enough being a [small] [asian] girl in a male-dominated industry.  I need all the credit I can get!

And on THAT note, I'd like to add that I received an award and thank-you gift from work this week for winning a big audit case for a client.  I got a $200 AMEX giftcard.  I'm going to use it to buy shoes, bitches.