Pinup at work part 1

We all know by now that pinup fashion is great for summer, weekends, and evenings.  The staples include pretty sun dresses and glamorous wiggle dresses that stop traffic.  But what about when you decided that you want to embrace the style full-time?  How do you reimagine your wardrobe to fit office dress codes?  Or what about when the weather turns cold and you realize that every dress you own is sleeveless!  This is the first in my series regarding work wear and then winter wear, or how to be a real life pin-up girl!

I know that at work I want to look both beautiful and like “me” but also be taken seriously and not have men staring at my boobs all day (though that is hard to be avoided).  I have been working in a research lab at my university over the summer, the dress code was “business casual” which is the most ambiguous phrase I’ve ever heard.  I decided to be on the safe side with pencil skirts and nice blouses, plus the occasional dress.

The first rule of thumb is: don’t show a lot of skin! I know that pinup is very sexy and sensual, but you can be both of those things while still being professional.  If in doubt, cover up.  It can be hard sometimes to find things that are work appropriate but it takes just a little time and imagination.  Some tops can become appropriate by adding a cardigan or a camisole, only get skirts and dresses that go to your knee or below (you should be anyway for vintage/pinup style), and stay away from very tight garments.  Leave the low-cut, tight dresses for evening wear when it will be appreciated

This is what I wore to work today.  It is a Bettie Page dress that I just bought from ModCloth during their 70% off sale.  I like that it is has a higher neckline and can be appropriate for work.

But at the same time it can be dressed up for evening and be very sexy

here is a close up of the bow detail on the neckline, it is very cute

The fact that my arms are uncovered is balanced by the high neckline, long hemline, and the fact that it is not terribly tight.  I felt great wearing this today and can’t wait to wear it again.

The dress was originally $108, but I scored it for $33.  I will talk about my haul later in the week after I take pictures of everything on.  let’s just say that my entire order was less than the original cost of this dress!

Do you have a dress code at work?  Is it fairly conservative or do you get to wear what you want?  I had worn uniforms in past jobs, except for my last job which was in a warehouse so I went to work in t-shirts and track pants that were then covered by freezer gear.  How do you express yourself while staying within a corporate dress code?

Back to school

Last week my oldest daughter, J, went back to school, she started 1st grade.  She was thrilled, I cried.  It makes me so happy that she is excited for school but it is bittersweet to think that my baby girl is growing up so fast.  

She is still so little, she is the shortest kid in her class and I’m pretty sure her grade. She is also one of the youngest because her birthday is in May.  My youngest daughter, E, is two years younger and pretty much the same size!

One of the ways that I am a modern mommy is how they eat.  I am very particular about their diets, they have only had fast food (other than pizza) maybe 4 times in their lives and that is when we are on road trips and have no other way to feed them.  They don’t drink soda or even juice, they very rarely have processed foods.  And while I do allow treats in the for of cookies, cake, etc. it is always homemade and I am able to control exactly what is in it.  I guess that it’s not very modern at all actually 🙂  I love to cook and I love to bake, I pride myself in that we have home cooked meals 99% of the time and most things are from scratch.  I take some short cuts, such as buying the steam-able frozen veggies, but for the most part I do everything from scratch.

This year is J’s first year going to school all day, she was in half-day kindergarten, so she is having lunch for the first time at school.  I had always known that I would be packing their lunches every day, school lunches are terrible and not to mention EXPENSIVE!  I knew that I would prefer to spend 10 minutes in the evening preparing her a nutritious, real lunch than to let her eat that garbage they try to pass off as food.  Granted, hot lunch has gotten better since I ate it but not by much.

I had been checking out ideas for cold lunches on pinterest since I knew she (and I) would get bored with a sandwich every day.  I came across Bento Box lunches.  They are so cool and you can do some really fun things with them.  I like that everything she takes is reusable, I didn’t want to have to buy plastic bags and stuff like that.  I purchased a kit from Laptop Lunches http://secure.laptoplunches.com/itemdesc.asp?ic=K830%2DPLUM&eq=&Tp= this is the one she got.  I like that it had an extra compartment for her snack and that the handles were situated in a way that would keep the bento box upright.  The bag is insulated and it stays pretty cool, a fork and spoon are included.

she loves it, its a little big for her but it should last a few years.  I will be chronicling my first year in bento box making, maybe I can get as good as the Japanese moms who make Hello Kitty rice balls!

here is what she has had for lunch this week

monday

Orzo pasta salad, mandarin orange, cherry tomatoes, ham, pretzels.

Tuesday

I didn’t take a picture, but she had leftover popcorn chicken from the night before, carrots and tomato, yogurt pretzels, and a babybel cheese

Wednesday

peanut butter and jelly hearts, pretzels, string cheese, carrots and tomatoes, and a lime jello.

I make the jello in individual, reusable cups.  it is cheaper than buying the premade ones and I can control the portions.

I just noticed she’s been having pretzels the same side dishes a lot, I’m going to have to be more creative next week 🙂

I plan on making this a recurring post, I would like to hear some feedback from you all.  Would you prefer a weekly post that shows everything from the week or a daily one that would be shorter.  Thanks!

I also have some outfit posts coming up, I just scored big time from ModCloth during their 70% off sale so I will be showing you the haul when that arrives.

Ps. I am on instagram now, you can find me @bettiebanshee