Ensemble du Jour

Each day is a new change in the weather around here. I feel like my wardrobe is schizophrenic.

On Earth day, I wore a khaki pencil skirt with a white cami but then had to add a corduroy blazer over it.



4-22-09 by Princess Poochie on Polyvore.com

But, it's Spring darn it! I want to wear some sandals! These Nine West heels are a bit chunky and a bit safari-ish, so I felt they weren't too light an airy, so it was okay.



Are you having as much trouble as I am bridging this crazy weather transition. My heart says "Spring!" by the wind says, "Hey! It's still Winter!"

Ensemble du Jour

The Outfit

I'm doing the transitional thing again. Trying to work in some of the clothes from summer that I haven't had a chance to wear as well as putting together color combinations that I like the look of.

On Wednesday, I decided to wear this bright pink patterned silky wrap dress from JCrew with the much more substantial dark brown corduroy blazer from Target. One of my favorite elements of the dress (and the reason I bought the same style in three fabrics - on sale!) is the ruffle collar. What's fun with it, is when you wear the dress under a blazer, the ruffle gets pushed up and creates this sort of ornate neckline that really frames your face.

The two colors are very strong and contrast each other well. I walked in the door to work and got all sorts of compliments which I directly contribute to the colors working off of each other.



In keeping with the simple/ornate look I wore one of my new Paraphernalia pieces - a "P for Poochie" Petit Nom Initial Necklace. If you have not found a Paraphernalia piece that you like, you just can't be looking. I think I have about ten pieces and I love them all - from girly to a bit goth.

You're going to be seeing a lot more pieces of hers because I just received a bunch and I'm so excited I'm wearing them almost every day.



For shoes, I wore these Casadei dark brown suede mary janes. I love the shape of these when they're on and the color and material are an equal weight to the blazer - they help to ground the dress.



Plus they have giant pom-poms!



The Focal Point

It was all about the dress and the great color and pattern. I am a sucker for a great saturated pink. I really cannot resist, even when I should.



I think this weekend might be the right time to do the seasonal switch for the closets and pulling out the sweaters. But I'm going to have to keep this transitional idea in mind and not bury anything too deeply that I might want to layer with.

New York, New York - Day 2

Sooo, where did we leave off? Here's Day One to check out.

On Wednesday morning (Day Two) I was off for my main reason to come to New York - a conference for work. I figured it might be chilly in the Times Center all day so I wore a denim skirt, my JCrew tee with the sequined crest and a dark brown corduroy blazer. For shoes I wore my Franco Sarto heeled sandals.



They actually ended up being pretty comfortable because I walked for blocks in them and they didn't bother me. Plus I got quite a few compliments on them.



The conference ended at 5pm so I was able to hit a few other stores that I had not been able to the day before. One of the main places I wanted to go was to Town Shop. After reading reviews of the service there, I decided to see what advice they gave me. This place has been around since 1888 and many of the sales people have been there for decades.

Well, I walked in ready for anything and was helped by a lovely woman who made me feel instantly at ease with her professionalism. And she told me, like most women, I was wearing the totally wrong size. I'd always gone for a larger band size and a smaller cup. When I was the opposite, a bigger cup was needed and smaller back! Imagine that! I tried on one of the bras she brought me and then put my shirt over it to see. The change was amazing. I felt plumped in a good way! I was so happy I bought two bras on the spot. And they're elegant womanly bras, not saccharine pink Victoria's Secret garbage either. I've decided I'm totally done with them.



If you get the chance to go, I obviously recommend the store!

From there, I wasn't far from an actual Manolo Blahnik store. Now, granted, given the other day I should not have gone there. But I couldn't not go, even just to look.

Yeah, I'll admit it. That was a mistake.

The store is a tiny boutique and very simply designed. I saw a few shoes I knew but there were many not carried by the major department stores.



I tried on a few adorable pairs but ended up getting these brown linen Toluk mary janes with dark brown edges. Very very comfortable as well. And, seriously, I don't have a ton of brown shoes. These I did end up taking with me since I figured I could fit one shoe box into my bags somehow.











After that I took a cab through the park and went over to the Maison du Chocolat store on Madison.



I'd been dying to get some macarons and I succeeded. I got a big variety pack and am still eating them. I also got a bunch of dark chocolate pieces mainly with ingredients like ginger, tea and honey. They were also delish!



It was an absolutely gorgeous day so I walked from Maison all the way to the subway pick-up down by The Plaza. I then returned to the apartment to order an Indian feast to be delivered to my door.

I think I'm SAD

I think my wardrobe has Sesonal Affective Disorder and it's making me have it too.

It's no wonder April has been called the cruelest month. I feel like the weather has been trying to trick me. The lovely spring and summer clothes and shoes have been in for a while but they just sit there, unworn, while the chilly skies and dreary rain comes down. The flowers are leaves are out but we can't go out and enjoy them.

Instead I'm still wearing dark greens and browns and dark grey cardigans and tights.



I tried to rebel yesterday by wearing my gladiator-esqu sandals, since I didn't wear them with my dress for the bridal shower. But today I'm wearing black patent flat mocs since it's rainy again.



What I want to wear are cute bright pinks and whites and greens. I think, as the description of the SAD symptoms says, I'm craving sweets.

So what better cure than to look at all the girly shoes from Sugar. I love the bright pink plaid fabric.



They're ever so Irregular Choice but I still like them. Especially the stripe-y ones.



These are my favorites though. They look like lollipops!



Maybe if I had these I would be able to perk up a bit.

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 wish that I had a mid-height skirt in brown, black and khaki. I think my skirts are either too long for the look I want sometimes or they're too short for work. I wanted to wear some of my knubby socks before the weather got too warm for it. But I think my skirt was too long for the effect I was going for.

I paired my swingy brown skirt with a brown corduroy blazer over a pink beaded camisole. All three are from Target.



To pick up some of the tones in the shoe I wore my khaki acrylic bracelet with pearls from Etsy.



I love these O Lovlies socks from Sock Dreams. They're very soft but I think the bottom edge of the skirt needs to be higher than the top of these to show them off to the best advantage. The ones I wore are a light pink.



The Focal Point
My colorful Miu Miu brogues. A lot of folks didn't take to the "wings" on these but I really liked them. I thought it gave them a neat element. I like so many things about these heels. They have great interior cushioning, the colors are cool, and I love the masculine elements of the wingtip design.





These were good with the muted tones for Fall, but I they should work well in Spring too. The colors are right for some of the delicate tones. They're a little chunky but the patchwork design and the patent helps them transition a bit. Although I think I will wear them bare-legged, not with any of the sheer hosiery coming into play.

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.

Ensemble du Jour

The Outfit
Doesn't this look sort of bland here in my tame little Polyvore? Perriwinkle blue cable-knit sweater from Target, grey corduroy skirt from Old Navy, my new favorite Champagne necklace. At least the pink pony hair heels add a bit of pop, so we'll give you that. But otherwise, nothing much.

Right????



Finally a close-up of my super-special-absolute-favorite necklace -



PINK!



I do love these Charles David "Fever" heels. Crazy color and material. Classic lines.



The Focal Point
But wait! I was just teasing you. There is something more to this outfit that mere Polyvore cannot capture.



Look at my awesome tights from Joy of Socks! The pattern is called Versailles (not really sure of the connection there) and they have like a million colors in them.



Ever since I got them I knew I wanted to wear them with these shoes. And don't they look smashing together? I think so. They actually look really good with my red jelly flats I wore in the car. But these have so many colors, I can't imagine what wouldn't look good with them.



It was kind of a rough day so I was glad I had happy tights on to keep my cheer level up.