It's still cold - WTF Spring?

It's the end of April and yet it's cloudy out with gusty wind and a high of 56. Not cool, Mother Nature. Not cool. So today is about warmth and comfort, which does not always equal fashionable. Back from a long hiatus are the BR skinny jeans ($89). Paired it with a BR brown tee($35) and an army green jackety-thingy that I gout at a little boutique somewhere for just $60. I've worn it a ton of times, just always seems to come in handy. Boots are Nine West and were $100 I think.

Two more days until I get my new shopping budget. Blew April's in the first week so I haven't been shopping at all!! Proud of my restraint but ready to get a few new pieces. Any suggestions on what I should buy for summer? I NEED a pair of black work appropriate shoes, so those are a must buy. But other than that I plan to have fun!

All Black for New York

Now that I am no longer choosing an outfit based on what smells least like sweat and llama, I thought I'd have an all black New Yorker day to show my city how much I missed it! The answer is A LOT!

Black skinny zip jeans (American Apparel, $78)
Black silk tunic (Silence + Noise, $80)
Purple Wedges (Miz Mooz, $90)

A note on the jeans - these are cheap and they rock. The waist is hilariously high so you can't tuck in, but there's no chance of muffin top and they are comfy as hell. They also come in a huge array of colors and are cheap enough that you can be bold and try a hot pink or something!

My Best Hiking Look

This is 4:30 am the day of the first hike and I'm about as cute as I'm going to get. Four days of heavy hiking, with no shower and it was not a pretty sight.

Back from Vacation!

After hiking for 7 hours in the Andes for four days in a row, I fit in my Paige Denim jeans a little better so I thought I'd try them again today. I wanted to wear a pretty dress and heels after a week of looking like a crunchy granola girl, but the weather did not cooperate. Maybe Friday.

After getting home at 1am last night, I couldn't put to much effort in to today's outfit so I went with some standards that I think look good. Let me know what you think!

Paige Premium Denim ($198)
BR Mullberry Tank ($35)
Silence and Noise Tweed Jacket ($80)
Miz Mooz Brown booties ($78)

PS - the mother of pearl turtle brooch on the lapel was my grandmother's. I think it adds a nice touch!

Honest Journalism Ouch!

Because it's honest and true - here's my Paige Denim Muffin Top. Embarrassing but 100% real!!!

F*$K You Paige Denim Sales Girl!!!

A few months ago, I went jeans shopping with Kim. Since we have similar body types and sizes, I went with her to Paige Premium Denim in the Meatpacking district. She swears by these jeans and so does everyone else so I was excited to get a pair.

In comes expert Paige sales girl. She give me a pair to try on, and I do. They button, but they are tight and giving me a muffin top. I come out and ask for the next larger size and she says "No." That's right...."NO." What followed was a 20 minute discussion on how Paige denim fits, and what my true size was. I asked several times to try on the next size up and she pretty much would not allow me, saying they would stretch so much they'd fall off. She also said this pair would loosen up in just a few hours of wear. Guess what: THEY DIDN'T!!!!

But today I just had to wear them at some point. So I have a muffin top and won't eat lunch today but at least the $198 I spent isn't going to waste.

Marc Jacobs tank, $163
BR open cardigan, $75
Paige Premium Denim, $198
Miz Mooz Wedges, $90

The outfit I will borrow for a wedding!

Gregory Parkinson dress from Barneys and Prada Heels. Thanks goodness we're the same size!

The Shirt Dress

The shirt dress is a classic but can be hard to dress up since it's just one piece. Today, I tied the Chanel scarf Kim gave me along with the belt to give it some interest. The shoes are my Cole Haan gold hurrache pumps($338). Super comfy with the Nike air foot bed and the low heel. The dress is actually from Target (Merona, $25) and I have it in black as well. Kind of hard to go wrong with it!

March Purchases - Sorry it's late!

Sorry this is mid-April and I'm just putting up March's new purchases. I actually came in under budget at $697, which is great since I'm already WAY over for April. I really like what I got..see what you think. Not too much designer stuff, but certainly better quality and more interest. Let me know what you all think of everything.

Striped Blouse - Anthropologie, $98
Printed Cap Sleeve Jacket - Anthropologie, $69
Sequined Jacket - Urban Outfitters, $68
Confetti Tank Top - Marc Jacobs, $163
Velvet dress - Diane Von Furstenburg, $148.54
Cream Buckles Booties - Nine West, $99

Total for March: $647.09

And lookie, lookie - no Banana Republic in sight!

Purging even more!

The weather was nice last week so I got motivated to go through my closet and purge when I swapped out my winter clothes for summer clothes. That big pile is everything I didn't wear this winter, no exceptions. Everything that was light, I sent to the Haiti donation and you can see that here. This is what was left and will go to a charity in New York.

6 pairs of pants
1 coat
7 sweaters
2 tops
2 pairs of shoes
1 vest
1 jacket
1 t-shirt
and 1 bag

My closet feels so much bigger! Now the challenge is not to fill it up with crap!

Hey, not bad!

After yesterday's ho-hum chino disaster I was determined to find a "new" outfit in my closet. It was cold and I hadn't worn my suede boots in a bit so I started there. So over jeans so I grabbed the denim skirt and navy tights. Then, rustled through my closet half-dressed for about 15 minutes. Finally I grabbed a fitted brown t-shirt and my lavender cozy and a belt I've never worn. I really did figure it out as I went. especially the cozy. Not as easy to maneuver as the DKNY site makes it look.

In the end though, I actually like this outfit. I think it looks casual but somewhat citified.

Would love to hear your thoughts as this was a true fashion experiment!

Fitted Tee (BR, $35)
Cozy (DKNY, $195)
Denim Mini (Old Navy, $30)
Suede boots (Nine West, $50 on sale)
Belt - no idea when or where I bought it, but I like it!!

Pretty Alexander McQueen

Out of my budget at $719 unfortunately. I would like a really good pair of red shoes though. I've never worn them because they felt to vampy, but now that I'm older I'm thinking I could handle it.

If you're out shopping and you see a good pair, post them on my FB page so I can check them out!

Skinny chinos - Strike TWO!

What a blah way to start the week! I tried the chinos($60) again with a different top and still no go. Last time all the fabric on top felt too flowy with the loose fit of the chinos (where does the skinny come in, BR?) so this time I kept it simple. Paired with my Kimichi Blue embroidered blouse ($80) and Cole Haan ballets ($138). I think you can tell by the look on my face in the photo that I am unhappy. Blergh!

Any tips? How do you wear chinos?

Thursday's Child

Simple and sweet. I love this little dress. It's by Kimichi Blue and I got it last summer at Urban Outfitters for about $75 I think. Kim actually got the same one long before we met which is further proof that we were separated at birth. An easy outfit for an easy breezy day. Paired with my Cole Haan Bacara flats ($138).

It'll be back to 65 tomorrow, so I'll be dressed a little less summery, but I'm also headed to the Boom Boom Room for happy hour so I need to be somewhat dazzly. We'll see what I cook up.

Phillip Lim is back

Not the best shot of me today, but you get the idea. I pulled out the Phillip Lim top ($320) again this morning as I want to make sure I get a lot of wear out of my designer purchases. Paired them with my Express Trouser Jeans ($70ish) and some new Nine West cream booties($99). Hard to see the shoe on my foot, so I took a another shot.

And, like whenever I wear this top, I got tons of compliments! Another plus: this is my first wear on the booties and they are soooo comfy.

Tory Burch Tuesday

This little number was part of my ridiculous shopping trip in Nolita but I have to say I LOVE it. I stumbled on it while browsing through Tory Burch on eElizabeth St. First I tried on a sequin dress that looked like it fell out of Beyonce's closet, and then i saw this and it was just so me. The cherries are fun, the fit is great, and...it has POCKETS!

Wanted to mix it up in the shoe dept but was running too late to experiment much so I went with a safe option: Tory Burch Wedges in navy blue

Now if only I had though about some self tanner for my chalk-white legs!

Dress $395, Wedges $288. Both Tory Burch.

Monday with a Touch of London

I had to get up at dark o'clock in the morning to meet my tax attorney so I was dressing quickly, and somewhat in the dark. My only goal today was to wear my new Irregular Choice shoes as they were a gift from Kim and she was back from vacay today.

First I grabbed a Trina Turk navy dress and was going to do a white T-shirt under to make it casual, then I realized I would look like a flag. No thanks. Since I didn't want to be late to hear how poor I am*, I grabbed a basic outfit and am hoping the shoes have enough personality to carry the day.

Union Jack Flag pumps ($140, Irregular Choice)
Muse High-waisted flare jeans (Joe's Jeans, $167)
White cap-sleeved blouse (BR, $50)
Black Sequin Vest (BCBG, $160ish)

*More on this in tomorrow's post where I confess my shocking shopping transgressions in Nolita this past Saturday. Shame on me!

Kim is Back!

She's rocking a tan from Barbados, an All Saints dress, and some Miu Miu bejeweled ballet flats.

Great Nude Shoe

Only $89 at Nine West and totally on trend. The wedge heel means it'll be super comfy too. If I wasn't ridiculously over budget for April (yes! already!) I would snap these up.

Friday with a Touch of Chanel

Feel like this backdrop is washing me out a bit so bear with me. Today really felt like spring and getting dressed was a little different. No boots necessary! Anyway, I was a little tired of jeans but it's still too chilly for a skirt, so I pulled out these olive/gray chinos that I have never worn. I had always imagined these with a t-shirt and flip flops for summer, but wanted to try making them cute for work. Did I succeed? What do you think?

Chinos (Banana Republic, $60)
White gathered shirt (BCBG, $80)
Lavender Cardigan/Cozy (DKNY, $195)
Purple Leather Wedges (Miz Mooz, $90)
Chanel Scarf (Birthday Gift from Kim = FREE)

Thoughts, opinions?

THE White Dress!

This is the white dress that inspired the search in the first place. It's Shoshanna, and it's $305 at Bloomingdale's. They only had a 2 and a 4 left, so I ordered the 4 hoping it will fit. The one thing that shopping has taught me, is that the size on the tag means next to nothing. My closet ranges from sizes 4-10 and they all fit. The Kate Spade dress I bought, was I believe, a 4, but i tried it on and it worked. So, fingers crossed!!