Dressing for work has been utterly painful lately—I was stuck at the corner of “lack of inspiration” and “scorching DC heat meets overly air conditioned office.”

And then I saw these Pretty Woman reminiscent linen shorts [think Vivian’s red short suit paired with a white blouse], and I leaped into a mental somersault at the thought of channeling my inner Julia Roberts. What followed was a sly smirk over the work-appropriateness [it’s a real word, I promise] of all of this.

In an effort to not lose too much of myself, I kept to my own proclivities by pairing the short with a crisp, white button down that I recently snagged from Zara Man.

Yes, I do that often—shop the men’s section at my favorite retailers, that is— and I love it.

Zara Man Button Down || Liz Claiborne Short ||Talbots Belt || DVF Bag