Last one for the year! (Dec 22)

Well, she made it to Christmas, even if she had to break out the sweaters. Not the favorite items in our hero's deep closet, but good for the season. Any port in a storm, I say!

Today's number, it must be admitted, does fall a bit further into the ugly-Christmas-sweater category, though Helen jazzes it up with red shoes and festive necklace. A white turtleneck sets off the snowflakes and snowmen on the sweater, and to round it off, we've got our office holiday wreath in the background.

See you next year!

Christmas Sweaters! December 20, 2011

OK, we're a bit behind here, what with the holidays and all, but since Helen is keeping this up, so are we.

Today we have the first of perhaps not many, but some, Christmas sweaters (which really aren't all that bad looking, so I hesitate to call them ugly).

I'm not sure why Helen is making that face, but I do know that we are awash in chocolate Christmas goodness, all free for the taking, as visitors to the office know. The sweater is, I think, an understated and playful black-on-white/white-on-black snowman button-up, worn over a white turtleneck, and accompanied by a black skirt and stockings with black shoes. I'm not sure we've seen too many white or even light-colored tops, but we'll have to hit the archives on that one.

Winding down - Monday (Day 57)

This is our last week of work before the holiday break, which I'd call the home stretch, but as an extended metaphor I don't think that works well for our hero.

Today I'm going right for the accessory: Helen, as you may have noticed, Dear Reader, is a fan of the scarf, and this is a great one. Offsetting a long-sleeved fuchsia top over black pants and shoes, the scarf starts our week in grand style.

Stay tuned for a festive five days!

Friday!

Another week successfully completed!

Helen surely has some Friday-night Fun planned with the grin she's wearing in today's photo. Here she's placing the lovely poinsettia the office received from our facilities department. And the red of the flowers nicely set off her black and gray ensemble, I think. There's definitely a bit of a chill now, so Helen's got black tights under the cute gray tulip skirt (ten-years old and still looking great!). Black boots are a little unusual for our hero, but work well with the sassy look she's got going as the weekend rolls in.

A reminder to please let us know how hard we should push Helen to continue the project. Our original target date has been reached, but the rest of us are still willing to watch her make it work.

Ho, Ho, Ho. It's December!

A new month, and Christmas is coming, and in honor of the lighting of the big tree in Rockefeller Center, we have a photo of Helen with her own tree at home on Wednesday.

The weather is still cooperating and Helen has a short black skirt with a long-sleeve white top, black sheer stockings, and a short heel. Vivacious!

How are your holiday decorations coming?

Ruffles have Ridges!

Nearing the end of November and our warm weather (we think!...and, yes, I'm feeling alliterative, so sue me).

Helen's complaints on Monday aside, she continues to ride out the unseasonal temperatures with aplomb. Today's outfit: a V-neck, pale blue, long-sleeved top with front ruffles over a black camisole with black pants. She was quick to point out her own matching wavy locks, a rare site in the office (hit the blog archive for a count!).

The weatherman is promising a temperature drop to some serious sweater and tweed weather, so get ready for a sartorial second wind!

Monday, November 21st (Day 45)

By now you would think it would be crunch time in the closet! But no, Helen still comes up with a dress we have yet to see this semester! Is she borrowing from friends and neighbors? Has she raided her daughter's closet? Or is she still riding the wave of missed work days (and outfits!) from the Snowtober event a few weeks back?

Today's blue dress is simple, comfortable, classy and most importantly, forgiving. Lots of room to breath. Perhaps it should have been saved for a post-Thanksgiving debut? We hear the menu for Helen's annual Thanksgiving dinner is unbelievable! Look out Food Network, it might be time for a throw down!

Hump day!

Yep, a full week of work. Will wonders never cease?

Honestly though, it's been a beautiful fall...apart from that pesky snowstorm, and Helen is taking it all in stride. Well, apart from the occasional cloud in her otherwise sunny disposition (we'll spare you the details). Wednesday we had another lovely black-and-white pants outfit, with a great textured top (ruffles, I'd call 'em), covered over with a button-up sweater, sleeves tastefully rolled up. (Careful followers of the blog may have noticed that Helen's a fan of "rolling up"—as I call it.) Pointy shoes (I'm sure there's a better fashionista term for them) complete the outfit.

11-11-11

An auspicious date and day 40 of Helen's project! (I'm not doing the counting on this, so I'll have to take everyone's word for it.)

Helen's looking very serious here in her go-to-faculty-meeting suit. Reading glasses and clipboard round out the look. This is not Helen's favorite task in the office—which puts her in good company with lots of others who would rather not be at a long meeting late Friday afternoon—but what can you do? The job's the job.

Warm weather continues and I remain optimistic that our heroine will persevere well into winter. Stay tuned!

Taking the hint

Well, somebody's a little grumpy! :-)

OK, Helen's got us dead to rights. This blogging thing requires at least a little consistency, so let's see if we can do better. After all, we've got the easy part!

Last Tuesday—yeah, that was a while ago—saw Helen in another simple, yet elegant, black-and-grey pants outfit. I need hardly point out the accessories anymore, but I like the thin belt on this one, and the chunky necklace provides a nice contrast and complements the circular neckline well.

That whole Snowtober thing aside, the weather has been holding out pretty well, and we're expected to be back up in the 60s again for a few days this week. If that keeps up at all, my money's on Helen to push boldly into next semester with no problem.

Back to Work! (Friday, Nov 4)

One day of work this week, and Helen is swamped with mailers, but elegant as ever! Punching up her basic black slacks and top is a wine-colored (cabernet, says Helen) sweater. Personally I'm a fan of the long drapery, so I love this outfit.

Besides if you have to work Friday as if it were the entire week, you might as well look good!

The Calm before the Storm

Hard to believe it was just a week ago, but here's Helen last Friday, as we waited, ignorant of the gigantic mess we were about to be in due to a little late-October snowstorm. If I didn't know better, I'd say she was trying to escape by climbing up our bookshelves.

As for the outfit, it a well-coordinated dark-blue and maroon combo, set off with a great (and wide) belt. You can't see it, but trust me that there's a nice necklace too.

As for the unexpected Snowtober "vacation"...only Helen knows what she wore in the un-electrified privacy of her unheated home. No doubt she's started looking at the winter section of the closet!

Last Thursday, October 20

OK, so I'm a little behind, and somebody else posted Friday already. I trust in our intelligent readership to work that out. Meanwhile...

The autumn wardrobe is in full play these days, as daily highs are lingering in the 60s with crisp, cool mornings. Thursday saw Helen in khakis with a maroon long-sleeve top, elegantly—as always!—accessorized.

For the traditional, Helen's posing in front of old-school e-readers made out of dead plants! Crazy pre-modern world.

Pizza Day!

Mangia!

One thing about the job is that there are a variety of tasks to keep one on one's toes. Wednesday we had a big pizza order, and I mean big! Here's Helen supervising the arrival of 48 pizza boxes before they are distributed. It was a rainy, though not too cold, day, and Helen is back to a more autumnal look with black pants and a short-sleeved sweater over a long-sleeved white blouse, accessorized with a wide black belt. Quite a switch from Tuesday!

(An editorial note: yours truly just got a new iOS device with a built-in voice-activated agent and improved camera, so expect better photos.)

Tuesday, October 19th (Day 27)

Springtime in October! Helen surprises us once again on this beautiful sunny day. She dug deep into the warm weather wardrobe and came up with a touch of spring! A new fan of the blog who happened to be walking by noted that it's the first time in quite a while that we've seen our Goddess of the Bottomless Closet in yellow. Say goodbye for now to the beautiful floral top.....off to the Rubbermaid storage tote!

Monday, October 17th (Day 25)

Tough day on the fashion front! Helen took one for the team today, bringing out one of her least favorite dresses in order to extend the streak into week 5. When asked to describe the outfit, she referred to it as the jersey cotton "brown bubble dress", followed by "and Neal hates it too!"

This begs the question...will the brown bubble dress be tucked away in the attic for another season....or will some lucky person be the recipient of a hand-me-down? Any takers?

Friday, October 14th (Day 24)

It must have been tempting to go casual to celebrate the end of the work week, but Helen went with a simple, classy, executive look on Friday. Loved the necklace.

Nicely done!

To boldly go!

Fall weather continued on Thursday with overcast skies, as Helen continued with her fall wardrobe. Today a black-and-white print skirt, white top, and black ¾-sleeve sweater. The temperatures are holding out, especially with the humidity today, so the transition has so far been a gradual one. The forecast promises more of the same, so we'll watch how she handles the upcoming weeks.

(Careful readers may have noticed the improved quality of our photos, as we've started to use Helen's own, ever ready digital in place of JM's iPod.)

Wednesday, October 12th (Day 22)

Fall has arrived! Helen has moved on to the earth tones, wearing brown slacks and a print top with a jungle inspired print, accessorized with a brown belt and coordinating necklace. If she sat down in the comfy chair behind her she would blend right in! Truth be told, I'll bet she's just dying to curl up in that chair, put her feet up on the ottoman, and think about all the outfit options she has now that the fall wardrobe has made its debut!

A New Week

Still warm on Monday as we enter week four of the project! Helen is hanging onto the summery look with a floral-pattern skirt, solid matching top and light sweater.

The forecast calls for some cooling off and autumnal rain later in the week, so we may be seeing the last of this section of the wardrobe. Stay tuned!