Q. I should wear blazers to work, but I hate them. I feel like they make me look like a really tall 12-year-old dressed up as an adult. Any ideas for alternatives?

A. You know what? I totally know what you mean. Not about blazers, exactly - like I said, I've gone through phases where I've worn them with literally everything in my closet - but definitely about the "feeling like a kid dressed up as an adult" thing.

I used to have a job - managing a law firm - for which I was theoretically supposed to dress...you know...like a grownup. I didn't often succeed in this goal mostly because I was pretty miserable at the time, and one of the ways that my general dissatisfaction with how things were going came out was through a total refusal to behave like an adult and dress in accordance with the job I was being paid to perform...but sure, there were times when I had a meeting, or a trip to court, or whatever, and decided that it would behoove me to pull together a traditionally professional(ish) look.

When those times rolled around, I generally reached for a black Banana Republic blazer and skirt set that I had bought years ago when auditioning for the part of a lawyer, but even though the suit was actually really lovely, whenever I wore it I felt...off. Against the backdrop of that suit my hair looked messy, my makeup seemed all wrong, and my shoes suddenly felt scuffy and ridiculous. Without fail, by the end of the day I'd be tugging at the waistband, pulling my hair into a bun, and swapping out the blazer for my go-to grey sweater.