A few months ago, I stumbled across norococo, a wonderful little blog that had me instantly charmed.
In fact I developed a little bit of a blog crush on it. It is just so *pretty.* And the music — well, let’s just say I plugged my headphones in and listened for hours.
Norococo is the online home of Formus Architects project manager and graphic designer Sophorn McRae. I didn’t really know Sophorn, but I knew that anyone with a blog this stylish probably had some tips to teach us.
I don’t like to brag, but … I was right.
In this outfit, Sophorn is wearing what appears to be a lemon yellow balloon blouse with an Old Navy pencil skirt and a skinny orange belt from J. Crew. (Seriously, I am loving orange.)
Beside her is a white cardigan that she wears when it’s cold in the office, and her shoes are from Shoe-Nami. (This isn’t her office, by the way. This is in a vacant spot above her office, in the Tennessean Building in Court Square. I believe it is available for lease.)
But let’s get back to that balloon blouse, shall we?
Three year ago, she was a bridesmaid and she had to find a dress that was yellow. At the last minute, she found one at Macy’s on the clearance rack … only it was a size 10. Sophorn obviously isn’t.
For the wedding, she belted the extra material and used it to make pleats.
And now she’s found that she can tuck it into a pencil skirt and wear it to work. She says she has to be careful the end of the bridesmaid dress doesn’t peek out the bottom, but what a great idea! I love this sort of re-use.
How many of us have dresses in our closet that we never wear again? I would have never thought about using them as a blouse and wearing them to work.
Sophorn volunteered with Dress for Success for several years as a “personal shopper,” putting together outfits that were work appropriate but stylish for their clients going to interview for a job or just starting work. Seeing this, I have no doubt she did a wonderful job.
