As the name of my blog suggests, I’ve had quite the relationship with pencil skirts. I utterly loathed the first pencil skirt I ever tried on. It was black, to my knees, loose fitting and saggy in all the wrong places and came with a similarly ill fitting, perfectly matching, blazer. (I happen to only be 5′ 1, so you can image just how unfortunate this really did look on me!) I put this pencil skirt on in a department store and remember dreading my first day of work because of it. Used to wearing ripped jeans and silk blouses with plunging necklines, I was ill prepared for my new corporate look. After my first week of my brand new job, I rushed over to my tailor and demanded the skirt be taken in by at least two sizes and shortened to right ABOVE my knees. I quickly learned that my idea of “professional” was actually making me look young and inexperienced. Fast forward a few months where I discovered this ILO “pencil skirt” with its white leather trim and found a whole new relationship with pencil skirts – a relationship I loved. Professional does not have to mean frumpy. Professional does not have to make us feel bad about ourselves and the way we look. And professional can be empowering. I have since built a wardrobe of “not your average pencil skirts” and feel confident. proud, and motivated every day when I put them on. This one just happens to be my favorite!
TOP: Claudie Pierlot/ SKIRT: ILO/ SHOES: Jean Michel Cazabat