A little over a year ago I posted about my new obsession with navy. I had immediate plans to purchase a pair of navy slacks. But I got pregnant very soon after, and it seemed silly to buy pants I wouldn’t be able to wear. Fast forward a year, and I am back to my pre-pregnancy size (yay!) so FINALLY got my navy pants.

After a careful search, I got the Perfect Trouser Pinstripe Pants in Navy from Gap ($59.95 regular price). Y’all, these are the best pants ever. They are beautiful! The pinstripe is subtle, the cut is perfect, and the quality is very high. The reviews said they run a bit small, so I sized up and they fit perfectly. They are definitely flared, so if slim is more your style then they won’t work for you. They have a bit of stretch, so they are very comfortable and moved well. I was also impressed by how good they looked straight out of my suitcase. Plus, they don’t have to be dry-cleaned. My only problem with them is that they are quite long. If you wear heels that’s great! I don’t wear heels, so I will probably have them hemmed. They are regularly priced at $59.95 but I purchased them during a 30% off sale so they were around $40. A super deal, IMO.

Here’s how I wear navy during travel:

• No suits. I love navy suits—they are the ultimate power statement. But when it comes to airlines, they are also the best way to be mistaken for a flight attendant. Same goes for navy pants with a navy sweater. The monochromatic look is cute at the office, but you might get asked for a beverage on a plane.
• Color on top. Navy looks great with a variety of colors—green, yellow, and purple are my favorites. But it also looks great with orange and pink, if they are the right shades. I go back and forth on red—I love the way it looks, but I wonder if it’s too flag-like.

Recently I have been wearing the slacks with a cream colored camisole and my Merona green and cream polka dot cardigan. Love it!

Loooove this Old Navy hot pink geometric print blouse. They can be hit or miss for me (and there has been a long period of misses lately IMO) but this top brings it back. I would wear it with gray or navy bottoms, by itself if it’s warm enough, or under a cardigan or blazer if it’s cool. It would provide a great pop of color under suits, and the pattern will hide any wrinkles. Win!

For Blog World, I planned my outfits for weeks. I even went on a special shopping trip to get brown tights to go with my dress. Once I had those tights I felt confident that I was ready to go, with my wardrobe figured out. On the first day of Blog World, I got ready, including my tights. As I was walking to the shuttle, something started to feel “off” on my back, but I couldn’t figure out what. As the day went on, it got worse and worse, until I was scratching furiously at my back every chance I got. Finally at lunch I ran off to the ladies’ room, and discovered my new adorable brown cabled tights had a tag, and that tag was irritating the crap out of me. I thought about ripping it off, but was worried I would rip a hole in my tights. Of course I didn’t have any scissors on me. So I just took of my tights and was cold when I went outside to wait for the shuttle. (Pictured: Not the tights I wore, but adorable argyle tights from Target)

This just proved to me, once again, that while it is tempting to get new clothes for a trip, business or fun, it is just not a good idea to wear things for the first time while traveling. What if my dress had been short and I hadn’t been comfortable taking off my tights? What if it were a sweater that made me break out in a rash? Can’t remove that, can you!! Shoes are the worst. I never recommend anyone wear shoes for the very first time on a trip, because if they kill your feet you can’t do anything about it but limp. If you don’t have a lot of time, wear your new item around your house for a while, but even that isn’t ideal. Best thing to do is wear your new item out of the house for an hour or two, to see how it does. Anything awful can be returned, and anything that is fixable can be fixed. Trust me, you don’t want to get caught out with a wardrobe malfunction!!

Once the temperatures start heating up, it’s hard to wear pants every day. They can just feel so restricting and hot, especially here in the South. I love dresses and skirts, and have several that are incredibly comfortable for travel. But with TSA doing extra touchy feely patdowns, a girl can feel might exposed in a skirt. So what can a lady traveler do when she wants to wear something, anything but pants, but not get too close and personal with a TSA agent?

Bike shorts! I actually have worn bike shorts under my skirts and dresses (on travel days, anyway) for years. And once the new patdown policy came into place, it made even more sense. I have a couple of pairs that I rotate between, although they are technically “yoga shorts” (like these from Gaiam). They have the added benefit of smoothing the line of whatever I’m wearing, but are more comfortable than Spanx. Even if you don’t want to wear bike shorts the whole day, just slip them on before going through security and the slip them off when you’re done. Just takes a few minutes extra, and you don’t have to worry if you get selected for the patdown.

Macy’s has introduced “The Work Wardrobe Style Guide” with four “styles”: Corporate Chic, Dresses That Work, Business Trip, and Creative Casual. Now, you may not know this, but I am a sucker for style guides. It started back in college with Sherry Masonave’s Casual Power, continued on with the Lucky Guide to Shopping, and most recently has resulted in several purchases of various In Style books. It makes me feel hopeful and excited for travel when I see suggestions for what to pack for a weekend in the city, or how to create a business casual capsule wardrobe. Rational? Probably not. I just love the potential of having all of the “What to wear?” questions answered by a simple list.

But I digress. Of course I immediately had to look at what Macy’s considers appropriate for a 3-day business trip. And actually, they did pretty well. Their outfits consist of a suit, pencil skirt+blouse+cardigan, dress+cardigan, and jeans+trench for the travel day. I love that they included flats on their list, even though they are not shown with any of the actual business outfits.  Another thing that gets a thumbs up from me is using the cardigan twice. However, that’s the only piece they used twice. If you have read this blog for a while, you know that I am a strong believer in wearing solid basics more than once on business trips. So here is what I would have done differently:

1) Wear the suit pants instead of the skirt on Day 2.  There’s no reason to have slacks, a skirt, and a dress for a three day trip. Plus, wearing gray bottoms with the black cardigan means the cardigan+blouse+skirt combo looks less, well, suit-like. Unless that’s what you’re going for. In that case, I would suggest bringing a black suit, although I do love that gray one.

2) The Dooney & Burke pocket satchel bag is gorgeous. For a simple workday, or even a commute, it would probably be fine. But seriously–it’s white. Does Macy’s know how dirty airports are? And don’t get me started on airplane floors. This purse could easily be a bright color or even black, look just as good, and not show dirt.

3) You can get at least one more outfit out of these clothes. If your company has a “jeans Friday” policy like mine does, you could wear the dark jeans+suit jacket+flats (or heels, if that’s how you roll) for a sharp casual look.

Overall, I would give them a B+ for their efforts. I sure did enjoy looking at it though! Love that trench coat–maybe it’s time to invest in a new one?

Over the weekend I got the new TravelSmith catalog. After being sad because I don’t have a vacation planned (because the pictures are so fabulous!) I started noticing the clothes. There is some really cute stuff in there! I am loving this coral short sleeved dress. The length is perfect for work, the color is cheery for summer, the material will not wrinkle, and I LOVE the neckline. It would be perfect with a cardigan and a skinny belt over it. Great for business or casual travel .

Another great use for this dress would be on an international flight. Wear it with leggings, a cardigan, and flats, and you will be as comfortable as you would be in your PJs but look polished and put together.

TravelSmith has released its new City Shirts. I love City Shirts because they are button down, but wrinkle-free, and they repel stains. Now they come in colors! My favorite is the Lisbon in French Blue. The feminine details make it more interesting than a normal button down shirt. Granted, not all of these shirts are work appropriate, but there are several options for no-iron button down shirts.

They are also having their annual rainwear sale. Good deals to be had!