Thursday, October 7, 2010

Business Casual

Earlier this week I attended a luncheon up in Los Angeles for people who I’m going to assume had pretty deep pockets. It was a great lunch hosted by the fundraiser group for the USOC and by D.I.S.C., who is the medical provider for Olympic level athletes. From what I could gather, I was a special invited Olympic “guest”. There were two of us, a BMX athlete who actually won a silver medal in the last Olympics, and me, an Olympic… hopeful. Now, if not managed correctly the fact that I actually have not been to an Olympics yet could be a huge let down at functions like these, but I have learned over the years to shine in spite of the lack of hardware. Either that, or I lie. Let’s be honest, nobody is going to go home and google it so who am I to disappoint. (I’m mostly kidding)

So, there were a lot of important business people in their fancy business attire…and then there was me. Perhaps I got the fancy right but I think I might have missed the mark on the “business.” I have a lot of clothes. In fact, my entire wardrobe is split up in between at least three different cities and I still could go a very long time without repeating an outfit. But there are obvious holes. And these gaps become glaring any time I need to wear something that is considered “business attire”. I wear spandex to my office and I go to a church that has no dress code so I prefer shopping for items I will use or something that excites me. Business clothes are boring. They don’t make me feel fabulous and they have no real use in my wardrobe. So functions like these leave me searching frantically for something appropriate.

I figured this presented the perfect opportunity to go shopping. So I bought a new dress that I thought was cute and figured I was good to go. But when I went to get ready, I realized 4-inch heels made a real difference to the length that I never really considered in the dressing room. And my bra kept doing a peek-a-boo. Awesome. There was nothing I could do about the shoes but I did manage to fix the brassiere problem. At the last minute I decided I would at least pull my hair back because in my limited knowledge of what professional women look like, combed hair seemed to be part of the package.

The room was 97% male so I’m going to assume that nobody was that upset with what pretty much amounted to a mini dress. Not to mention, there was a huge poster sized picture of me in my infamous gold daisy dukes at the entrance, so maybe my dress seemed quite conservative in comparison. Next time I’ll do better. Maybe add some pearls…

(and if anyone has some suggestions of good stores to shop at that have appropriate clothes that are still fashionable and not all that boring, I’d love to hear them)

12 comments:

Craig said...

I NEED that gold shorts poster of you...

Unknown said...

Photos from the meeting??

Chet said...

Brianna, you are such a pretty girl....but your thumbnail on this blog does not confer it. The photo makes you look like you have fangs. You are best friends with an outstanding photographer...have JStar take a nice photo for you. Your photo should depict just how attractive you really are.
For what it's worth...
Chet

Anonymous said...

Hello???? Fashion Q!

Brianna said...

@ chet... careful what you say. jasmine took that picture...

LeolaK said...

Hi Brianna! Found your site from Jasmine's post today...great guest post by the way! I actually had the pleasure of meeting Jasmine and JD when they were in Chicago last month...great day...sincerely genuine people.

I'm not as fashionista as you and Jasmine but if there's a Black and White store in LA, that may serve you well for not to stuffy business attire.

Best of luck on your Olympic goals!

Allen W said...

Do not ever underestimate the power of a boring conservative business suit. And never fabricate anything. Maybe you have not made it to the Olympics yet, but there is a goal that you have out there and it looks like you are getting your name out there. And photos. Remember the "Value of Promotion". All a person has to do is google your name, and there is plenty of information out there. Good Luck with everything and Take Care

Vera Wangerbanger said...

Have you tried the Big and Tall store on Pico? They have lots of clothes for girls with larger behinds.

Anonymous said...

Larger behinds? Hilarious. You've got the wrong girl.

Vera Wangerbanger said...

Just saying......if a girl has a little junk in the trunk she should be proud of it. Lots of men like those kind of girls.

Unknown said...

I bet the people with deep pockets LOVED you in your short dress : )

I have the worst style ever so I can't contribute to your discussion.

Great job on Jasmine's blog today : )

#2 Fan said...

LOL...Btwn Target and H&M you should be able to put something together trust me :)