FINCON11 - What will you be wearing?

Ahhh, I love this! The first night I’ll probably wear a black dress…the next two days I’ll be sporting some dark wash trouser jeans and a nice blouse…something along those lines!

I think you’ll do just fine even if what you wear is casual…like a med wash jeans with nice shoes (not tennis or flip flops) but and a nice blouse, cardigan or some fancy jewelry. I would also suggest to bring a light jacket or cardigan as conference settings can get quite chilly (OH and an umbrella since this city never seems to make up its mind as to when it will rain!)

I went to the 20SB Summit in Chicago and wore jeans, black heels (flats other days) with a button up blouse and some classy jewelry and got a lot of compliments! Trust me though, it’s hard to know what’s appropriate since everyone has a different style (you’ll see all kinds of ideas on what’s appropriate!) but meeting somewhere in the middle, in terms of a dressed-up casual outfit that’s comfy to wear for a long day of sessions should do the trick!

At risk of carrying on a conversation with myself, here are my thoughts so far.

During the day, I’ll probably wear more casual clothes. For the LoveDrop event on Friday, for example, I’m wearing my LoveDrop t-shirt, jeans, and flip flops if it’s still warm enough. When I’m listening to speakers and taking notes, I want to be comfortable, though not pajamas comfortable.

For dinner and the welcome reception on Friday, I feel like I need to dress up more. Which will probably still consist of jeans (they don’t wrinkle in a suitcase) but with nicer shirts and shoes.

What do you guys think?

Oops, we cross posted! So glad I’m not the only one here.

I know most people dress up more on at least one night of a conference. Which concerns me because I have gained so much weight, none of my dresses fit anymore! I may have to go shopping. Ugh. I hate buying dresses because I’m only 5’1″ and I look like a little girl trying on her mom’s clothes.

OOhh, great idea! I will have to sport my Love Drop tshirt (you know once it arrives here in Chicago since I stupidly had it sent to California to my dad’s address by accident, lol) that’s a good idea! dig it!

As for the dress thing Andrea, if you have dressy slacks and a nice top you can rock that instead of a dress! Dresses aren’t mandatory! You will look fabulous regardless I bet!

I’m so glad you posted this. I’m the type of person that likes to plan ahead and I’ve been kinda freaking out on what my wardrobe list will be. I have been curious what other people will be bringing and wearing.
Personally I’m not a big dress or skirt wearer, so my clothing will consist of dress slacks, nice blouses, dark wash jeans and probably boots or wedges. I also love to layer my clothes so I will wear some jackets and scarfs as part of my accessories.Definitely want it to be comfy for a long day of wear (like Shannyn mentioned) so I won’t be wearing super high heels with fancy dresses. Also thanks for the tip on bringing an umbrella!

Andrea, I’m only 5′ 2″ so I feel your pain of dress shopping, hence the reason why I don’t really wear them.

Serious, slightly related question. I only recently found skinny jeans I can wear that don’t look ridiculous. What shoes can I wear with them for fall? Summer is easy because I can throw on sandals or flip flops; winter is easy because I can wear boots. But I have no clue what to do now. I see a lot of people wearing the little ballet flats, and I could do that, but is there a trend I’m missing? I bought a really dark pair on Friday that I want to bring, but I’m obsessed with shoes and can’t bear the thought of wearing the wrong ones.

Everything I have is for warm weather and I’m afraid to be chilly. I bought a coat for the trip but other than that I don’t want to go buy dressy clothes for chilly weather when I will NEVER wear them in Phoenix.

That said I plan to wear jeans and a dressier top, certainly on Sat. but probably Friday too.

I’d rather dress closer to my regular clothes and be comfortable than to try to be something I’m not and feel like a fool. Ya know? I’m a jeans, T-shirt, and sneakers kinda girl.

I also have to pack everything in a carry on, and I’m staying extra days to visit with friends in chicago. So I can’t bring everything I own.

That’s a good point - I was just thinking about fitting everything into my bags. I can take more since I’m driving, but I don’t want to haul an entire wardrobe for three days. I’m planning to take one small rolling suitcase and a duffle bag for all my non-clothing stuff.

It’s hard for me to think about dressing up. For nearly three years, I’ve worn t-shirts, jeans, and flip flops to work (hoodies and sneakers in the winter). I still own some decent clothes, but I’m not used to wearing them. I just tried on some of my “cute” shoes and I thought my feet would fall off after about 30 seconds. I’ve gotten out of the habit and I’m not going to force myself to be miserable the whole time I’m there.

Is there a female equivalent of the tuxedo t-shirt? Because that’s what I’ll probably aim for. =P

I love wearing ballet flats with skinny jeans too. I also love wearing boots (tucking the pant leg inside) or wedge booties, they both look very cute and are season appropriate. I’m not sure if there is a fashion trend I’m missing either, but that’s just my suggestions.

Thanks for the ideas! I’m going to have to enter a shoe store at some point soon - haven’t been in one in almost a year because I can’t be trusted around shoes. I do need some, though, and I also need to get rid of all the cute ones that I no longer wear.

I had not even thought about clothes yet, I usually do that the day I leave and am packing. This is why I tend to forget a lot of things when I travel! I prefer jeans for just about everything unless it is specified dress up. They can easily be dressed up or down for day or night! Hotels can be cold, so I also always layer with something warmer.

I usually wait until the last minute, but I’m being incredibly nerdy about it this time around. I’m making a detailed list to be sure I get home with everything. No telling how many shirts and pairs of earrings I’ve left in hotel rooms!

I am also short, standing at a towering 5’3″, and I’m also…gifted in the chest area, so dresses are my nightmare. With that, I am firmly in the jeans camp. Based on what you all are saying, I’ll probably stick to jeans and tops. A little dressier on Friday and Saturday night and a little more casual during the day (y’all won’t say anything if I wear the same jeans more than once, right?) As for my ridiculously giant feet, I’ll probably do flats during the day and something with a small heel at night. I’m not huge on accessories so I’m not worried there. I’ll just wear my normal stuff. Since I’m flying and hate checking luggage, cramming all of this into one small, rolling suitcase is not going to be fun.

You mean there are people who don’t wear the same jeans multiple times? (gasps)
I wash my jeans as a complete last resort - when I’ve spilled something on them, when they smell weird, or when they’ve gotten too stretched out. I absolutely despise the feeling of just-washed jeans and will go to extraordinary lengths to avoid it.
Plus I have a horrible time finding jeans that fit and I don’t own enough pairs to wear different ones every five minutes.

Oh, Andrea. You warm my heart. Because I do. The exact. Same. Thing. I also have the same problem finding jeans that fit and that I like so I only own about 3 pairs. I need to buy one or two more for work and I am dreading it.

Ashley Judd used to have a line of jeans at Goody’s…. The short length fit me PERFECTLY. So of course Goody’s had to go out of business and take the jeans with them. It was completely depressing.

YAY! 33 days or bust.. I am kind of like most, where I do not think about what I am going to wear until the week before. I do feel that this conference is a little more special that the 3 other conferences I attended this year. So, I should start thinking about it now. For the most part. I will have a few different pair of jeans with SEVERAL, Several Tops and a few different necklaces to spice it up a little bit. I have so much weight to lose that Clothes are not really on my radar. I will also have this light black sweater with me everywhere…..

Oh and I may get one or two shirts personalized.

My plan was to pack 2 pairs of nice jeans (newish with no wear marks, lol), a pair of black slacks, 3-4 nice blouses that don’t wrinkle, one extra pair of shoes, and all the appropriate undergarments. The black slacks will be for Friday night’s after party. I will be wearing comfy pants (sweats or work out pants) on the plane along with a t-shirt and these nice open-toed black platform wedge heels by Rialto that are comfy and look nice with everything (I will probably wear them all weekend - best $30 pair of shoes ever!). I will probably wear the same to the Love Drop event, but we’ll see. I am thinking about getting a custom necklace made with my blog’s logo…we’ll see about that too…

Looks like there are quite of few of us shorter, bustier (and bootylicious) ladies. Which of course makes shopping a nightmare and like both of you Jana and Andrea I only have a few good fitting pairs of jeans. So I wear them at least 3 times before washing again, unless spilled or dirty or something.

I also don’t want to check any luggage so I will be cramming/stuffing everything I can into a carry-on. At least it’s only for a couple days and nights.

OH blouses that don’t wrinkle (writing that down) must remember! And a custom necklace with your blog’s name or logo, is a fabulous idea. Genius!

I’d love to have a necklace with my blog logo… Probably don’t want to know how much it would cost, though! Think I’ll stick with my $4 zazzle button.

Yep, I love no wrinkle clothing since I have literally only used an iron once in my life and it was on a grilled cheese sandwich in college…

Yeah, I’m splurging $19 on a glass pendant and metal bead necklace. We’ll see how it turns out…I should get it next week…

Can’t wait to see! I would ask where you found it but don’t want to ruin the cool factor.

I’m a guy, and that’s about all I’ve got to say about that. I’ll be dressing to impress nobody but myself.

That is, to say, the same old jeans, and the most offensive t-shirts I can find. See you ladies there!

I’m very envious! Guys can throw on jeans and a t-shirt and look great, while we can spend a month debating what to wear and still feel like we could have done better.

It’s going to be a blast no matter what! I’m SO excited.

[...] the other PF Bloggers. (Apparently, a few of the female bloggers have a discussion going on about what they will be wearing at the conference. If anyone cares, I’ll probably be wearing jeans and a shirt with a [...]

Yay! Thanks for this post! I plan to wear nice “going-out” attire on Friday (which I’ll have to buy since, uh, I hardly ever go out anymore…haha). Probably dark wash jeans with black heels or boots and a nice shirt. Saturday, I plan to wear black slack, black pumps and a nice shirt/blouse. Saturday night … probably change into dark jeans/heels/dressy shirt again.

But if I were going to wear what I REALLY wanted to wear, I’d be in black yoga pants all weekend. Haha.

Can’t wait to meet everyone there!!

The world could always use more yoga pants

No, really though, it’s not a matter of “looking great” in jeans and a t-shirt, as Andrea suggests, it’s a matter of seeing no reason to impress people with clothing. Nobody is saying come dressed as a bum, but by all means, wear what you want to wear, not what you think other people want you to wear. And comfortable above all else.

That’s just me. I think the way this society thinks about clothing is silly. Even if everyone was making a semi-formal affair of it, I’d still show up in jeans and a t-shirt. If I were a religious, church-going man, I would go to church just the same. If I want to impress people, I want to do it with who I am and what I’m capable of, not the clothes I’m wearing. That’s just shallow.

I don’t think any of us are trying to be shallow and/or impress everyone. But we want to look our best because that’s what women do. I want someone to remember ME, not how bad my outfit or hair looked.

Okay, so my wording was poor, I’ll give you that I wasn’t referring to this group, but society in general. And you certainly make a good point with your last sentence, but I think in the middle of the clothing spectrum, someone would still remember YOU, but completely forget about your outfit/hair/etc.

New development - some of us have decided (through insane conversations on Twitter) to wear some frou frou partywear to one of the parties - either Friday or Saturday night. While I know some people don’t do frou frou (I just like saying frou frou), I wanted to put that out there in case anyone is dying to bust out an amazing party dress!

I’m into this idea because I never get a chance to dress up. I hope I won’t be the only one! I plan to rock one of those giant, gaudy cocktail rings with some huge earrings (see attached pic) and heels. I would SO love it if some other people wanted to glam it up - otherwise I’ll feel like a big dork.

I’m in this group as well. I would love to wear yoga pants the whole time, but won’t! I’ll wear slacks on Saturday and jeans on Sunday during the day and dress it up a bit more at night.

I’ll be on the same page with you in spirit, I didn’t even wear a frou frou dress to my graduation. lol

However, I will break out some rocking jewelry and maybe some heels/pumps since I HARDLY EVER wear any shoes besides flats or wedges. That will be glamming it up for me!

You can still be frou frou in pants! Definitely bring some awesome shoes and jewelry!!

I am only going on Saturday. I will look like my bird. Pearl earrings and high heeled shoes…

I’ll be wearing an awesome purple t-shirt that says Budgetable.com across it. We’ll also be giving them out.

I better get one!!!! I LOVE free t-shirts!