Dear Business Casual

I hate you.

It is rare that I have to confront the giant monolith of vagueness deemed "business casual." Normally I can carry my own version of business casual which tends to lean more on the business side of things. Added challenges include: Texas summers and having 100+ degree weather (Fahrenheit) and also it being "conservative."

I don't want to wear black, everything seems too hot. I'm kind of regretting never getting into business style capris.

Not fond of all the adjectives surrounding "business casual."

I originally started writing this in August of this year. I just graduated from my program and once I land a job, I get to graduate to a career of scrubs that feel like pajamas. I consider THAT a job benefit, but until I land a job, I have to keep flexing my business casual muscles.

I'll normally achieve this with a pair of dressy (or just nice) slacks and a thin sweater or nicer pullover top. That is the formula every time.

Cartonnier Tweed Wool pants that I bought on a whim:

These go all the way to my heel. 

Grey Simba Loafers by Naturalizer:

And then any thin long sleeved or 3/4 sleeve neutral sweater (grey, black, white). I have a number of them from American Apparel. Don't get on me for wearing black and brown, it can be done if you know how to work colors.

I definitely have more business-y apparel and while it was fun playing the professional dress up, it mostly wasn't me (2 piece suit...? sorry)

Truthfully, now when I go on job interviews, I wear the SAME THING to each one because dwelling on clothes for occasions like interviews is something that I wouldn't want to concentrate my focus on, and it's not like the interviewers are going to cross reference each other on what I was wearing. I'm not in an industry where you have multiple interviews at the same place, but if I was...if I wore the same thing to a follow up interview, and someone noticed, I guess that would mean I was memorable in some way.

High waisted - why?

I recently acquired a pair of American Apparel's 4 Way Stretch pants in Navy. They were on sale to the degree that I felt I had nothing to lose.

There's always something to lose. 

They actually fit me similar to how they fit the model save the extra fabric at the bottom because I'm a short one. I defaulted on their 26/27 size because of the shorter inseam. In the minds of American Apparel, you can't have a 27/28 waist and be short - the inseam increases to 31 inches from 29 inches. In retrospect, it might not have actually been that big of a deal. 

Before, I had tried on some of these pants in a different color, one size up and on one occasion, they fit wonderfully. The following time I tried this, the pants were considerably bigger. Yay for American Apparel's inconsistent sizing! I know I've complained about it before, and theroretically, I should know better, but sales happen. Given American Apparel's return policy, when sales happen, you better be sure that what you want is what you want since the downfall of getting something in the sale section is it being Final Sale. You could always go the route of ordering items full priced and then returning them when you know they fit, then wait for it to go on sale but that involves a lot of lag time. 

C'est la vie. The pants are now listed on eBay right here.

Last rant before I continue on with my work is: why are high waisted pants popular? I've read people discuss that they like the flat silhouette without the muffin top, but how does one sit down comfortably in high waisted jeans? If they're relatively tight, your waist will get pinched in when you sit and there's still some kind of muffin top. They look great if you intend to stand all the time, and not eat, but that's just not a practical existence for me. I definitely fall in with the midrise crowd. I am too old to deal with high waisted pants discomfort. Heels? Sure. Tight pants? No thank you.