Lumberjack Chic :: Flannel Gets a Makeover

Under a sweater with pearls

I live in the north. It gets cold. It IS cold. Yesterday, it didn't get above freezing until the middle of the afternoon. When all you want to do is walking around in a Snuggie, dressing for work can be a challenge. While I personally think it's time for employers to realize that yoga pants and sweatshirts make happy employees and happy employees make productive employees, I seem to be the only picking up this particular cause. As such, I've spent a considerable amount of time trying to figure out how I can make my work wardrobe winter friendly - especially considering I have to do a decent amount of trekking around outside between buildings during my day.

Sure, cashmere is really warm and totally professional, but you know what else it is? Really expensive. And unless you luck out with a mega sale or have time to troll around ebay and thrift shops, it's not going to be an everyday wardrobe stable. Enter flannel.

It's affordable and it's warm. The question is, how do I wear flannel without looking like a lumberjack? Here's a few styling suggestions that I'm using for inspiration:

Under a blazer (70s jeans optional)

Add a leather skirt

Belt it

With a high waisted bubble skirt

 With sequins

With ruffles and leopard

And remember, accessories make the outfit. I'm reasonably confident some pearls or sparkles can perk up any outfit.

Now, to be fair, I have the advantage of really being able to wear whatever I want - some of my colleagues show up in jeans and a T-shirt everyday. However, I prefer to not look neither like a scrub (I will personally bring back TLC) nor a 12 year old, so that is not an option for me.

So what do you think, is flannel a do or a don't?

[Photo Credit: pic 1; pic 2; pic 3; pic 4; pic 5; pic 6; pic 7]