A Pair of Big Girl Heels

My wardrobe in college consisted purely of jeans, v-neck T-Shirts, a baggy university sweatshirt and converses. I was lucky enough to live a 5-minute walk from campus, which meant my morning routine consisted of tossing my hair in a ponytail and running out the door with a cup of tea in hand.

I’ve never been the dress up kind of girl. While a small part inside of me loves dressing up fancy, finding that perfect little black dress or curling my hair just right, a bigger part of me loves sleep. I can’t imagine spending an hour on my hair in the morning when I could be using that hour for something much better. Like sleep.

I was frightened about entering the work world and having to slip on heels every morning before I headed to the office. My first day at my new job I agonized over my wardrobe and finally decided on a black collared shirt, grey dress pants, and a brand new pair of Two-Inch “Big Girl” heels.

Can I repeat? TWO-INCH HEELS!

I’m pretty sure those heels have only been worn once since then. I walked into the office on my first day and met my coworkers – who were all wearing flip-flops and jeans. I breathed a HUGE sigh of relief and the next day switched out my heels for a much more comfortable pair of flats.

There are moments when I cherish my companies casual dress policy. (Like today, Friday, when the boss is gone and all I wanted to do was stay in bed in my PJs). Yet, sometimes I wish there was a little bit more push to dress up for work each day. Because if I know it’s fine for me to come into work in converses and a v-neck, I will. There’s no motivation to dress otherwise.

So, I loved Work Chic’s blog about how to have Profession Style in a Casual Office.

A lot of the suggestions on both the site and the blog are a little expensive for a post-collegiate like me, but my favorite go-to substitution (Target) has a lot of options that could work. For someone whose idea of “changing things up” is to wear a zip-up instead of a hoodie, I liked the suggestion of finding “trouser style denim” and using accessories to brighten things up. Maybe it’s time I get out of the college slump and (gasp) freecycle some of those old T’s and jeans and go on a bit of a shopping spree.

Of course, what I liked the most about the article is that neither outfit mentioned any kind of killer heels. Even if I’m tiptoeing into the world of professional dress, I’ll can still tiptoe in a pair of comfy flats.