Violet Revolution

Every now and again on Violet Revolution you hear the phrase: “Day to Night”.  You might wonder what that even means exactly.  Why do we categorize certain pieces as “day to night” and not others, and why do we want “day to night” pieces?  Well we want them because a) it’s less costly to build two different wardrobes vs. overlapping outfits you’d wear to work with outfits you’d wear leisurely.  b) We live active, busy lifestyles.  Many times it’s not possible to go to work, run home and change for dinner and drinks with friends or colleagues.  How many times have you had to go to a wedding rehearsal dinner on a Friday night right after work, and then attend the dinner right after?  You don’t have time to go home and change, but you don’t want to show up looking too formal or spend your evening looking like you’re in work mode.  Another factor of day to night is c) the outfit has to be comfortable enough to transition to evening without you feeling like you’re going to die because it’s so stiff and uncomfortable.

Great, you’re thinking, I don’t want to spend more on work clothes than I have to — it would be great to wear them elsewhere.  What are some pieces I could buy and where can I find them?

Well, take these two tops and two pants from Mulberry & Me, a local boutique in Chicago:

The pictures on the left show the tops with black pants; the pictures on the right with trouser denim jeans.  If you had these pieces, you could easily wear either top with either the black pants to work in the day or the denim pants for play at night.  If you were grabbing drinks right after work, you could go straight from work in the black pants, if you didn’t have time to change or didn’t want to bring jeans to work.  Both tops are professional looking, not low cut, but also have a little bit of playfulness to them to make them fun to wear outside of work.

What do I mean by “playfulness”?  Well the puffed sleeves for instance on the striped top, or the draped neckline of the red top.  Even just the print and red color are playful themselves, as most people tend to wear staple colors like black, grey, brown to work.  Seeing red makes people take notice…it’s almost like seeing sunshine come through clouds…all of a sudden your mood changes, becomes brighter, more optimistic.

Then there’s the shoes.  These shoes are different but not so out there that you couldn’t wear them with long pants to work, if say you’re an accountant.

If you’re in marketing/advertising you’ll probably be able to wear them with this dress (unless your firm is ultra-conservative):

Obviously you could wear them out casually to a bar or restaurant too.

Speaking of dresses, another day to night staple is the dress.  Dresses are easy to transition in general.  You don’t have to bring extra clothes to change your look.  You can throw a jacket or cardigan over it to make it more conservative or playful.  Take a look at these dresses, which were found at Habit in Chicago:

At first glance, they seem only suitable for work, but add some playful shoes, jewelry, and/or a handbag to make the outfit more fun.  You could wear them with flats or low wedges to make the look more casual…say if you’re going to a BBQ.  The possibilities are endless…you can get twice the amount of looks, if not more, out of one dress without spending twice the money.