Her Waise Choice

A Vancouver Personal Style Blog by Jen Tam

Updated Prep


{Photos by Fotowok}

The moment I saw it in stores, I had my heart set on wearing this bright patterned skirt with a navy and white striped nautical jersey tee. I thought the pattern and colour mixing was too ideal to ignore and that it was the best possible pairing for it. When I reached for it a few days later though, I was forced to improvise because I wasn’t able to find what I wanted among the sea of clothes that were scattered all over my room from moving back from school. The result? I’ve concluded that I actually like this combination more! It isn’t always so (I’ve experienced far too much stress from trying to throw together the “perfect” outfit last minute), but sometimes the styling process just works out so much better when it is done freely and without planning. And in spite of the cheesiness: when that happens, it’s like magic. How do you get dressed? Are you a planner or an improviser?

P.S. Have you checked out my giveaway collaboration with Club Monaco? Enter here!

Wearing: Joe Fresh skirt, Dynamite blouse (got this nearly 10 years ago for band concerts when I played the flute in school… haha), vintage belt and earrings, Zara shoes, sash from a random dress

Reader Interactions

Comments

  3. Love the print on your skirt! I have a blk bow like that I once wore it to work and I think the pervs started imagining me as a catholic school girl cause the next day they asked me what happened to my schoolgirl outfit @_@ Never wearing this look to work ever again lol

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  4. Beautiful as always…Love how you tied the sash of another dress…very inspiring my dear. And that skirt is SO fun.

    The light streak through that first photo is UNBELIEVABLE…great shots.
    C

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  7. I’ve been dying to see how you would wear this skirt ever since that little sneak peak you gave us and this look definitely does not disappoint 🙂 I love the way the orange pops against every background! Your belt and earrings are fabulous, and your purse is beautiful but by far my favourite part is the bow tie- way to take something ordinary and really make it your own.
    xox,
    Cee

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  12. All these beautiful pictures of you make me shed a tear. You look amazing!!! 😀 I love the short story behind that blouse. I could never fit into my clothes from 10 years ago (do I even still have them?!?!?!)

    I’m a planner so I like to plan my outfit the night before. I sometimes lose sleep because of it. Hahahaha!!! 😀

    http://www.monochromachic.com

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  15. oh Jen, you are such a beauty!! And this outfit is fab-u-lous, of course! Loving the pop of pattern, it’s absolutely stunning against the black and white palette -total outfit crush. As for my outfits? I’m a planner, but sometimes that goes out the window. xx veronika

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  16. I love this look. you look absolutely stunning! I am kind off an outfit planner. I am a stressy person and need my outfits picked out the day before ^^ x

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  17. Beautiful! you look so pretty and the photos are amazing. loving the skirt as well…

    as for me, I think most of my favorite outfits were improvised. but that doesn’t stop me from planning in my head.

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  22. Gorgeous outfit! I like how you improvised something completely different from your original vision and it still ended looking great. And using a sash to turn your shirt into a preppy tie-neck blouse–so clever!

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  24. All about the weather. I wish my wardrobe were more versatile so as to allow me to be more of a planner AND improviser…

    But right now my style has changed beyond my closet, and my ability to change my closet to match that new “mental” wardrobe style.

    Le sigh.

    The pussy bow is a gorgeous touch to that great skirt.

    xx{ish.},
    Mae Lu @ thereafterish.!

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  27. I love so many things about this, Jen! First, obviously, is the skirt! SO cute! They only have the dress version in our stores, but the skirt is completely adorable! Also lovelovelove your earrings! So pretty! What I love most, though, is that you’re sporting a ten year old blouse from Dynamite purchased for high school band! Amazing & adorable! And it still looks fantastic on you!! xoxo.

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  28. I love the orange patterned skirt! I know they opened a Joe Fresh on Granville and I have yet to shop there. Definitely want to make a trip there now. Thanks for the gorgeous pics.

    Yvonne

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  30. Yah, so I officially hate you. How do you look so amazing all the time? can you please post a picture where you are in grubby sweat pants? PLEASE!!!!?? 😉

    No I don’t hate you, you’re lovely. So is this outfit. That skirt is gorgeous and I love your shoes. I have also been loving using sash’s as ties lately. So pretty! I plan on trying it myself when i’m not in sweat pants 😉

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  33. i love how this turned out, the skirt and giant bow are awesome! for me it depends, sometimes i plan an outfit but most of the time i base it off my mood and how im feeling, or what my plans are for the day 🙂

    Fashion Bag 411

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  34. I SAW THAT SKIRT. The size 2 didn’t fit me though.. and the size 0 wasn’t in stock 🙁 Heartbreaking. I absolutely adore how you style everything, I NEED TO LEARN YOUR WAYS. Ex-flutists, UNITE? I think so. 🙂

    P.S.- I’m checking out the flats as we speak. Yay for tiny feet!

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  35. I love those shoes! And the skirt looks adorable paired this way. I don’t do much planning in my day-to-day outfits. Although I recently styles outfits on some of my decorative mannequins for a blog project and I actually came up with some new ideas through it. I might have to use them again in the future!

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  36. This look gorgeous and definitely a great combo Jen! I’m glad you chose this over mixing prints. This looks like the perfect school/work outfit with a twist of playfulness!

    I should probably sneak into my nearby SuperStore to take a look at the Joe Fresh collection! They seem to have spectacular pieces.

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  38. Wow..I had to step out of lurking to say you look fantastic! You always do but this outfit stunning. The skirt and sash are my favourite parts…I adore the use of the sash as a tie.

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  42. So weird, I was just in Joe Fresh on Saturday and saw this skirt there and fell in love with it! I love how you styled it here, it suits you so beautifully and I’m glad you kept everything else simple around it. These pics are stunning as usual.

    Alexandra xo

    http://tovogueorbust.com/

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  43. your smile is so cute! love the bright skirt matched with simple basics. and i’m a total improviser when it comes to dressing.. which is probably why i’m always running late in the mornings eeeeks!

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  47. Love what you did with the Joe Fresh skirt. Looks amazing with a clean white blouse and some simple accessories. Great look on you!

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  48. Wow you amaze me with your styling abilities!! You look stunning here! I cannot believe that skirt is Joe Fresh. Whenever I go there, everything looks so frumpy.

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  51. Just stumbled on your blog! Um AH IT’S GORGEOUS. I love it. It’s so fresh and open and INSTANT HAPPINESS.

    And gahhhh. I’m suuuuuch a sucker for PRINTS. So YES, of course I love yours! It’s a beauty.

    QUIRKYEXPLOSION.blogspot.com

    Reply

  53. Jen I adore these photos of you!! You look very Tory burch meets the Hamptons chic..hehe.. In love these photos they’ve got a very soft romantic feel about them.

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  56. This outfit is lovely! I really like the brightly-patterned skirt, and I love how you tied the sash around your neck – it’s a great idea to spice up my button-downs and I’m definitely going to try it out soon.
    As for putting together outfits, I don’t really like to plan because most of the time what I had in mind doesn’t work out – either because of weather that I wasn’t expecting or simply because the pieces don’t work together – and I find that I get much more frustrated in that situation than if I just go with whatever I feel like wearing on the spot.

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  59. I am a poor planner, so I usually end up improvising. Love the skirt, and the fact that you too have a sea of clothes strewn about your room.

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  60. this improvised look is a winner Jen! good for you on going with your intuition and creating a fierce look, although not what you’d originally intended i can see why you felt great with this (waise) choice. it’s wonderful and seeing you strolling along makes me smile. holy moly, you keep your clothing in fab condition, 10 years old you say?! and for band class non-the-less. i am impressed, the added bits of gold really stand out.

    i’m a devout planner and have tried the improvised tip but it always ends with tears of frustration. since this has happened more times than i care to count i developed a go-to “little black book” filled with outfits i’ve previously worn and always felt swell in. that way, when i’m in a pms mood or full of the blues i can go to that and rely on it to help me in a pinch. the boyf thinks i’m totally ocd for having this but it seriously helps! happy weekend to you. ♥

    Reply

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