Suit Up

Finally - a real post! I'm ashamed that it's taken me so long, seeing as this blog is in no way a chore.

I'm slightly under the weather today, so I spent the afternoon ogling photos from magazine editorials at Faking Fashion. A particular Vogue Russia shoot featuring Ali Michael at her most adorable caught my eye:

At first, the thought that dominated my brain was, "Awwww," but after a moment I was able to look beyond Ali's cute antics and the tux-clad chimp, finally noticing the way the clothes were styled.

Business suits carry a lot of stigma for me. They make me think of dull office jobs, of uniformity and dress codes, of clunky briefcases and murky cups of coffee. Therefore, the fact that the above photos, all of which feature suits, are undeniably fun sets off a bit of a you-better-take-note-of-this alarm in my head.

So, how does one spice up a suit?

♥ A good start is to get yourself a brightly colored suit. Not absolutely necessary, but every little bit helps.

♥ Ditch the plain shirt underneath the jacket for a graphic t-shirt, or layer the t-shirt over the plain collared shirt. Please note that the look is now casual, and no longer appropriate for certain jobs.

♥ Accessorize! Driving gloves, chunky jewelry, belts, ties and bowties, hats - pile 'em on! I especially like a long belt looped around a pencil skirt and brightly colored fingerless driving gloves.

♥ Wearing basic pumps? Swap 'em for something wild to complete the look.

I was determined to take my own advice, so I dragged out my mom's old collection of '80s suits for a bit of experimentation. No pictures, because my room was sweltering and I gave up before I was satisfied with any one outfit, but I did learn that a fairly wide, below-the-knee length pencil skirt looks amazing with a studded belt giving it a paper bag waist. Yowza.

To make up for my lack of photos, I did a bit of editing to show you how much cooler Vivian could look in Pretty Woman. I mean, I liked the original outfit, but it didn't have a lot of personality. . .

See what I mean? I've gotta do some more experimenting. . .