C.R.E.A.M.

Gurrrl, lemme tell you...

Don't make a habit of crossing the street with your eyes closed.

T-Shirt (Urban Outfitters, you're welcome), Pants (Free People - old, similar here), Shoes (Zara, similar here), Watch (Marc by Marc Jacobs), Necklace (Dogeared), Bracelets (Madewell and Asos - old, similar here and here) 

Cash (really does) rule everything around me, guys. The mantra still holds true, even off of the streets of Staten Island, and in the manicured meeting rooms and mansions of Silicon Valley and San Francisco (especially if you let it...which I do). But we're not here to talk about real estate trends or per capita income statistics. We're here to talk about t-shirts.

My sister will tell you that I am slowly, but surely, trying to take over the world one cheeky t-shirt at a time, but I see my t-shirt domination as slightly more localized than that. I'd rather just rule the room I'm in, or the sidewalk I'm on. Nothing major.

My obsession with t-shirts has grown steadily over the last couple years, as designers have begun to incorporate the tried-and-true basic more and more into their collections in new and exciting ways, and as bloggers and street style stars have begun to creatively posit the t-shirt more and more as an outfit focal point.

This is all great. But you have to remember you can't just wear these guys willy nilly. Their simplicity requires that there be some forethought, some personal meaning and contextual consideration behind your t-shirt decision. (Yes, I just said that.) With the bazillions of random and more often than not annoying t-shirts that are out there now, it's easy to throw one on because you think it "looks cool" or "sounds cool" and end up looking like a douchebag (if I see one more "Keep Calm and something something" or "Frankie Says some bullshit" t-shirt on one more self-important, clueless teenager, I'm going to scrape my eyeballs out with my fingernails...and what I mean by that is really I'll probably just brood and stew silently beside them and throw shade so hard my face will hurt). So choose your t-shirt wisely and deliberately and probably don't buy it if you don't know who Eazy-E is.

So let's talk about this awesome t-shirt. My romance with rap is a (relatively speaking) longstanding one—trust me, I do not even try to pretend like this makes me any less of a princess from the 'burbs because it does not—and at the top of my list of lovers is The Wu-Tang Clan, with "C.R.E.A.M." sitting resolutely atop my list of all-time favorite tracks, ever. So when I saw this shirt, the desire that rushed through me was so immediate and all-consuming that I had made the purchase before my mind even had a chance to catch up with my hands. And despite the fact that the sight of this shirt on a Disney cartoon look-alike in 5-inch heels, with Shirley Temple hair and chicken arms probably makes most people laugh or think that I'm wearing it ironically or maybe also makes them feel sorry for me, I find myself unable to muster up the energy to care. They don't get it and they don't have to. Because I'm kicking their ass in the secret sidewalk t-shirt battle they don't know we're having anyway.

Photos © Rose Garrett

Born to Mack

 Workwear, redone.

 Remember these guys?

 It's hard to pull off "gangster" in a pencil skirt, but I manage.

T-Shirt (Urban Outfitters - I will never have enough early 90s rap reference Ts), Skirt (J.Crew, similar here) Shoes (Charles by Charles David, last seen here), Necklace (Dogeared), Bracelet (Asos - old, similar here), Watch (Fakety-fake-fake $20 at BP. here)

Nothing says, "I'm a productive and stylish employee who should be taken very seriously" like a Too $hort "Born to Mack" T-shirt. Hence, my wearing this cheeky little number to the office the other day. Sure some people got it, while others just stared at me blankly—confused, probably wondering where my pantsuit from Macy's was, but this is Startupland, Sillicon Valley, USA, I'm a 20-something with style and a sense of humor, and it's the 21st century damn it! I want to break free of my young-professional-after-work-boxy-blazered-networking-mixer bondage and LIVE! And by live, I of course mean wear what I please and never take myself (or my outfits) too seriously. 

I say, push the workwear envelope where you can. Those unspoken rules (pah!) of dress codes for young professionals in the workplace are more plastic than you might realize. Plus no one looks good in a polyester pantsuit. NO ONE. Don't let "The Man" keep you down, guys...(or something). Those ill-fitting pantsuits of the late 90s, conference-going, schwag-collecting young professional from days past are designed to smother the youthfulness and creativity in all of us. And they do a GREAT job of it. Dressing with some levity, and nudging—I said nudging them—the boundaries here and there where you can (note: this does not mean slutting it up), will not only inject some fun into your look, but it will also bring some lightness to your work day, and maybe—and this is what dressing with style and purpose is really all about—make some of the people around you smile. 

Photos © Rose Garrett