Not a Blogger: A Corporate Fashun Blog

Yes, we know it's supposed to be Shoesday Tuesday; however, in planning our posts for 2018, we realized 2 things: (1) that we were quickly running out of substantive Shoesday Tuesday posts (and we want our Shoesday Tuesday posts to have some substance); and (2) we have a fair number of travel related posts that we wanted to feature. As a result, we're going to start splitting our Tuesday posts between shoes and travel. We hope you enjoy!  To be fair, we initially were going to introduce Travel Tuesday w/ a Shoesday Tuesday crossover discussing our favorite shoes for travel. The flu determined that post wasn't going to happen so here we are introducing Travel Tuesday with advice on how to pack for a ski vacation. #lifehappens Given that we've recently discussed how to survive winter workout s and Katie 1 is going to Lake Tahoe in late February or early March (dates are still being discussed) we felt like now is a good time to discuss what she's planning on ...

I (Katie 2) hate Valentine’s Day. When I was single, people always said I hated it because “I had no one special”, which always pissed me off. Now that I am in a relationship, I can unequivocally say that I still hate it. Why? I don’t want someone to show their affection for me because the calendar says they should. If you love me and want me to feel special, please send me a card, or buy me a present, or take me to dinner on a random day. I acknowledge that some of you may disagree with my sentiments and are searching your brains and the internet to find the perfect Valentines plans and/or gift for your significant other. Look no further! I have compiled some date ideas and gifts that don’t make you want to gag. DATES I’m going to say dinner, but don’t pick someplace romantic or typical. Use a website like The Thrillist to find a place you’ve never been and is a little unusual, either in terms of the type of food or the location. If it’s good, you have a new place in rot...

For this week's Workout Wednesday, we've decided to keep with the surviving winter theme because why not? Also a lot of our favorite workout gear retailers are having good sales right now.  We all know that winter is the time of year when most of our workouts are focused on the indoors because it's cold outside. However, that can get really boring really quickly and we're often drawn to the winter wonderland that's just outside our door. Besides the boring factor, sometime winter workouts become necessary evils if you are training for a spring marathon or half marathon. Let's not forget that besides outdoor runs, there's also a plethora of winter sports to enjoy so let's learn to get outside and embrace the cold!  To be fair, some of us here at Not a Corporate Fashun Blog embrace the cold more enthusiastically than others (Katie 1 is our resident winter sports fan and the author of this post for obvious reasons) but all three of us run outdoors thr...

Let's take a minute to discuss fast fashion, because it's everywhere. While we recognize there are some major ethical issues associated with the retailers (intellectual property rights, abusive labor practices, the environmental impact to name a few), we admit that we do fall in the fast fashion trap more than we'd like to admit. While our forays into fast fashion are usually for non-work clothing, occasionally those impulse buys do find their way into our work wardrobe which brings us to our newest series - Can you really shop at.... *insert fast fashion chain*.  Some general observations about incorporating fast fashion into your wardrobe? Try and mix high and low. Some of our favorite corporate style bloggers and Instagrammers are seriously amazing at pairing a $5 dress with a Chanel bag, costume jewelry, and Manolos. Our style icon the Duchess of Cambridge is quite adept at this too. Anyone can dress in head to toe designer clothing and look amazing. Mixing high an...

This is an idea that we've been tossing around since we started the blog: a post featuring honest answers to questions that we've all asked at some point in our adult lives. This isn't an "Ask the Expert" beauty post (although we've got a fun one coming up so stay tuned), this post is a barometer to determine how gross we really are.   Here are our answers to 3 basic "how often do you" questions. We've also provided expert answers to explain how often you should do these things. Note - Elizabeth has the flu and is not participating in this post. 1. How often do you wash your bras?   Katie 1 - I'm not 100% sure.  I've got a number of bras in rotation and I don't wear the same one every day but I end up washing a load of bras probably every month or so....  Katie 2 -   I agree on the "I'm not sure" front. I don't do laundry regularly (except sheets), so whenever I decided to do the wash, I wash everyt...

[We know the title of this post is a little misleading because just about ALL SHOES are fun, but go with it.] We are back today with Shoes Every Woman Needs recommendations. When we introduced the category in the initial post, we all pretty much agreed that a woman should have an animal print shoe in her arsenal. Katie 2 and Elizabeth also each showed a floral pair they already own. We are here today to give you all sorts of recommendations of fun shoes to kick up your fun factor! Frugal (less than $100) In the initial post of shoes every woman needs (and since) we have sang our praises for leopard print. We hope by now you have invested in some leopard print for your wardrobe, so we will take this opportunity to suggest some snake skin instead. Normally these would fall into the mid-line category, but lucky you! These Cole Haan Amelia Grand Pumps are on sale!  Katie 2 loves black and white so these glen plaid pumps may be hers in the near future   (Katie 1 a...

We are now almost two weeks into the new year and well entrenched in winter. With the holidays behind us and no vacations on the horizon, now is the time people start getting the winter blues. The number one surefire way to combat the winter blues is to escape to sunshine, but that isn’t always an option (hello real world schedules and real world bank accounts). So for those of us who actually have to continue on with our lives, we’ve come up with some suggestions to combat your post-holiday funk. Surprise! Someone that isn’t Elizabeth is going to suggest a make-up fix: invest in a new lipstick. Lipstick is a fast, easy way to brighten up your look and you will be pleasantly surprised at the compliments you will get when you go a little outside your comfort zone in terms of color. If you don’t stray too far, you can wear the color during the work day. Katie 2 suggests going with a super moisturizing lipstick to help combat chapped lips. Added bonus: if it feels nice, you will be m...

We had several great ideas for our first Workout Wednesday of the new year, including trying a new workout and sharing our thoughts. We were going to try out SWEAT, but realized that they are only offered here in Chicago, which isn't much help to those of you not here. But while perusing their website, we came across a section called "On-the-Go Workouts" . The page lets you pick from nine different categories, based on your location and what equipment is available to you.  Each category offers six different workouts. That's 54 new workout series you can try for free! So if you're on the go, or looking to jump start your fitness, or just looking to mix it up, try it out and let us know what you think! We may still end up trying SWEAT, and we will let you know what we think if we do. But in the meantime, this may be a good way to cross train.

The Weather Channel now has a program called the Frozen States of America , or something like that.  Here in Chicago the temperatures haven’t risen above 20°F in at least 2 weeks.  Needless to say, it’s f*cking cold outside and the temperatures inside our office are akin to Las Vegas in July.  Not only does this create issues with how to dress but the air is so dry that it can wreak havoc on our skin and hair.  So… what’s the best way to deal?  We’re not 100% sure but here are some things that work for us.  Let’s discuss the temperature differences first shall we? Let’s be obvious here: layers are your friend. This is earth shattering advice we know, kind of like florals for spring (Hello, Miranda Priestly). What’s important to note here is how to layer appropriately so that you’re comfortable both on your commute and in the office.  What layers are essential?  Outerwear:  Heavy duty winter coat (Which we discussed here . Not...

We would like to take this moment to acknowledge that we suck and missed a post on Tuesday- sorry! Rest assured the planned post was full of valuable information and was exceedingly witty. But just like all of you, it is taking us a bit of time to get back into the swing of things after the holiday season and vacations. We promise to do a better job sticking to our posting schedule in the future. (Katie 1 would like to take this opportunity to apologize for the lack of posting on Tuesday. She was supposed to write Tuesday's post but had the plague and was home in bed.) Today, we are back to our Back to Basics series with a discussion on Katie 2's favorite basic (OK, that's a lie because all basics are Katie 2's favorite basics) and the ultimate power piece: the jacket. You can go online and read endless articles about how the power suit is dead (or dying), but we want  to make the case for why the blazer is still a very relevant piece of your wardrobe for work an...