Professional Flats

CHARLOTTE OLYMPIA Black and Gold
Potential wears: 2/wk, 8/month, seasonal (3 months) = 24/year
Cost $330 (from $600+ sale)
Cost per wear, 1 season: $14.  If 2 seasons...$7

Todds Patent leather ballerina flats
Potential wears 3/wk, 12/month, seasonal (4 months) = 48/year
Cost $399 (from $500 sale)
Cost per wear: $8

You must calculate cost per wear before you buy

Start calculating the cost per wear before you buy anything!  For example, it might make sense to spend $500 on boots that you will wear almost every day.

The second lesson from today is that no matter how much I like this dress (it's wool and leather, and it has buttons up the back, so cool!) and no matter how comfortable it is, it looks terrible for my vase figure.  The dress is the right length, but not the right cut or the right material.  The vase needs structured material with definition at the waist.

Boots: Tory Burch.  Cost $525, age: 3 months. Wears/wk: 4. Total wears:48. Cost per wear: $11
Dress: Black wool and leather.  White&Warren, size M.  Cost $70 (250 on sale). Age: 2 years Wears/wk: max 1.   Total wears: 12. Cost per wear $6.

Here you can see the importance of factoring in how many times you will wear something.  This gold and Lucite chain goes with everything!

Vintage 70s Lucite and gold chain: $60.  Wears/wk: 1. Total wears: 40.  Cost per wear $2
Brighton earrings (gift!)  Cost approx $25. Wears/wk: 3.  Cost per wear $0.50?

Why is your blog called Eligot?

The first question many people have is, Eligot?  Eligot is a play on the Latin word meaing "to select".

From the venerable Wiktionary:

eligo

Etymology
From ex (“out of, from”) + legō (“choose, select, appoint”).

Pronunciation
(Classical) IPA(key): /ˈeː.li.ɡoː/, [ˈeː.lɪ.ɡoː]

Verb
present active ēligō, present infinitive ēligere, perfect active ēlēgī, supine ēlēctum

I pluck or root out, extract.
(figuratively, of persons or things) I pick out, choose, elect.

What to wear to work: Computer Science Professor

My friend is a freaking computer science professor, people, and she is young and gorgeous.  What can she wear while she is teaching over 100 horny computer science nerds?

My friend told me that she's started dressing a little better this semester and her students are being nicer to her.  Previously she rocked a hoodie and jeans (and not the trendy kind).  

Now, I cannot definitively say that dressing better can be directly correlated with nicer student interactions, because I know she is also trying a new teaching style, and she's probably also getting better and better every semester.  But I do think that caring leads to better results.

Typical lecture outfit this semester, Fall 2014

There are a ton of positive things about this outfit.  The scarf draws attention up to the face and balances out her smaller top half.  The Prada glasses are absolutely stunning.  The pants and shoes are the same color, creating a neutral bottom.

Another lecture outfit

I think she can take it up a notch and still maintain professionalism and credibility in the land of techie hoodies and tee-shirts, without being TOO SEXY.  Which is hard, because, well, she is one sexy lady.

After - dark bottoms, attention to the face!

What a difference!  At this point her fiance walked in and demanded to know what was going on.  The sparkly necklace shows fun and style.  The polka dot collared shirt shows fun, brings the attention to the face, and the collar adds some professionalism.  Bright sweater on top brings attention to the top, balancing the proportions.

Some small tweaks: I would add dark socks to create a continuous line, and ideally, a small heel, but besides that this outfit is perfecto!

After

The classic black wrap dress.  Again, we have the scarf bringing attention to the face and balancing out the proportions.  Neutral flats extend the legs.

Classy and flattering!  She thinks this dress is too sexy to teach in, so I have some work to do finding good examples of professional ladies in wrap dresses.  Just last week a director at work was wearing the new DVF dress to a big meeting, heels, no tights, no jacket, how can I inspire my friend?

Your looks hugely impact your credibility

My mission in life is to enable YOU, gentle yet fierce reader, to bring value into the world. To make YOU more YOU, an enhanced and self-improved YOU.  It has been proven that when you look good, you feel better, and you perform better.

A study from the Kellogg School of Management finds that people perform better on a test when they wear doctor's white coats.  When the participants believe they wear artists coats, however, performance remains unchanged.  The takeway is that you must feel good about your clothes.

 “It reminds people that clothes aren’t just a device of perception, but a tool that can really affect how you perceive yourself,” Galinsky says

Analysis from the Washington Post, Match 2012

What to wear for a big meeting - power outfit

When you have a big meeting, you need to feel powerful.  The best way to accomplish this is a well tailored blazer.  Study after study finds that even fashion ignorant people can tell how much you spent on your suit. (Imagine those Times Square surveys for US Magazine Who Wore It Better?  Where they ask 100 CLUELESS tourists their opinion.)

If you don't own a power blazer, you need to invest in one pronto!!

Power blazer and skirt - needs better power necklace and shirt

The definition of a power blazer will change depending on your industry and where you are in your career. For one of my friends in marketing, that was a $500 Helmet Lang Blazer that is now her go-to.  Another one of my friends just bought a gorgeous Sandro blazer.

Traditional

What to wear on the second date

On the second date you can show some more personality, such as branching out into patterns, etc.

Maybe you will be doing some kind of activity.  You still want to remain as feminine as possible, and this means, hair down, dress, heels!  Light makeup.

 Event: Second date

Time: Work to date, Day to night
Season: Winter
Mood: Flexible, adventurous, open

Dress: A.P.C