WWW: Travel capsule

In a few days, I leave for two weeks on business (to France - across the ocean for me).  The dress code will be smart casual (everyone will be in jeans, but I'm the only female, and I don't want to look sloppy).  

I'm facing a similar challenge to the one LisaP wrote about a couple of weeks ago - my weight is higher than I'm comfortable with it being, and as a consequence, I don't like the way my clothes fit.  This makes choosing a travel capsule more challenging, because I'm hoping that the clothes I take fit well enough that I can feel confident, rather than oversized, in them.

Here's what I think I'm taking:
Bottoms:
2 pair black skinny jeans (one cropped, one full length)
1 pair cropped white skinny jeans
Possibly my blue cropped flared jeans (shown in pic #9 - should they come along?  They're comfy enough to sleep on the plane in, so they're a serious contender)

Top possibilities:
Navy silk sleeveless shirt ( pic #1)
turquoise pattern shirt (pic #2)
dark grey heathered sweater (pic #3 )
light grey

heathered

short-sleeved sweater (too similar to darker one?) (pic #4)
Turquoise blouse (pic #5)
hot pink sweater (pic #6)
cream/black/tan blouse (pic #7)
Black asymmetrical sweater (pic #8) (Should I take the pink polka-dot pants too?  I kinda don't think so)

Toppers (not shown):
black jacket (in finds, embroidered with company logo)
black cardigan (in finds, embroidered with company logo).
Company logo is silver, blue and green

Shoes: 
black loafers (not shown in any pictures)
possibly black pumps (shown, are they frumpy?)
possibly black boots (in pic #8 and #9) or another shoe.  I haven't decided yet.

Here are pictures of the outfits (with my black spiegel jacket standing in for the toppers, which will be arriving to me tomorrow).    I'd love your suggestions on which tops to take.

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WIW: playing with patterns and brights

Here's a few outfits from the past week - I've been playing with pairing brights with black in search of the perfect 'business casual' capsule (note: in my company 'business casual' means black jeans.  I know, that's super casual, but it truly is what they expect us to wear.)

I've also been playing with pattern mixing just to have fun.  

So here's what I've tried.

#1-2 black with lace, pearls and a floral scarf (in #1) The shell under the lace is purple, but I don't think you could tell even in real life - so much for adding that bright.

#3 Instead of black jeans, how about a black asymmetrical sweater with hot pink corduroys?  I think it's just as professional looking as the black jeans, personally....

#4 This one was a brights-mixing failure in my book.  The skinnies are too tight ( sad face ), and the mixed brights didn't look as intentional as I'd hoped.

#5-6 Valentine's day pattern mixing with floral pants and a window-pane sheer top.  I liked it better with the cardigan (in #5).  Pardon the tag showing in the picture.

#7 A bright pattern with black.  I like this - does it actually work, or am I kidding myself?  Is it worthy of putting in my biz-caz capsule?

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WIW: bold color pattern mixing

Here's my "kitchen-sink-lite" pattern mixing fun.  I've liked bright and bold colors recently, so this combo made me happy even if it's not the most put-together look.

Cobalt cords, bright stripes sweater with bold black/white zig zag cardigan.  Cardigan is bookended with black/white printed shoes.

#2 is how I intended to wear it
#1 is how I actually wore it, because I was chilly and liked the print combo of the black and white zig zag over the bold stripes.

It's not my favorite outfit ever, but it was comfy and cheery, and that's good enough at the moment :)

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WIW: more crops

I'm still working through how to wear (or, whether to wear) crops.  Today is the first outing for a newly-cropped pair of too-short jeans that were too comfy to toss.

I think I got the length right, but I don't feel like they're at all flattering.  Is my eye just slow to adjust, or is there something else going on that I could fix and make them work better?

(The outfit is the same in all three photos - I'm trying to figure out lighting and camera angles for when it's too cold for outdoor photos - see me shivering in #1?)

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WIW: Late to the cropped pants bandwagon

My eye has been really slow to adjust to cropped pants, and I still don't have it figured out, but I'm starting to try.

I realize that this outfit would probably be more flattering if my boots were white or my pants black, so that they elongated my leg line.  In spite of this, I still liked the outfit pretty well.  I may try it next time with a shorter, less drapey top.

What would you change?
(pic 2 shows the shape of the top better)

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WIW: Artsy Audrey (and pants length question)

Trying out two new pieces today - one in the black assymetrical tunic, that you can't see well in the picture.  I'm impressed with how warm it is, which thrills me!

The second is the crazy vest that was just so crazy I had to have it.  I'm still trying to decide if I like it.  It's subbing for a scarf, though the scarf would have been much more sophisticated.

I like the formula.

My question is with these pants (black jeans).  As is, they're just a smidge short, I think.  (Though they don't really look it in the pics, hmm... Maybe it's just me?).  I'm considering cropping them (as shown on the left).  Is that the proper length?  And would these look weird cropped to that length?

I'd also want to wear these with booties, as shown in pic 2 (and that's the length that they usually scrunch up to on my calf, shown on the right, also).

Apologies for the lack of hair care - I'm fresh out of the shower and forgot to add my headband before the pics.  Hair cut is scheduled for Wednesday!

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