If I had to choose one word to describe this weekend, it would be shopping. And only because I spent a total of seven hours at the outlet mall on Saturday. Two of my coworkers from London flew in to Miami on Friday (we have our biannual team meeting this week) and spent the night with us so that we could hang out and go shopping in Fort Lauderdale on Saturday. And shop we did! As you probably already know, the exchange rate favors the pound over the dollar, so my coworkers were in heaven as we walked through Sawgrass Mills Mall. And honestly, so was I. I truly believe that the best deals occur after the holidays (January-March), and this shopping excursion proved it. We all walked away with some fun purchases.
So while at the mall, I came to realize something about my shopping strategy. I’m a double duty shopper. What I mean is that I try to buy things that are both work appropriate as well as weekend friendly. And if you think about it, keeping both work and play in mind while shopping is also a money saving strategy. That’s what I told Vishnu when I came home anyway!
I should mention that there is one caveat to this whole thing. Your workplace dress code. Business casual (depending on your company’s definition) is generally a little more lax, while business professional usually equates to suits. I’m lucky to work in a business casual environment in Miami. As long as you’re not coming to work in jeans and a t-shirt, no one really cares! In fact, creativity is encouraged. I’m really trying to use that to my advantage as I work on my personal style this year.
As I packed for my stay in Miami this week I picked out a few of my favorite double duty pieces to share…
This wrap dress is from the Banana Republic outlet store. Great for both work and a date night.
This dress is also from the Banana Republic outlet store. Paired with a blazer or cardigan, it’d be perfect for work. I wore it to my company’s holiday party, and I think it worked well in that setting as well.
From left to right, top to bottom: J Crew outlet store, Target, J Crew outlet store, The Loft, and The Limited.
Each of these tops work with both jeans and dress pants and can be dressed up or down for almost any occasion (note: iron before wearing!).
And finally, these plain t-shirts from the Banana Republic outlet store are awesome, awesome, awesome! They fit extremely well, and if paired with a blazer or cardigan, can be worn to work. And because they are super double duty, you are guaranteed to find me wearing one on the weekends.
I just realized that there’s one more caveat to this whole double duty thing. A lot of work appropriate blouses/dresses require you to hand wash or dry clean, and if you wear them often, this could end up being quite a pain. However, in my opinion, it’s well worth it.
Well, I hope your weekend was relaxing and fun! And here’s to another good week.
What are some of your shopping strategies? Favorite stores?
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Love your purchases and your shopping strategy sounds pretty efficient to me! At my last job, the dress code allowed jeans so I was a double duty shopper by default ;)! My favorite store is undoubtedly Zara- almost 75% of my wardrobe is from there. Now thatI think I about it, I should really be buying shares in the company ha!
I have a funny Zara story that I should probably include in a blog post. Let’s just say that the European sizing always bums me out!
I’m the same way! I do double-duty shopping for work and pleasure. Granted, I work for a not-for-profit that is relatively low key so we can wear jeans and that sort to work. Although I always keep the mantra “dress for the job you want, not the job you have”…but that doesn’t apply to Mondays 😉 haha. I love H&M, The Limited, Target and Kohls for my apparel needs. A lot of my clothes are dry clean only or hand wash only too, but it doesn’t seem to add any extra time since the dry cleaners is on the way home from work and the washer has a hand wash setting 🙂 You have such a cute style Par! I love it! Very chic!
Thank you! I’m really trying to take my “style” up a notch this year…
Unfortunately that strategy doesn’t apply to me, my style at work and out of work is very different since I work in a bus professional and very conservative environment and on the weekends I like to be trendy and colorful, aka the complete opposite! So my shoes and clothes have a very clear divide between work and play and the two rarely overlap. Only jewelry brings out my personality and goes with both sides. Now, this post makes me want to go shopping….
Oh great point! Jewelry can be double duty as well. Most of my necklaces are both work and weekend friendly.
Great finds Parita! I was just at a Banana outlet a couple months ago and thought they had more options than regular Banana!
Though I work at the same place as Mila (only on the West Coast), I tend to push the borders of business casual into business fun 😉 …meaning, stilettos, brighter colors, patterns, etc.
I find that to be true as well. And you really can’t be outlet prices!
I miss shopping. I’m on a strict lockdown. Looks like you have some great pieces though!
I am now officially on shutdown as well. At least for a month or two 🙂
I am definitely a double duty shopper. I usually wear business casual to work and esp buy tops that is fun yet appropriate for work. Most of my tops are from Loft, Banana Republic and Limited and usually pair them with blazer and i also get away with fun tank tops, sleeveless blouse because I wear lab coats at work and its a big advantage. I loved that banana republic cardigan- so cute and chic.
Where do you find your blazers? I’ve been looking for a couple of work friendly ones and always have a hard time with the fit.
I love that wrap dress!! Outlet stores are the best! so much quality stuff, but so cheap!
cute pics P. sometimes i’ll get cute sleeveless tops and pair them up with a blazer for work. looks really cute. favorite stores are zara and mango. sometimes i’ll get a steal at forever21. 🙂
Love Mango! I wonder if there’s one in Miami!
We have a dress code of “modern professional” which is quite broad in its terms – some people wear full suits, some are a lot more creative with their outfits. I stopped wearing suits about 6 months into my job because I hated the restrictiveness to it and i like to show a bit of my personality through my outfits. Double-duty it def the way to go 😀