Not a Blogger: A Corporate Fashun Blog

With spring upon us (liar. It’s still effing freezing. Spring is not upon  us at all), we three working girls got into a debate: is the sunscreen in your makeup enough, or do you need to wear sunscreen in addition to your makeup? Katie 2 was alone in her belief that you should always wear sunscreen, regardless of whether your makeup has SPF in it. (Disclaimer: she doesn’t always do it, just like she doesn’t always get her oil changed at 3,000 miles. Sometimes it’s a little closer to 3,500. But she tries…) One thing we were all in agreement on is that sun damage is not cool. We know that SPF is important (especially for Elizabeth and Katie 2, who are PALE. This is the first time in Katie 1’s life where she hasn’t been included in the definition of PALE. Awesome). But how much do you need? After all, we are adults who spend the vast majority of their time indoors during daylight hours #working. I mean, we have SPF in our skincare, primer, foundation, and powder. That’s enough, r...

Did you know that the internet is more than just kitten videos? (Katie 2 would like to say that goat videos are vastly superior to cat/kitten videos.) I know- we're shocked. Other things we find shocking? How atrociously bad a lot of the "career advice" available online is. This is especially true when it comes to shoes. We think we've previously mentioned that work appropriate shoes were one of our biggest struggles when it came to dressing for our careers early on. There were many factors that contributed to this being such a struggle but one of the biggest was the fact that we're pedestrian commuters. Learning the difference between commuting shoes and office shoes proved harder than it seems. Also, because there is so much hostility surrounding work shoes on workwear blogs (looking at you, Corporette!) and commuting in what's comfortable and changing at the office it was especially hard to figure out what is truly inappropriate and what out of touch anony...

Orangetheory Fitness is all the rage. When high intensity internal training (HIIT) came onto the scene with a vengeance, OTF was one of the first studios to really gain traction. Around our office, several women rave about it. As does Heather Dubrow. So we decided to try it for ourselves, since Orange Theory locations are everywhere. We each went separately, so as to not impact the other's opinion with our own. Our experiences were fairly similar, and surprisingly we all ended up with very similar opinions. A quick note to start: Orangetheory offers a free class your first time, but this offer is only available at your local studio. For most people that isn't an issue, but it was a little annoying for Katie 2 when she wanted to try the class when she went to Michigan to visit family for the weekend.  You can go online to get information or you can just show up at the studio and tell them you want to try a class. They will let you know what class is available. Once you...

We've already talked to you about getting a waterproof coat for outdoor workouts .  And we've talked about trench coats . And while we stand by our love for the tench because of its versatility, we think that sometimes, you just need a raincoat.  Today we are showing you our favorite rain coats for spring, whether you're into the neutral utilitarian look, or something a bit more fun and exciting. As always, we like a wide variety of price points. Frugal (under $100) When talking rain coats, London Fog is a timeless classic. This coat is somewhat utilitarian looking, but completely classic in both khaki and navy.  We've already talked to you about Everlane . If you're looking for something to try from the retailer, go with the The City Anorak .  The price of this coat  from British retailer Marks & Spencer already falls in the "Frugal" category, but when you find it's really three coats (two that combine together to make a third), you...

As our recent posts have been indicating, spring is in the air. We are all adjusting to the time change (daylight savings is a bitch) and the official start of spring is a week away so the thought of any vestiges of winter are currently abhorrent to me (Elizabeth) even if the weather is still in the 30s most of the time. One way to telegraph “spring” even when you can’t choose a flowy dress and bare legs (because you would freeze to death), is to change up the colors you are wearing and your makeup.    OK, so spring makeup trends. I have been told it is not good enough to suggest lighter brighter colors, even though that really is the simple truth. ("Florals? For spring? Groundbreaking.") I assume that also means I can’t just tell you that the Pantone color of the year is Ultra-Violet and send you out to buy purple everything. So this weekend I attended one of my favorite Nordstrom events (which we have discussed before ): the Beauty Trend Show. H...

You may have caught on by now that we’ve been constantly expanding on our Shoes Every Woman Needs guide by providing you with recommendations based upon type. So far, we’ve discussed (1) Neutral pumps ; (2) Black pumps ; and (3) Evening Shoes . With spring on the horizon, we're all sick of the black pumps + tights look that tends to be our uniform during the winter months so we thought now would be a good time to discuss another one of the more controversial additions to our original essential shoe list: red and metallic pumps. Because of their versatility, we believe that red and metallic shoes fall firmly within the neutral shoe category. Metallics can literally be paired with any color combination and red looks great with black, navy, charcoal, purple, leopard print, etc. In fact, Katie 1 finds red to be such a versatile shoe that she has multiple pairs of red shoes (3 pairs of pumps and 2 pairs of flats to be exact). Additionally, metallic shoes can also be dressed down f...

We told you we would review Everlane, so we here we are reviewing Everlane! For those of you that aren't familiar (are you living under a rock ??), Everlane is the darling of oh so many bloggers and online articles. It came on the scene in 2011 with the philosophy of "Exceptional quality. Ethical factories. Radical transparency." Here's how they explain: Exceptional Quality: The clothes are designed to last, so they source only the finest materials. Ethical Factories: The company does a lot of researching before selecting factories. And even after choosing the factory, the company follows up with "compliance audit(s) to evaluate factors like fair wages, reasonable hours, and environment." Radical Transparency: Learn exactly how much it costs to produce what you're buying. For each item, the site breaks down the cost of materials, labor, transport, duties, and hardware to determine the "true cost" of the item. Then it compares the Ever...

The weather is (finally) changing for the better. If you need some advice on dressing for the mercurial temperatures, go back and take a look at our post on winter workouts because Katie 1 did a great breakdown of what layers you should be wearing. Today we want to talk about rain. After many months of indoor workouts, we are finally ready to feel the wind in our hair and the sun on our faces. But it seems that every time we schedule an outdoor run, the skies open up and and drop a bucket of rain on our heads. Katie 2 is preparing for an April race, so outdoor runs are a necessity at this point. But how can you make it bearable to be outside? Here are some of our tips: Stay away from cotton. Period. But especially when it comes to your feet. Wet feet make everything miserable, but wet socks will make your feet miserable long after the workout ends (hello blisters!). We recommend these UnderArmour no show socks that are 97% polyester and 3% elastane. They are Katie 2's go-to ...

We're back with another "Where We Really Shop". It's been a while since we let you in on our own shopping habits, so if you're new to the blog or don't remember, go back and check out Parts 1 and 2 of the series. This time around, we want let you in on our little secret about the lesser known side of a classic workwear brand for preppy and working women everywhere: Brooks Brothers. When looking for timeless, quality pieces, many people recommend the American brand, and we completely agree. But when we were young(er) working women, the prices were out of our league. Even now, we still think their prices can be a bit steep. Enter Red Fleece . Rolled out in 2013 and previously known as the University Collection, Red Fleece touts its youthful touch, modern fits, and friendly prices. But it isn't just for the under-25 crowd. The line offers trendier cuts, colors, and details while staying true to the tenants of the Brooks Brothers brand. In terms of pr...

It's been a while since we've gone back to the basics . Today we plan to get back into talking about the pieces that we come back to over and over again , that make up the foundation of a working girl's wardrobe. Elizabeth took some convincing, because she is of the opinion that our focus today (the basic white t-shirt) is not a work wear piece. That inspired us to make today's post a two-fer: a discussion of basic pieces and a new series (man, do we love a post series ) where we each wear the same piece in our own unique style. We hope this new series will give you a little insight into our different styles, as well as give you some styling tips at you might not ordinarily think of. We agree that a basic white T may not be appropriate for all offices all the time. But we also are here to make the argument that professional women should own at least a few basic white t-shirts anyway, because they are incredibly versatile, comfortable, and can actually be dressed up ...