Plume POW: Manic Pretty Strong Monday

Outfit Mission Statement: Mix a military-inspired jacket with skinny jeans and a feminine top for a strong, pretty, casual, yet professional work look

Manic Monday outfits are easy career clothes to throw on for manic Mondays. This Monday we focus on creating a chic work outfit. The POW (Piece of the Week) is the cabi Spring 2106 Plume Top. While styled with the ease of a tee shirt, this blouse can easily be styled up for work. It especially works is a more casual work look with a blazer and jeans. I’m a huge fan of the blazer and jean combination anyway. Add this Plume Top and you have an amazing, casual apropos of work look! Due to all the colors in this top, you can easily pop any of them with your accessories or shoes. I felt the orange made a nice contrast to the green and was less expected than purple or magenta. This top is great for the casual office look for many reasons, but one of my favorites is layering! If you get hot, you can take the jacket off, and not worry about showing off too much (including a bra strap). Make sure you have some blouses like this in your work (and rest of life) wardrobe!

Tips:

• For a casual work look, combine a pretty top, nice fitting blazer, and skinny jeans
• Pop a less expected color in the blouse with your accessories or shoes for added interest and sophisticate styling
• Roll those jeans to show off your shoes and look more put together
• Roll the jacket cuffs for a more modern take on the classic (and keep cooler during the summer heat or a hot flash)
• Consider playing off the safari feel of the jacket with some fun shoes
• Contrast the femininity of the blouse with a safari- or military-styled jacket for a strong, yet pretty look that is ready for anything
• When doing business casual, lean towards darker washed jeans, as they look more professional
• Look for blouses that layer well and can work without layer on top for when you get hot
• With a neutral jacket and dark wash jeans (also a neutral), you can grab any blouse for a quick, professional work outfit

Outfit Breakdown:

• Blouse: Plume Top from cabi Spring 2016
• Jeans: Knight Skinny Jean from cabi Fall 2015—no longer available. Look for a dark skinny that works for you.
• Blazer: Olive Jacket from cabi Spring 2015—no longer available. Look for a military/safari styled jacket for the same look or just a natural jacket for a similarly easy look. A few options include the Verde Jacket and Piazza Jacket from cabi Spring 2016. Or, for a simsialr look, try the Vintage Women Long Sleeve Lapel Button Pocket Slim Suit Blazer on Newchic, Tonello Blazer on YooX.com, or the Smythe Classic One-Button Blazer at Neiman Marcus.
• Necklace: Metal Statement Necklace with Cabs from Target
• Orange Bracelet: Orange Quartz Bracelet by Solid Treasures
• Gold Bracelet: Graham Hammered Wire Wrapped Cuff from Cents of Style
• Shoes: Bought a few years ago, I think from Target. Consider these available Aerosoles shoes: Layette, Yet Another, Cyberspace, and Yet Plane

POW 6: The Summer-Styled Blouse

Everyone woman needs pretty, light blouse—something she can wear alone or with a jacket or cardigan. Something that can be dressed up, down, or worn to work. Something feminine without going overboard. Something flattering without revealing too much. Something sleeveless (that covers the bra straps) or something shorter-sleeved that works for spring and summer. Hopefully you have one or more of these types of blouses in your closet. This is another wardrobe essential—like the black trousers of the last POW. If you have one or more of these, then take this next POW as inspiration for styling that blouse.

Outfit:  Plume Top from cabi Spring 2016. Knight Skinny Jean from cabi Fall 2015. Olive Jacket from cabi Spring 2015. Metal Statement Neck with Cabs from Target. Orange Quartz bracelet by Solid Treasures. Shoes Older, not sure of brand.

If not, or if you need another, consider adding this lovely blouse to your wardrobe—the Plume Top. This is a pretty and casual cap-sleeved blouse that can easily be dressed up. The Plume has an easy tee-shirt style but with lovely, feminine features. The v-neck creates a longer, flattering look. The soft feathers are in magenta & pinks, purples, blues, greens, gold, and more. With all these colors, this blouse can go with so much, and it looks good on many different people. Plus, this is machine washable (on gentle) and machine dryable!

Outfit:  Plume Top, Lido Skirt, and Loren Sweater from cabi Spring 2016. Contessa Necklace and Vintage Studs from cabi Fall 2014. Suede Target shoes from a previous season and current season sunglasses from target.

Some other current season blouses that can be styled similarly are the Blossom Top, Gelato Top, Luisa Tank, and the Positano Top. cabi often carries blouses like this each season. A few that are similar (or could be styled sim similarly) from the Fall 2015 collections are the Reign Blouse, Evermore Blouse (very similar in shape and style), the Love Blouse (checkout the Love POW for even more styling options for this style of blouse!), the Flaunt Wrap, the Stained Glass Blouse, and the Flutter-Sleeve Blouse. I welcome other suggestions, from cabi or elsewhere! I’ll add any I get to this post with credit.

Do join us for the sixth POW and discover seven ways, from the playground, to the special occasion, to the boardroom, to style the wardrobe essential pretty short-sleeved or sleeves blouse!

If you want to buy, please contact me in the comments or via email or my stylist (Joni Allen via email or phone: 770 502-5243 [call or text]) and we can get you set up.  It is possible any order you make will be included in a show total for me. If that is the case, for each $250 spent in my show, I get one half priced item. So, I’d be quite grateful of any orders! I promise to blog about what I buy!