//the over the top version..

In the 1950s, American women discovered they could earn thousands – even millions – of dollars from bowls that burped. “Tupperware ladies” fanned out across the nation’s living rooms, selling efficiency and convenience to their friends and neighbors through home parties, as seen above.

To learn more about the culture of Tupperware parties, click here.

A Girl Scout in a canoe, picking trash out of the Potomac River during the first-ever Earth Week in 1970.

See more photos of the 1970 Earth Day here.

(Photo: Library of Congress)

Elise Stefanik is a perfect example of how fashion risks in your career can pay off!

“People said, ‘You’re too young. You’re not married. You don’t have kids.’ They even [criticized] my crazy-pattern tights!” she says. “But you do your homework. I know the issues, and I worked hard and built relationships.”

Besides her smarts, gumption, and charm, her “crazy-pattern” tights was just another means to make her all the more memorable.

Full article and photo from Makers.com

A Black and White Affair

No one appreciates a pop of color in one’s outfits - especially business women - then myself. However, black and white definitely has its place. There is no classier or classic color combo then plain black and white.

With that said, there are still plenty of fashion risks to be taken in timeless black and white colors.  Here are five black and white statement pieces to add to your fall wardrobe:

1)Textured-weave skirt from H&M - if this skirt isn’t a statement piece then I don’t know what is.

2)Jacquard-weave skirt from H&M - I actually tried this on in the store.  I didn’t end up buying it but it is definitely on my watch list.  Buyer Beware! This skirt runs extremely small.  I had to go 4 sizes up!!

3)Black Rose Belt from The Meredith May Collection - add contrast, design, and a waistline to any shirt or dress!

4)Houndstooth Sweater from The Limited - a woman at my office wore a similar sweater to work today and I noticed her from across the hallway.  That’s how much of an eye-catcher this piece is.

5)Windowpane Plaid Ankle Pant from Express - Windowpane plaid is the pattern of the season!

Loving how this pearl belt with Swarovski crystals really brings my work #ootd together!  This belt is from my newly launched Meredith May Collection - belts to accessorize, belts to empower!

Neo2/Old paper texture/Arrow/Style Diary: A Stella McCartney Neon Jacquard Floral Blazer,…/high waisted leather shorts/Floral blazer

As soon as my eyes fell on this jacket from Express, I knew I had to have it!  It has the edginess with leather with a feminine soft touch with tweed touches of coral color.

It can be hard to express ourselves at work- because let’s face it - we are busy working!  We have meetings to run, excel models to put together, and non-stop incoming e-mails.  From nine-to-five its all about the business.

Fashion is another way to brand ourselves, another way to display creativeness, another way to showcase what we believe in. This jacket encapsulates everything I inspire to be as a business woman - sharp, strong, feminine.  That’s how I want to brand myself.

I am so excited to share this article written by Jane Scudder on ProjectEve.com.  The article title is “What I Learned From Wearing Funky Pants to Work”.  It perfectly captures the mission and vision for my blog - and that is for women’s risk taking in their wardrobe to help them take on more personal risk, more business risk.  This risk-taking is the only way to grow.  Every good business women should understand the importance of taking calculated risks.  Here is part of the article.  Full link here. And a link to Jane’s blog here.

I wore a pair of slouchy, trendy pants to my office.

How does this fit the criteria of pushing me outside my comfort zone?

I’m glad you asked. See, these pants were a little different from my normal style. I thought they were great in the store. I thought they were great in the dressing room. I thought they were great in my apartment. I thought they were great in the morning when I put them on. Then as soon as I parked my car at my office I wondered, “Wait, are these pants weird?”

I work at a website so the dress is pretty causal. Additionally I spend my time with a lot of technology guys who will admit that they’re not the most stylish. Basically I can wear whatever I want to work.

On top of this I’m also a pretty confident person, both in myself and my fashion choices.

But still, this almost sinking feeling of, “Is anyone going to say anything to me, or laugh at m?” crept over me. Being the self-confident person I am, I wasn’t proud of it.

But I mentally explored it. And I realized that this was one small way to practice challenging myself. With that in mind, I waltzed into my office in my new pants.

But wait, really, how does this fit as ‘pushing’ someone outside of her comfort zone?

I did something that was outside of my normal routine. I took a risk. I tried — in this case I wore — something new and different. The results don’t necessarily matter (though for those who are interested in, I got some compliments) what matters is that I did something new that was a little nerve racking and I survived, and possibly became better from it.

Got it. Sort of. But what actually happened:

Again, I got a few compliments but largely no one noticed. I felt slightly uneasy the first few hours of the day and was aware of how many times I was walking to the bathroom, by the end of the day I forgot I was even wearing something “different.”

Okay, got it now. But what’s the point?

Want to get better at pushing yourself outside your comfort zone? Try small, seemingly trivial things. Small things still count and trying something like this in a safe space (e.g., with friends or family, or in a relaxed work environment on a Friday with coworkers whose fashion opinions you care little about…) is a good, easy place to start.

Now what?

Challenge yourself. Pick something that you’re not super comfortable with, but won’t devastate your life if things go wrong, and go for it.

If we don’t push ourselves we won’t get better and if we don’t try something we’ll never know how it might turn out!

Are you embracing the belt trend in your work wardrobe?  It’s a great way to add shape, add color and really pull an outfit together.

meredithmaycollection:

The belt trend