Today's Outfit: Easy Work Ensemble #4

• CiCi sweater dress
• H&M necklace
• American Apparel leggings
• Kate Spade rain boots

The requirements:

1. It had to be work-appropriate but look equally at home in a nice restaurant.
2. It couldn't wrinkle as the day wore on and had to be comfortable.
3. The weather forecast called for rainy and chilly, so the outfit had to be warm and, well, rain-proof.

All things considered, I don't think I did too badly. I wore this outfit last Friday for work followed by a Dine Out reservation at Bacchus. The accessories are the saving grace here. The necklaces dresses up a black dress quite well, and once again I'm glad these rain boots are a bit dressier than the typical galoshes you see on the street.

But hey, once the boy picked me up and we arrived at Bacchus, what I wore became negligible in the face of quality time with him and a delicious three-course dinner. He had a creamy parsnip soup, strip loin and root veggies, and mocha creme brulee; I had smoked salmon, duck confit and cheesecake with salted caramel mustard. We both drank dirty martinis with olives. Mmm that was a good meal.

Those of you who've been following this blog for a long time might recall that this CiCi sweater dress has a bow on it--or had, rather. I like the shape and soft material of this dress, but the bow kept me from wearing it as much as I would've liked to because it limited accessories options. You can't wear a jewel-encrusted necklace with a bow on the chest--it's too much going on. So in the end I took the bow off; it's probably going to be worn a lot more with brooches and various necklaces from now on.