I think I may have posted about the difficulties of changing your wardrobe along with changing jobs, but I don’t remember. Once it’s written down, it’s gone. No recollection. Actually, these days, once it is spoken it’s gone. I repeated the same thing to my husband last night without blinking. He said I used very similar inflection. I’m like a droid with a malfunctioning chip.

I digress.

When I left Posh Car Company, I was two years invested in a high profile business casual wardrobe. That meant I had a lot of really nice heels, good dresses, skirts, and trousers. Laid off from that job, I realized the folly of having rarely purchased anything that would not double for work wear. I invested in maxi dresses (the fashionable woman’s caftan) and lost my waist. You don’t realize how much your waistband works as an appetite suppresant until you spend two months in a muu-muu, then try to zip up your jeans. Oi!

My next job was at the Frat House, where the dress code was jeans and elderly metal band t-shirts. 4″ heels worn with wiggle dresses did not blend. And there was that whole 10lbs of jiggle I had added to my wiggle during the layoff. I bought some jeans and a few casual tops, enough to last for the few months of my contract there, but I never quite got my wardrobe under control.

I spent another two months on the job market, this time wearing my jeans because a) it was winter, and b) I wasn’t making the no-waistband mistake again! I went to work for Best Bank in Town, and that was decidedly professional. Hose required. Well, none of my pre-maxi dress debacle clothes fit me anymore. I had to transition again. With the help of Ross and the Norma Kamali line at WalMart, I did okay. I had just gotten my clothes into the shape I prefer when we started our move, and I started a new job.

Guess what? Business casual.

Once again, I find myself looking through my things wondering, “What am I supposed to do with my Joan Harris Hollaway dresses now?” Because I like to blend in to my office environment, not stand out like my former high school Vice Principal, who was known for her wearing of tea-length, spangled versions of Stevie Nicks style gowns, nosebleed high heels, and prom hair to do her walk throughs during lunch hours in the cafeteria. But I also want to feel purty.

Another issue is that it is winter again, and I am freezing, and I don’t care about being cute when I am cold. I only care about being comfortable. If cute happens to happen, bully for me, but my main concern is that my toes are warm.

All that to say, I am culling my wardrobe again, trying to find what works. So far, I’ve got it down to a few nice pair of trousers, and a couple of tops. I need more tops, but I have to find what works best on me. I’ll let you know what I come up with.

Meanwhile, today I am wearing a grape colored twin set over gray trousers, with pewter maryjanes on a 2″ heel.