Two Ways to Style a Bow Tie Statement Blouse

Work Outfit (on the right): Blouse in Women’s Print | Size Inclusive Maroon Pleated Skirt (offered in sizes 00-24) | Black Leather Tote – old (similar) | Black Leather Flats – old (similar in beige, similar in black) | Gold Statement Watch – old (similar)

Finding a style at work can be difficult sometimes but a good colorful basic, like this pleated maroon skirt is a staple in every career woman's wardrobe.

One of the things I am trying to be more intentional about this year is shopping more from my closet rather than looking at retailers for new pieces. You may have read my post about Marie Kondo-ing my life and while I don’t always practice this, I am finding myself wanting to minimize the amount of objects/things I have in my apartment more often.

While I love finding that next great piece and I still do a ton of shopping, I am challenging myself to shop my closet first. And so, for the next couple of weeks, I am going to be sharing one item that I have styled two ways – one for the office and one for after hours. Not only is this helping me to stay accountable to shopping my closet first, but I hope that it gives you some inspiration on how to mix and match pieces that you may already own for all facets/events in your life.

Drumroll, please…….

Feeling super fierce in this statement blouse from Eloquii

This week, I challenged myself to shop my closet for plus size finds that I already had to make two different outfits from this printed blouse

Running around town doesn't have to be boring when you have this plus size statement blouse in your closet!

For the first style challenge, I wanted to wear this statement blouse because it has two of my favorite things incorporated into it – a bow/tie and a fun, bold print. When I first added it to my cart, I knew it would be perfect with a skirt for the office (maybe with a blazer thrown over it), so the challenge was to figure out how I wanted to wear it for a Saturday full of running around Houston. After wearing this blouse to my first week of work at my new job, it hit me, this blouse could easily be paired with jeans. When I got home from NYC, I tried it on with a darker wash skinny pair of jeans that I frequently wear, but it just wasn’t right. Maybe a pair of black slacks would be the right answer and I could wear it as a different office appropriate look. Nope, that didn’t work either.

As I was putting away the first pair of jeans I tried, I saw these lighter wash, distressed jeans which I picked up from Lane Bryant last fall, out of the corner of my eye. Hmm….what if the distressing of the jeans created a juxtaposition from the super girly + traditional formal top. Why not? Let’s try it! Wham bam, thank you, ma’am! It was the perfect combination – otherwise known as the mullet of fashion. 😉 The top maintained it’s preppy nature while the jeans highlighted the casual/ready to party vibe.

Now onto accessories….to be honest, once I had the jeans + top combo ready to go, I found accessorizing a lot easier. With a pair of casual leather sneakers, a tote to hold all of my essentials, including my planner to keep my organized, and a knotted headband, I could not be happier with this outfit! While it wasn’t my first thought on how I wanted to style this blouse casually, I am so glad I challenged myself to do this because I have an outfit that I now want to wear on repeat and probably will wear when I work from home next week (sans sunnies, of course).

This first week of my style challenge was definitely more trial and error than I originally thought it would be, but I am so glad that I decided to try something different because it definitely pushed me outside of my style comfort zone.

What piece of clothing do you struggle to style in different ways? I’d love to incorporate these pieces in upcoming styled two ways posts!!