Dots for Days

Sometimes you have to go big…

And sometimes you have to take the pattern one more step.

Always loving polka-dots, the shirt from Ann Taylor is new.

The tights are from Wolford, which I've have but haven't worn, and then paired with the "urban shoe myth" Manolo Blahnik Camparis.

Ensemble du Jour

The Outfit
Today is one of those crazy mixed-up weather days. You're not sure whether to wear something warm or spring-y. I was going through my off-season closet and saw that I had put this Merona skirt in with my warmer weather clothes. I'm not sure why because it could be paired well with darker tights. The material is very suit like to me. It kind of a dark taupe with black and black pin-stripes. It has a really nice sheen to it. The top is a simple knit black v-neck from Ann Taylor.




I went very simple for jewelry, just my watch and regular rings. The outfit has sort of a corporate feel to it, so I wanted to keep it simple and streamlined.

The Focal Point
Even with, or maybe because of, the simpleness, I wanted to interject a little something off-kilter. A little bit of controlled chaos.

I did end up getting the polka-dot Anatole pump from Lela Rose at Payless. These actually are really nice. the colors are great, the fabric has a nice satin sheen to it (both which pull it back to the skirt) and it has a great heel. Much better in person than it even appears here.



It's a bit of a weird combo mainly because I'm not wearing any navy. But for me the background color of the shoe ties to the lightest color tone in the skirt and the muted navy plays off the black top. The shoe's office look goes with the look of the skirt. I'm kind of liking it. What do you think?

Ensemble du Jour

The Outfit
Finally, the rain has left us for a day and the sun is shining. It's warmer out and much more like Spring. I'm wearing a neutral silvery grey outfit but with bursts of bright pink as a fun accent color.



The top is a bluish silver and sort of shiny knit from Ann Taylore. The skirt is my warmer grey corduroy Old Navy skirt. The bubbly necklace is from Target, one of my new items.



The sandals are the Roy G. Biv slingbacks from Ashley Dearborn. She is one of the earliers independant shoe creators. Her whimsical designs really won me over and she's very nice to speak with. I thought these were especially appropriate today.



The Focal Point
I'm sure the change in weather had something to do with it, but really the colors all came from my eyeshadow.



I have two of Revlon's Diamond Lust eyeshadows and decided to wear the Platinum today. Everything just got pulled from there - not that I always match my clothes and make-up but the fun shiny feel was what I wanted to incorporate.



These are good eyeshadows by the way. I also have the "Grab Me Gold" which isn't too brassy or anything. It has a brown undertone which makes it a good color for me. I like the packaging too. They're worth checking out if you like the colors.

Ensemble du Jour

The Outfit
I'm happy with what I'm wearing today, mainly because I like my accent pieces and I'm comfortable too. The clothes are pretty basic - a v-neck knit top from Ann Taylor and a Merona swishy black skirt.



It's pretty chilly today. I'm wearing my vintage white driving gloves that have black stitching. I. Love. Them.



I decided to wear pearl jewelry to pick up on the white elements. I don't wear pearls a lot. This pin looks like a small tree with faux pearls on the branches. It actually was part of a shirt. When I got rid of the shirt I kept the pin. I'm also wearing a simple pearl bracelet.



I'm wearing my vintage satin corded "luncheon" heels. Comfy, pretty and unique.



The Focal Point
What is tying all of this together? What inspired me today? It's my new eBay find - a vintage tweed 3-piece suit. The suit is all of the same material but I thought I would be too warm with the jacket and skirt so I just wore the cape. I don't think I've ever owned a cape before. I like it. It makes you feel very lady-like, especially when you are walking around with gloves on and your arms through the openings as shown in the picture.



I felt very "lady-who-lunches" today with my gloves, shoes and cape. If only I could have been taking a leisurely lunch and then a bit of shopping. Instead it was home-work-home. I did pop out for a bit of lunch, so I guess that is something. I don't think my dogs appreciate the ensemble as much as I would hope.

Ensemble du Jour

The Outfit
Sometimes I get asked if I pre-plan what I'm wearing each day. Most of the time, I don't. Usually there is a single item that I want to wear and that determines what I pick to work around it. Usually that's a new pair of shoes or a pair I haven't worn lately and I'm excited to wear them. But just as often a whole bunch of different variables go into what I pick. Am I tired, have I work too much black this week, is it raining, do I not want to go bare-legged, etc., etc.

Today it was that I didn't want to wear black again. I just needed some color! I pulled out a pair of hot pink tights and my white crewneck shirt from Ann Taylor. Because I wanted to be casual, I paired this with my Old Navy corduroy skirt. The boots are my Sam Edelman boots that were on Gossip Girl.





To tie the color in the tights back, I used my hot pink star pin (bought at the airport!) as a pendant on a silver chain. By the way, this shirt from Ann Taylor is so soft. It is somthing like 75% silk but the rest is nylon, I think, so its soft but flexible. And there is a row of buttons down the shoulder, which is why I bought it.



Don't these have a modern Mary Poppins-ish feel to them. I don't normally like mid-calf boots and would only wear them under pants but these have to be worn with a skirt so you can see how adorable they are.



The Focal Point
The color! I did like the outfit overall too, though. It was comfortable but a little quirky.





I'm so glad tights will be sticking around for a while. Now I just need to find a way to organize them all. It's getting a little out of hand in the armoir.

It's all in the Details

My outfit from yesterday, Wednesday, sounds pretty plain. A black skirt from Target and a black knit v-neck top from Ann Taylore with a pair of tan an brown heels. But in execution, this is an outfit I really like and feel good in.

The details are what take this blah to lovely. The skirt is actually a pretty standard A-line skirt but the wide delicate lace trim makes it floaty, mysterious and a little sexy.



When you walk the lace kind of billows around. I could wear this very dressy or in a business way but with the added touch to make it stand out. It's hard to believe this was an inexpensive Target find.



I paired this with one of my favorite pairs of heel. My Devlin tan and black wingtip spectators from Via Spiga. They have a sort of snubbed but pointy heel, a slight mary jane element and the mix of tan leather and black patent is super chic.



In the profile you can see the heel shape, which I am a sucker for. These shoes are one of my favorite interview shoes because they are classy yet different and they fit perfectly. They feel really secure and are the perfect height. They make me feel powerful. And what more could you want when you are interviewing.



This outfit sums up a pretty classic style for me - streamlined but with unique details to set it apart.

Ensemble du Jour

Even though the Candlelight event at Biltmore was less than our favorite thing during our trip, it did give me an opportunity to dress up a bit. Since it was kind of chilly I didn't get to wear any of my new open-toe heels. Also, we were going to be doing a bit of walking so I needed warmer and somewhat comfortable shoes.

The Outfit
I paired a long black skirt that I got a while back from Nordstroms. What I love about it is that it isn't just a plain long skirt. It has a very neat back design that gives it almost a train. I paired this with a v-neck top from Ann Taylor. The black top has sequins on the cuffs going up the arms and is v-neck front and back.

I paired this was low-heeled calf length boots from Bandolino. They're simple but comfortable and give a sleek look under the long skirt.




The Focal Point
The focal point was to be sleek in all black. It was quite chilly so I had to wear my heavy long cinnamon colored coat over my outfit. While we were looking at the shops at Biltmore, I found this beautiful huge silk flower pin.



I know big flowers are going to have a bit of a resurgence give the SATC movie but I would grab this anyways. The fabric has a beautiful lustre and it is about 6 inches wide. I pinned it to my coat but I can see wearing this on tops, with belts, in my hair, on a bag, really anywhere.

Lush!

Ensemble du Jour

The Outfit
I really like my outfit today. I got this new skirt from Target which is a lined silk skirt with a very pretty floral graphic to it. The colors are especially nice - teal, camel and white on black. I paired it with a black v-neck from Ann Taylor, teal suede Nine West heels and my new bracelet from Etsy.



I've had these Nine West heels for a few years. I love the color and the mix of suede and leather, as well as the menswear details.



So comfy yet so pretty.



The Focal Point
But while the colors are great and I love my shoes, the focal point is my new cuff bracelet from Etsy. Neat, huh? It's acrylic with pearls attached.



It's unique, hand-crafted and this it is so clever how the modern acrylic is mixed with the more traditional pearls.



Why, oh why, do I love Etsy. I think it is because there are so many clever talented folks there who are creating all of these amazing things that I wish I could create. I'm obsessed. You have to go and buy stuff!

P.S. Thank you to MediaSweetie for creating the amazing bracelet.

Ensemble du Jour

The Outfit
It's warm today. Again. I'm so depressed. I'm never going to get to do the seasonal clothes rotation! I have a meeting tonight for my town, so even though I don't need to be dressy for work, I still dressed a little nicely.

Actually, this is more comfortable to me that jeans or something. The skirt is very flow-y, the tights are so soft and my new Ann Taylor top (on sale) is very soft too.



I've been dying to break out more of the colored tights that I bought in anticipation of Fall, and I just got these shoes back from the shoe repair (after leaving them there for 4 months!) so today I combined dark orange with these burgundy Aerosoles. Fun, no? I've already received compliments... from guys! And what do they typically notice, nothing, right?



I love these Aerosoles. I have them in black too. They are a few years old and are a really go-to pair of shoes, especially for work. They have a great heel shape too. I have a pair of silver alligator printed Celine heels that I felt these were imitating, because they were offered in black patent too. So I got the expensive crazier ones and the more neutral styles came from Aerosoles.



The Focal Point
I've been very color-driven lately, so why should today be any different? I wanted to pull through that orange and red into more of the outfit, besides my red hair, so I wore a fun beaded ring that has a a mix of crystals in reds, pinks, golds, greens and purples. The big piece is my large felt flower from Etsy. It's about 5" wide and the color is a very rust reddish orange with tinges of pink.



Etsy is my new home for cute stuff! I just bought some great acrylic cuffs with pearls and a crocheted top hat. How fun is that?

Ensemble du Jour

The Outfit
It was really foggy yesterday so I felt like blending into the mists. Unfortunately, it was also warm. So maybe it was just muggy steam. Whatever. So I needed to wear something cool enough to be comfortable. I can't find any pics of what I was wearing to show you the real outfit, but it was something like these:




I wore a patterned skirt and a long-sleeve square-neck silvery blue-grey top I just got on sale at Ann Taylor and the skirt is from Target. The pattern on the skirt looks like this:



So greys, whites, and camel colors. I really wanted to wear a bright shoe with this (you'll see why in a minute) but actually didn't have the color I was wanting, so I went more matchy with these Nine West Chitty heels in mouse-grew suede. You can still get these on Zappos and they come in a bunch of colors.





The Focal Point
A horrible picture I know. For some reason I wanted to wear this really bright orangey-red patterned vintage handkerchief pinned to me, so I did. I used a light blue vintage pin to hold it on.

The pattern on the handkerchief is all these drawings of different fairytale princesses and is cute, but I'm not sure how well this went over. Maybe I should have tied it around my wrist as a bracelet instead. It was quite a pop when worn with the rest of the outfit.

Maybe a little too eye-catching.



I need to give myself time to plan my outfits better. I'd do it at night but I may feel like wearing something different when wake up, and then there is the weather to contend with!