WHITE OUT

madewell vest / jcrew tee / anny and ava crystal necklace / asos heels / american eagle jeans

There's this girl in our office, Claire, who I have the biggest girl crush on. She has the best clothes and always looks so freaking cool. She's also tall and blonde and gorgeous, of course, but really she just always looks so great and I immediately want to wear exactly what she's wearing. (In a completely non-creepy way, of course.)

Anyway, she wore this outfit to work on a recent Friday (aka casual Friday aka you can get away with wearing jeans), and I loved it because it was so simple and looked so chic.  The denim vest offset the white-on-white, while the silver heels and statement necklace dressed it up enough for the office. She accessorized with a messy pony and bright lipstick, and I had to wipe the drool off my chin. (JK, dudes.) In my book, it's a perfect summer Friday work look.

A (MOSTLY UNREALISTIC) WISHLIST

What's in my virtual shopping cart right now:

01. REBECCA TAYLOR SHORTS: Ikat, polka dots, silk, shorts, black & white - so many things to love! Also, lovin' how Liz of Sequins & Stripes styled 'em here.

02. VINCE BLAZER: True confession - one of the other interns at my office has this. I didn't even know who made it; I just saw her wearing it one day and was like BAM! That is the perfectly casual drapey black blazer I've been looking for! Then I creeped on the tag when she hung it on the back of her chair and saw that it was Vince and almost $500 and went home and cried. (It's actually 50% off at Shopbop right now, so if you're the type of person that thinks $242.50 is spare change, be my guest.)

03. SHE INSIDE LACE TOP: Okay, so this is actually realistic. I've been looking for a good white lace top and saw this one on Pinterest. Yes, technically, it's apricot, but for twenty bucks I feel like I could "accidentally" throw it in with a bit of bleach??

04. MARYSIA SWIM HONOLULU BIKINI: I've been lusting after this since I saw it on Molly over at A Piece of Toast. The strapless style is my go-to, and the zig-zag cut adds a little something special. (And also probably really weird tan lines).

05. SPLENDID DRAPED TOP: Another thing that's perpetually on my wishlist: the perfect draped gray shirt. A little bit of dolman sleeve, a loose and long torso, and soft as a baby's butt - this Splendid tee fits the bill. Again, $74 is a bit out of my budget for a t-shirt, but when you spend so long looking for the perfect something, it's hard to resist when you actually find it. You never know - I do have a birthday coming up after all....

06. RACHEL ZOE GLADYS SANDAL: Confession: also saw this shoe on my fellow intern Erin. (She has the best clothes!!)  She has them in tan, but I immediately asked where she bought them and if they have them in black. I currently don't have a good pair of sandals to wear to work (my beat-up gold Jack Rogers aren't really an option...) and considering it's hot as hell in NYC right now, my feet are sweating just thinking about shoving them into flats all day.  This is exactly what I've been looking for: black, ankle strap, a bit of gold detail, and simple. Another thing to add to the birthday list....

*SIGH* What I wouldn't give for some extra cash money right now, kids.

WARDROBE ESSENTIALS: THE BLACK SKIRT

Hey y'all! We're back with another installment of WARDROBE ESSENTIALS. 

Another wear-to-work classic that everyone needs to have: the black skirt.

This option from Nordstom is a great choice - its classic shape and bit of stretch flatters everyone! 

HALOGEN PENCIL SKIRT

INSPIRATION:

ALL VIA MY PINTEREST

J.CREW GRAY TSHIRT / FOREVER 21 BLACK CLUTCH / ASOS HEELS 

DOROTHY PERKINS STRIPED JACKET / J.CREW CHAMBRAY SHIRT / CHARLOTTE RUSSE FLATS

FOREVER 21 SWEATER / FOREVER 21 CROSSBODY / ASOS HEELS

FOREVER 21 SUNGLASSES / TARGET TAN JACKET / J.CREW FACTORY STRIPED SHIRT 

FIRST DAY OF INTERNSHIP OUTFIT

FORVER 21 BLAZER / BCBGENERATION HEELS / ZARA DRESS

The first day of your first internship is a lot like your first day of a new school. You have no idea what to expect - no idea what the culture's like, what's cool or not cool, whether or not they allow open-toed shoes in their business casual dress code...okay, maybe not that last one.  But there are the same first day butterflies, the same anxiousness that causes you to arrive 15 before you're supposed to and then have to loiter in a Starbucks across the street to kill time. And, of course, the same stress over what you're going to wear.

This is what I wore on the first day on my internship (Monday, for those of you keeping track).  This exact blazer, exact dress, and an older pair of heels that are similar in style.  I'm helping out with PR at a fashion company, where the dress code is business casual. I figured the heels would dress things up a bit for my first day, even though I'll probably wear flats/wedges from here on out, and that the blazer would make the outfit more conservative if needed. It wasn't - plus the intern closet (yes, it's actually called that) is sweltering.  But this cute, simple, on-trend dress that kept me relatively cool in the heat (and earned me some compliments!) was the perfect first-day-of-work look.