The first day I officially went back to working on-site at the elementary I work for as a Special Education Instructional Assistant for LAUSD last week I was surprised that the style tribe who always wore the skinny jeans and t-shirt uniform were still wearing them in the same way. Fortunately time was probably kinder to them than to me because I’ve been through so much I don’t even remember how I dressed them or where a lot of those clothes are.It didn’t help that I’ve changed significantly in the time I’ve been away due to my mother’s passing in February, my graduation with an MA in Fashion Journalism and my continued battle with lupus. I’ve also joined the Art Deco Society Los Angeles and Fashion Group International Los Angeles and am still a member of the International Women’s Writers Guild. I guess when I started there again I shouldn’t have been surprised that they were meeting a virtual stranger. Still as the school year awaits, in the near future, my back-to-school wardrobe plans are on my mind so I’ve had to do a lot of sartorial organizing to arrange my outfits accordingly to fit my Zoom to reality lifestyle.

Since I wanted to look both professionally chic and comfortable I borrowed the skinny Jeans uniform of my co-workers, swapped them out for a wider, more distressed version from Forever 21 and mixed and matched them with various blouses and cardigans for my own back-to-school uniform. Slightly retro, yet feminine and contemporary I feel it’s definitely a go-to look I can easily coordinate for a busy week on campus.