Life Uniforms: Professional

Before establishing the empire, I was a Dr. Professional. My career spanned from secretarial mini skirt suits to vice presidential power slacks. And during this occupational orbit, I learned a few strategic wardrobing tactics which I am delighted to share with you fellow doctors of profession.

1. Cut: Nothing says casual like revealed skin. Following is an abridged inventory of stretches of flesh that should never be visible in the office: the midriff, the upper thigh, the chest crevice, the lower back and its continuum. Not only should these items be cloistered when standing demurely, but they should remain under wraps when you bend over, raise your arms, and lean forward. Also ensure that your clothing skims rather than clings; offer a smooth outline rather than a detailed delineation. It's not that these areas are unappealing, quite the contrary, they are far more interesting than your annual budget report.

2. Color: Dark hues report in proper business tones. Unlike their flighty pastel counterparts, dark colors speak of grounded, responsible individuals. But that doesn't mean you are limited to black, navy, and gray. You can have a pop of color, but make sure it's a taste, not the entree. There's a reason that the crimson power tie is a staple and the crimson power suit never quite caught on.

3. Class: Stay in good taste and excellent repair. If you look sloppy, people will assume you don't spellcheck your e-mails. You might be an obsequious grammarian, but people are bound to make assumptions. As you enter the office you should be flawless from your scuff free shoes, to your properly hemmed trousers (breaking at your instep), to your cleanly pressed blouse.

Below is a sharp little banker formal ensemble:

































Nordstrom's Mac & Jac Linen Jacket: Wearing a jacket doesn't require a matching suit. You'll get more wear out of separates
JCrew Solid Silk Garland Cami: Keep a little bit of pretty and color close to you at all times
White House Black Market Sateen Pencil Skirt: Fresh for spring with appropriate feminine allure
Banana Republic Jefferson Medium Shoulder Bag: Because your lappy needs a proper home
Endless Luichiny Miami Pump: Black never has to be boring
Ann Taylor Black Diamond Studs: Your jewelry should not jingle nor jangle

1 hundred 98 cents = your own Professional Wear fashion look book cheat sheet.

Procure your own empire constitution. Your personalized fashion look book can include your own professional wear recommendations and much more.

Life Uniforms

At nine the world was open to me. I could be a ballerina, an actress, an airline hostess, a teacher, a model, or a nurse. My maternally inherited vintage board game taught me that I could achieve my most ambitious aspirations by working hard to acquire skills and realistically evaluating my natural capacity.

For example, in one round recommendations might be made to study:





While considering innate qualities such as:


Well, it turns out I was clumsy so my career as an Airline Hostess, Nurse, Model, and/or Ballet Dancer was hindered. But it's for the best, because I adore my life as a teacher, stylist ,and wife. Someday I want to be a mother, a farmer, and a ballroom dancer. But I should probably work on my posture first.

As diverse as our talents and abilities, we all share one thing in common: we need uniforms for our life's work. This week we will be making regimental recommendations.

Quince Queries: Day Five

Each month, I consistently spend more shopping than I do refueling mine and the emperor's cars. I have a 45 minute commute to work, which I travel approximately 57% of the days of the week. Granted, the empire owns two small automobiles one being a hybrid, but when it comes to my wardrobe, it consistently trumps fuel by an Andrew Jackson.

What is your shopping budget equivalent to: an album on iTunes? your utilities bill? your family's grocery budget?

Quince Queries: Day Four

I breach commonly established fashion rules, with regularity. I wear black with brown. I relish pattern on pattern. My bag never duplicates the hue of my shoes. I fully comprehend why these rules were written, and I consciously choose to transgress them.

But some fashion commandments are impermeable: donning clothes that fail to fit, modeling garments in poor repair, publicly sharing the location of your panty line.

Sometimes we are oblivious to our own sins. Others are aware but neutralized against guilt. I speak to the latter category.

And I offer my own confession. When I have a day off to be spent intimately with just me and lappy (my macbook), I remain in my pajamas until afternoon. Sometimes people come to the door, and there I stand in my satin slippy and robe at 11:18 am. I used to be embarrassed, but now I feel indignant at the interruption of my slippy indulgence. I iron clothes nearly every morning and wear a minimum 3 inch heel at least 5 days a week. My sleepers never leave my front threshold, I believe that to be non-negotiable. And I must be fully dressed before my husband returns from work, my preference should not be forced on others. But late slippy mornings, I grant myself guiltlessly.

That's my sin and my justification.

What's your fashion faus paux and what's your justification/rationalization for continuing to commit said fashion sin?

Quince Queries: Day Three

This good looking specimen of andrology belongs to me. His name is Emperor Andy, and his excellency has proposed the following group of questions for our discussion on Cardigan Empire today:

• What is your favorite thing to hear from your husband/boyfriend regarding your outfit?
• How do you know if he like it?
• How do you know if he hates it?
• How important is it for you to dress the way he likes?

Quince Queries: Day Two

"A girl should be two things: classy and fabulous." -Coco Chanel

Chanel's legend has cut contours into my own styling theory. Below are three lines which consistently run through my fashion philosophy:

1. "Look for the woman in the dress. If there is no woman, there is no dress."
Fashion should be built around the beauty of a woman's body. In a day when women were padded, corseted, and confined, CC designed her dresses to showcase rather than alter.

2. "Elegance is refusal."
Shake your lovely head at: garish accessorization, trends ill suited to your essence, chintzy extravagance, ostentatious consumption. Discriminate and radiate, the truly stylish lady knows when to say "no thankyou."

3. "A women who doesn't wear perfume has no future."
Embrace today. Expect the day to be worthy of small touches of prettiness. Gift beauty to yourself and those around you. If you don't hold now, you'll never own tomorrow.

Who is your fashion icon, and why?

Quince Queries: Day One

This week, I would like to have a conversation, a series of tète-à-tètes. Prompts will be presented, commented responses would be adored. Below is the first in a series of five.


In the twilight of my teens, I was courted by a quixotic landscape artist. He would pen me sonnets made of moonlight and strum serenades that smelled of freshly cut grass.

The only condition was that I become an appropriate muse in loosely veiled bohemian raiment and nothing more than lip balm in way of cosmetics.

Braiding my hair and abandoning black as a neutral began as an adventure, but soon enough I pined for red lipstick and pencil skirts, and our romance blew away on a wind.

So here is my question for you: who has influenced your fashion for good or ill? Sisters, neighbors, mothers, daughters, celebrities, husbands? Please post your answers in the comments.