So, as many of you already know, I work serving delicious lattes at a very well-known coffee establishment. I adore my job, even though it leaves me often stained and sticky with mocha powder and soy milk.

Being someone who takes great pleasure out of looking different, I find myself going to extreme lengths to finding ways to make my uniform work for me, while staying within dress code. Here I will begin to document my adventures.

I’d like to start this out with a general disclaimer that every store, every boss, every place of work has their own rules. Sometimes the rules can be stretched, and sometimes the rules are left in place-thank-you-very-much. I’m lucky to work in an environment that doesn’t have a problem with my little bouts of creative fashion, even if my coworkers sometimes aren’t quite sure what to do with me!

The basic uniform at my job is as such:

uniformity by lemon love featuring Old Navy Clothing

Not pictured: obnoxiously chipper attitude, green apron, caramel stains.

Boring, boring, boring.

So very boring.

To clarify: the standard is cap-to-long sleeved shirts with collars, and long black or khaki dress pants. If you’re crazy and don’t mind having the skin burnt off of your kneecaps, you can wear a skirt or shorts, though this is inadvisable.

Have I forgotten anything?
Oh right. Shoes:

Ha! Gotcha. So, I’m kidding. Actually, my work shoes look something like this~ (and I say something because I TOTALLY found this picture while doing a random google search. Yep. Raaandom google search.)

Pictured next to the ugliest things in my home, where it belongs: next to the pot that holds The Ficus, and our ancient television.
Not pictured: Our still-working authentic lava lamp.

So… work shoes tend to get sacrificed in the name of comfort. At least, for me (the biggest wuss who ever walked the earth) and my 5 hour shifts, there’s no way I’d expose anything cuter to the perils of 160 degree milk and banana peels. (And really! By now you all have heard about how clumsy I am!)

I generally just go for a combination of good makeup and good accessories. I’ve been collecting cool pieces of jewelry for a few years now, and have built up an interesting collection that always seems to work with my boring white-collared shirts.

I’d like to say a word about makeup, right now. Yes ladies, makeup. If you’re afraid of looking “like a man” because you have to pull your hair back severely, or because you’ve been demoted to men’s shirts and ugly ties for some dreadful employer’s uniform, makeup is your best friend in hiding that masculine feeling. A little swab of mascara works wonders, especially if you’re terrified of the whole kit-and-kaboodle.

I have a tendency to be a full-on, foundation, blush, eyeshadow, concealer, mascara, lipstick, kind of girl, and while that might not be your style, don’t be afraid of “looking like a drag queen”. You can always remove said makeup, if it’s too much for you, (and I mean, REALLY. Drag queens are fabulous! Don’t you want to be fabulous?) and don’t be afraid of letting a little artistic enhancement make you feel more like a girl. I love wearing makeup, if only because it reminds me that I can be proud of my features, and… oh gosh this is too hard to write without turning into a pseudo-confused-feminist paragraph. Basically: Makeup is awesome! Give it a chance!

Favourite part about this shirt: poofy sleeves!

Yesterday I threw my hair up into three messy buns (yeah, three. One just doesn’t quite cut it anymore) while it was still wet and broke out my brand new cross clips. My mom, sister and I ran into a consignment shop downtown the other day and I scored these for a measely $8! How neat, and they’re just fancy enough to spark conversations. I was also lucky enough to already have a pair of unasumming rhinestone earrings to pair with them.

The only problem with these clips is that they get tangled really easily, and take a good thirty minutes to figure out. Frustrating.

Does anyone have any idea what this piece of jewelry would be called, anyway? “Clip-chain” just doesn’t quite cut it for me.

You want how many frappucinos?

I finish off the ensemble with my almost-trademark red lipstick and trademark apron!

A perfect outfit for a closing shift. What do you think? Too much for you?