09 October 2007

The only way to get away with wearing a work mini

Even though it's presently 35 degrees too warm to even think about heavy-knit tights, there's something very alluring about the delayed gratification that comes from buying an item you can't enjoy quite yet, isn't there?

So in the spirit of such purchases, ladies, here is a collection of the one accessory that affords you the right to wear that right-on-the-edge-of-inappropriate sweater mini on which you spent way too much money to just wear after work and on the weekends:

Leaves tights by Wolford ($62 at barneys.com)
Optical diamond tights (£10 at topshop.com)
Pointelle tight ($18.50 at delias.com)
Ribbed tights by Rebecca Taylor ($48 at pinkmascara.com)
Lurex tights by HUE ($11 at nordstrom.com)*
Opaque tights by HUE ($11 at southmoonunder.com)
Leopard tights ($38 at freepeople.com)***
Textured rib tights ($28 at freepeople.com)
Dot sweaterknit tights by Sparkle & Fade ($18 at urbanoutfitters.com)
Cable-knit tights by Sparkle & Fade ($18 at urbanoutfitters.com)
Matte opaque 80 tights by Wolford ($52 at saks.com)
Chain-print tights by Spanx ($28 at spanx.com)

*your Editrix's top picks
**clearly, not a work-appropriate choice, but wouldn't they be may-jah with this and these?

28 comments:

Anonymous said...

You would like those trashy leopard tights. Very fitting.

Anonymous said...

oh and also, I don't think your legs need a big print on them. not slimming, ya know?

Anonymous said...

I'm still waiting for a pic of Not Impressed's legs squeezed into a pair of Johanna's size ST [super teeny] Rich & Skinny's. Or, more likely, video of her vain attempts to get a single toe in 'em.

Guaranteed funnier than Britney trying to park her car.

Unknown said...

Best places for tights is definitely Marshall's/TJ Maxx. Not quite the elegant shopping experience, but name brand sweater tights, $6! Fun patterns, bright colors, you name it - they're both gold mines. And at $3-8 a pop, I can clad my legs and still afford skirts. Oh, Target too, but the quality's not as good.

(... I could totally make that sweater mini work for the office. And with a flattish boot in winter? ahhh.)

Anonymous said...

"k" cracks me up!

And I love the first Wolford pair!

Anonymous said...

Not Impressed,
Serious question--why do you read this site? I'm not being flip. Help me understand why someone comes day in and day out to a site that they clearly hate, written by a person whom they clearly detest from afar, and takes the time to write over and over about how loathesome it is to them. I'm all ears...

Anonymous said...

The red cable knits are a great flash back to those wooly white cable knit tights I wore with my saddle shoes in first grade.
Love them!

Anonymous said...

Ooooh, those ones from Barney's are delicious! Too bad they cost about as much as my last skirt purchase.

Got the wine colored MJ's in the mail yesterday and they are, as you've said, amazing.

Anonymous said...

Not sure if I should be embarassed to admit it, but I was in Forever 21 at the weekend and they have some pretty nice tights for $6 too.

Kiki said...

I love Filene's for tights. I just can't justify paying full price for them, although I do love hanging out in Nordstrom's hosiery dept.

Anonymous said...

I just like reminding our "perfect" little Johanna that not everyone is her fan and that not everyone thinks she's as smart, beautiful and witty as she so obviously thinks she is. I wouldn't normally stick around and read something so vapid and unentertaining, but I feel like I'm doing a public service by keeping her ego in check.

that's why I keep coming back, "bridal bird." maybe you should spend less time worrying about me and more time planning your seating arrangements.

Anonymous said...

Not impressed, you're so entertaining, I do hope you keep coming back :-)

Johanna, I absolutely love the leopard print tights with the may-jah outfit you've chosen. So cute.

Also, I agree about shopping for tights at Marshall's. Some things I'm happy to pay full price for. While I love them, tights aren't included in this group.

Meg said...

I do like the leggings, but I wouldn't consider them work appropriate with a mini (at least at most places. Leggings send a very "young and trendy" message. That's great after work or on the weekends, but it's not the message to send if you want to be taken seriously at work. Of course, it's definitely better than wearing just the mini to work ;)

Meg said...

Teek,

I love, love, love T.J. Maxx! I've bought clothes and shoes there then seen them weeks later at higher end stores for much higher prices.

Anonymous said...

Meg, how do you feel about a professional, simple black pencil skirt, a conservative blouse and tights? I've seen women in my office, which is very corporate, sporting this ensemble and they look very work-appropriate. Remember, though, these are tights we're talking here, not leggings.

See the picture on this page as an example of what I'm talking about:


http://www.anntaylorloft.com/catalog/department.jsp?N=1200047&categoryId=245

Johanna said...

Meg-

To be clear, I'm not promoting mini skirts in the workplace, only saying that if you've got a skirt or dress that's a wee bit shorter than you'd normally wear to work, a pair of opaque tights can make the difference between inappropriate and appropriate.

My fault for using the term "mini" in the post's title.

best,
J

Anonymous said...

Trust me, Not Impressed, as the proprietress of a bridal blog, I know from vapid. But I'm surprised that you're willing to assume the heavy burden of keeping Johanna's ego in check. And such a thankless task at that, what with people making fun of you all the time. Why soldier on with no reward? I mean we can all see that there's been not one iota of difference in her writing tone or subject, despite your Herculean watchdog campaign.

It's not so much that I worry about you as it is that I'm intrigued by you. But you're definitely right. "What makes Not Impressed tick?" is a question that keeps me up far more nights than whether or not I've seated Nana Bridalbird too close to the bar or the band. My priorities for how to spend my life are terribly out of whack I suppose.

Anonymous said...

I love these tights in theory, but is it just me or do many of them make even the model's legs look, well, um, not as thin as they probably are? How do I find ones that will be OK on my definitely-not-model legs?

Anonymous said...

I'm a little worried Jo might slam this suggestion, but what about fishnets? Not hooker-esque fishnets, but small and subtle fishnets - perhaps in beige or gray? Obviously not with a mini-skirt (again, hooker-esque) but maybe with a pencil skirt? *wonders whether Jo and the gang are pro fishnets*

Unknown said...

Unfortunately for not impressed some annonymous person on the Internet isn't going to keep Johanna's ego, if she has one, in check. Only people she knows and respects can do that.

What I catch are the words "public service." Perhaps Johanna's ego can only be fully realized by expressing herself in a blog, but not impressed can only satisfy her/his ego by performing the public service of degrading others. That no one appreciates this must be frustrating but perhaps if not impressed keeps slamming Johanna we'll all see the light and not impressed can feel satisfied in success.

Johanna said...

Anonymous 4:36-

I'm all about the fishnets as long as they are *extremely* tightly knit (i.e., you'd have to look reeeeally closely to see the netting) and provided everything else you're wearing that day is demure. What I often did last Winter to stay warm but still wear my fishies was wear a pair of opaque tights underneath them. It looked especially hawt when I'd vary the color combos, for example a wine tight with a brown fishnet and a brown wool high-waisted skirt and my rosette peeptoes. Delish!

Yes, yes, I'm on-board for the peeptoes/tights look, but I don't expect everyone to ride with me.

best,
J

p.s. BridalBird, you are one sasskitten I won't be messing with anytime soon. So really, I can sneak the MiLi under my ruffled-neck Lanvin mini? That's totes permissible with Nana?

Anonymous said...

Nana will likely pass on to you her Prohibition-era hooch smuggling tips, dear.

Anonymous said...

Bridelbird, I happen to enjoy Not Impressed’s blatant but faithful messages. She totally has it in for Johanna, but in a very tiny way, she’s impressed, hence she always comes back—but that doesn’t mean that she has to agree with everything that Johanna says. In fact, that’s a literary device known as CONTRAST that draws the audience, and usually it works like this: good vs. evil, black vs. white, Cinderella vs. the Evil Step Sisters, republicans vs. democrates, older men vs. younger women, etc, etc. I happen to enjoy Not Impressed’s biting sarcasm. It adds edginess to this blog, and half of the times, I go back and forth between Johanna and Not Impressed, and don’t know whom to believe. Men watch boxing, and I watch fashion feuds. Fashion is about gossip, dissenting voices, and catfights. Grow up. If you can’t handle the heat, get out of the dressing room, and take the frumpy jumper skirt with you.

Anonymous said...

But Joanna, NI isn't exactly feuding with Johanna over her taste in tights here. Every comment NI makes is a personal attack and has nothing to do with substance of the post. That's why (I'm assuming) people like BridalBird, Dave and myself find her comments completely baseless and her presence on this blog curious.

And then there you go insulting BB in NI's signature style (read: immature).

Can't we just talk about the fashion and leave Johanna's legs and ego out of a single day's comments?

Anonymous said...

Well said Anon 11:41, well said!

Anonymous said...

Joanna, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that a defense of someone whose only point on this blog is to launch curious personal attacks would come from someone who launches curious personal attacks. I hope you are happier in life than your comment here indicates.

Meg said...

Noelle,

I'd say that it's alright for the office. I love the outfit itself.

It would be smart, though, to take a look around the company. If you're looking to climb the corporate ladder, always pay close attention to what the women in charge wear. If they would wear tights, then they're fine. If you never see them in tights, then they might be too much for that specific company. It's not that people with different styles can't climb the ladder, but rather that what you wear tells people which social groups you belong to or aspire to.

Meg said...

Johanna,

Thanks for the clarification :)