A Week in my Co-Worker's Style

If you didn't know already, I am an engineer. Being an engineer, and working in an office in general, doesn't always provide the most exciting of atmospheres on a day to day basis and, due to my aversion to the mundane, I periodically need to create opportunities to entertain myself (and those around me). In October, it was dressing up for Halloween. I actually succeeded in getting a few people in my office to join me in dressing up.  I was a scarecrow.

 

Somewhere along the way in the past few weeks to months I got it in my head that I wanted to dress up as a few guys at my job, not to be spiteful or mean, I just thought it would be fun. I picked 5 guys that, to me, have very distinct styles and pieced together outfits from my closet, with the help of my husband, that I though represented their individual styles...

My first project was Thomas:

I would describe Thomas' style as a cross between metrosexual and hipster.  He's usually the dressiest guy in our office, looking like a clothing ad from GQ Magazine. In the picture above I actually think I'm dressed more like the usual Thomas than Thomas is (I blame it on the fact that he came in earlier than usual that day, so he was a bit more casually dressed than he would have been if it were a normal day).

I'm wearing an American Rag button up and paired it with a tie from my husband's closet. I chose black jeans because they helped me create a stylish outfit but keep it young and fresh. The shoes were the closest I could find in my closet to loafers. And although I don't believe Thomas wears loafers, they're the closest thing I have to men's dress shoes, plus I thought they completed the outfit.

Next up, Anthony:

I'm not quite sure I can articulate Anthony's style in words because I don't really know what to call it. Anthony's style is very simple, he usually has a neutral base with a pop of color. I went with the grey men's sweater from Banana Republic with a coral polo underneath and paired it with (my version of) a simple black dress pant. Anthony alternates between blue jeans and dress pants so I could have paired this outfit with jeans too if I wanted. The shoes I'm wearing are black booties from Target, mostly to make me taller like Anthony. 

 If I had it to do over again I probably would have gone with a purple polo, I dont think I've ever seen Anthony in a red shirt, unless it was an OU polo...


Wednesday was Brad:

We almost matched that day!

I would describe Brad's personal style as eclectic, although he doesn't necessarily dress eclectically from day to day. I should actually say that Brad has eclectic pieces that complement his style, his most notable, the bow-tie.  Any time I've ever seen Brad dress up for an event, meeting or just to feel snazzy around the office, he is sure fire to be wearing a bow-tie. He also has a wooden bow-tie that he's worn to work! (Hence, eclectic pieces..) I don't actually own a bow-tie and neither does my husband, so for this outfit I just made a bow and tied it around my neck using ribbon. I actually made two (the other shown below), because I can get pretty indecisive, and ended up going with the lace. Both will soon be re-purposed into hair bows for one of my nieces.

For my 'Brad-outfit' I wore a floral denim button down and paired it with a khaki colored sweater over it. Brad is pretty casual and goes for stylish comfort so I paired that with a pair of blue jeans and my canvas Tom's. And of course, the bow-tie finish.

Next, Cody:

For Cody, I had to take it a step further and assume a character. The most notable thing in Cody's style is his beard, and if you can't tell Cody's a ginger.. Being that I am obsessed with craft projects and also being weird, coupled with the fact that I have little shame and don't embarrass too easily, I had to do the beard..

I made the beard using cotton balls that I dipped in a bowl that had water, orange food coloring and paprika. I blow dried the cotton balls with my hair drier and proceed to hot glue my beard into fruition. For Cody's clothing style, he is very casual so I decided to go with a tee similar to one that he wore often (his said "keep calm, and chive on") and paired it with jeans and black sneakers. The beard definitely made the outfit though..

Last but not least, big boss-man Phil:

Yes, Phil is our boss. He was undoubtedly the outfit I was most excited to wear all week, which is why I saved it for last. Unfortunately, Phil was out of the office that Friday so he didn't get a chance to see me dress up as him, sadface. Phil's style is pretty simple, mainly because he's like an urban cowboy. He's usually in a button down, polo, or sweater and that is always, always paired with a pair of blue jeans and cowboy boots so it was pretty easy to choose my outfit.

For the top, I went safe with one of our company's Nike Golf polo's and paired that with a pair of blue jeans with a semi-worn look and my brown boots, which are not actually cowboy boots but they were the closest I was getting without buying a pair.

Dressing up as some of my male co-workers was the little jog I needed to get me out of my little wintertime funk. It's really easy to let the stresses of adulthood bog you down so it's good to remind yourself  to have fun in whatever you do, even at work! I hope my co-workers found my tribute to their style as entertaining as I did. Hopefully no one shows up in a skirt & blouse next week dressed up as me...

xoxo,

Cass

Random fact for the day: 

On this day (February 9) in 1971, pitcher Leroy "Satchel" Paige becomes the first Negro League veteran to be nominated for the Baseball Hall of Fame.