Hello my dear readers. I took an involuntary hiatus from posting again (sorry!).   Work and life has been all consuming lately and I haven’t made time for regular posts, but I always look forward to coming back and hearing from you guys!  A few people reached out to make sure we were safe from the deadly mega fires near Los Angeles, and luckily we are. Thank god.  We are located deep within the city, no where near vegetation, so I think we will be safe from future fires as well.  I’m sad and horrified by how many people have died in the fires and by how frequent these mega fires are occurring.  I hope you all are safe and doing well.  I’m sending a collective hug to you all!

In the past month, I haven’t been shopping or craving new clothes, until today.  After realizing I’d worn the same dress to multiple work meetings, I suddenly wanted one more work appropriate dress for the fall weather. 

The weather is starting to cool down a bit, and when I say cool, I mean around 65 degrees.  Hardly cold at all. It does feel very cold in the office though especially when I’m sitting in one position for a long time, typing my notes. 

Lately I’ve been reaching for the same 4-5 outfits every week.  My first line outfits have been a loose top with my Muji wool skirt or Mijeong Park ribbed sweater dress (the cream version is on sale!).  And my second line outfits have been long sleeved tops with various cropped work trousers.  Now that we have an in-apartment washer and dryer, I can get away with re-wearing my favorites each week.  But the problem is I’m wearing the same outfit each week!  (as opposed to every other week which was my old routine in New York).

Anyway, I thought it would be fun to show you guys a few highlights from my dress search.  I combed several websites:  Vince, Need Supply, Hackwidth Design House, and Kowtow Clothing.  I decided I didn’t even want to look at Everlane, Elizabeth Suzann, or Eileen Fisher today.  I feel a bit oversaturated with their stuff lately.  I narrowed my focus to dresses that had many of the same features in my beloved “first line” outfits, ie. dresses that were midi length, had a fit that graced the body (loose but not too loose), and was both modest and versatile.  It is really important for me to be able to wear a non padded bra/bralette with my dresses without any embarassing nipplage showing.  Not that anything is wrong with nipplage per se, but I work with a lot of disinhibited male patients that would take any chance to devalue me if they could and so I have to be mindful about what I wear to work for that reason.

The first dress at the top from Mijeong Park caught my eye.  I love the oatmeal color and the soft rolled edges along the hem at the neckline and wrists.  The fabrication is very similar to the hooded cardigan from MP that I already own.  Ultimately though, I decided against it due to the fact that it would probably pill too much for an everyday dress, and it didn’t have any pockets.  It would be really nice though for occasional wear.

Second dress that caught my attention was this beautiful ribbed dress from Kowtow!  Wow it’s so nice.  Understated but interesting when you pay attention to the details.  The shape is very similar to my MP ribbed dress.  So similar that I felt it didn’t make sense to spend so much money on something I basically already have.  Plus, no pockets!  Bummer.

Another great find at Kowtow.  OK, this is not really a work dress at all, which is why I didn’t allow myself to buy it, but look how cute it is!  I like the idea of layering a button dress over top a sweater dress.  Genius!  

I love the color of this teal dress at Kowtow.  And loved how casual it looks too.  Pockets were a plus, but something about it felt too serious and drab.  A lot of times I get this urge to dress like a nun or monk and I have to consciously resist that, lol. 

And here’s the winner! The tencel drawstring dress at Hackwith Design House.  The shape is similar to the ribbed dress.  It’s loose, but not too loose.  I love how the drawstring brings the waist in just slightly and doesn’t cause too much bunching. The boatneck and the cuffs on the sleeves gives it a casual elegance.  Everything about it is so subtle (which is important when you want to be able to wear things over and over).  I can see myself moving freely and feeling very comfortable in this at work.  Hope it works out!

How about you guys? What features do you look for in the dresses you wear to work?