Ensemble du Jour

I feel in love with my new Manolo Butterflo heels when I first saw them because of the color - a brilliant sapphire blue.

But they are a very strong vibrant color, so what color to wear with them? They'd be great as a bold contrast point and there are some equally strong colors it would look great with. I even posed the question to the universe via Twitter. I got back some great suggestions of red, pink, etc.

The Outfit
So, when I wore them on Friday, what did I end up with? I was thinking red but wanted to go for something less easy. I've been wearing clothes that I haven't worn in a while and remembered that I had this silk Proenza Schouler for Target dress. The dress is a very dark navy, edged in black. Because it's been chilly in our office, I wore my grey cardigan over it. To add a stronger gleam, picking up the sheen of the silk, I just wore my watch for jewelry.



The Focal Point
It was the color combination that I was working with. I thought it might be interesting to have the darker colors in the dress contrasted with the lighter and brighter colors of the cardigan and the shoes. Very tonal but I liked the effect. Plus, how can you go wrong with these shoes?









They just glow, don't they? I can't wait to wear them with more color combinations. I know I'll pair red with them. I just need to find the right combination.

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
I just realized I'm wearing black and brown again today. I'm wearing cropped black pants and a black camisole, plus a croc print Merona cardigan. Because I have a lot of pattern, I am only wearing my rings and my nice watch for jewelry.



I really only have two watches. My sportier one is the acrylic Toy Watch, which I wear a lot because I like the chunkiness of it. My everyday, nicer watch is a Raymond Weil Parsifal with a diamond bezel and numbers. This is actually my second one. The first one got stolen at the gym because I dumbly, took it off during a class.

I am of the belief that if you have a few key nice accessories you can dress up most any outfit. I would say the key things to invest in are a wallet, watch, sunglasses, and, of course, shoes. You can even get away with a less pricey bag or other jewelry if you have a nice wallet and watch. Same goes for men - wallet, watch, belt, shoes. From there, you're good to go.



The Focal Point
Croc! No, not Crocs (ick!). Croc print. I'm risking wearing a pattern overload by wearing two croc print items but the color tones are complementary and not matching, so I think it works.



I luv these shoes. Their Manolo Blahnik Tuccio in pony hair with the print magically on there.



These are the most comfortable heels ever. What a silhouette.




I would wear these everywhere if I wasn't so over-protective of them.