Last week I was standing bleary-eyed next to the kettle at work, desperately wishing it would boil faster so I could get my morning caffeine hit. In walked the boss.
"Morning, Alex" said he.
"Morning. Tea?" said I.
"Yes please. Wow, you have distinctly mediocre shoes on today."
Sorry, what?!
He may have added "by your usual standards" but I was too busy gawping in shock to pay much heed. Sorry, what?!
I had Converse on. TWEED CONVERSE. Admittedly not as frivolous as my usual footwear but tweed shoes can never be a bad thing.
Perhaps he was swayed by the rest of my outfit? (fat jeans and a plain grey jumper aren't the most glamorous combination but at least I matched) Perhaps he's been practising opening gambits for conversations and it all went horribly wrong? He's usually rather sweet so I do hope he didn't mean it as an insult.
It got me thinking about how much my clothes provide a talking point for the gang at work. I don't think I'm the most outrageous dresser in the world but I do seem to have developed a reputation for prints and shoes. Irregular Choice heels always go down well, particularly with the girls. One of the blokes came out with the immortal but baffling line "oh you've got your prostitute shoes on today" when I was wearing my Rosepea pair.
I'm in the fun position of being able to wear pretty much whatever I want at work. My role is limited by practicality on some days - I can cope in heels when I'm doing normal amounts of walking but definitely not when I'm spending the entire day dashing round. Sensible flats, jeans and a work fleece are often the practical solution. Not exactly worth blogging about but then that's why I don't do daily outfit posts. It generally has a lot more wardrobe flexibility than most of the other jobs on site though. Dresses and lavishly decorated shoes would not be a sensible option for some of my colleagues. I reckon they like to live vicariously through my wardrobe to a certain extent and it doesn't bother me at all to be known as the work shoe queen.
Hit me with the best comment you've been given at work. I can't be the only one who is the recipient of some absolute corkers. Are the people you work with as interested by your wardrobe as my colleagues are?
When I used to work I used to wear interesting shoes too and coloured tights. I wore a lot of Irregular Choice, is that what the ones in the top pic are opposite the Converse? They are mega tweed ones :) Sam x
ReplyDeleteHaha, love this post. I think the tweed converse - but I must admit your shoes are usually what I gawp at! :)
ReplyDeletex
A colleague of mine was asked if she brought cakes in to make the rest of her colleagues fat so that she looked thin(ner)! That went down really well!
ReplyDeleteLove the converse and don't think they're 'lady of the night' shoes either!
My headteacher said to me one day, "I LOVE looking to see what you're going to wear each day, you are so versatile. One day it's 1940's lady and the next, it's Country casuals," oh and for one dress up day, I wore my turquoise Chinese satin trousers and my deputy head said, "You look like a Chinese prostitute washer lady in those!" Er-thanks!!!!!
ReplyDeleteTweed converse are definitely cool!!!x
I generally find that a lot of men have no idea about what they come out with in terms of observations/compliments. My Dad thinks he is being really complimentary when he says 'I hardly recognise you' when I'm dressed nice. What he doesn't get is that it sounds like I look like a tramp the whole rest of the time. I've got used to it.
ReplyDeleteTweed converse are all kinds of awesome.
I once caused great consternation at work when I wore my ochre yellow tights. One girl thought I had a weird fake tan(?!) and my boss said I looked like I had seagull legs. I work from home now so I can definitely wear whatever I want. Today it was green top and skirt, multi coloured polka dot tights and massive pink slippers. Classy.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first started work I didn't repeat an outfit for 14 weeks (a new personal best!) and since then I have been known as the person in the office who always wears something different which is nice :) Luckily my colleagues have only ever been complimentary (at least in earshot!)
ReplyDeleteMaria xxx