November Purchases

I was really good in November. I only bought things I needed and loved so it was a good month for me. I've gotten a lot of wear out of everything thus far and I know it will still be around at least 2-3 years, if not more.

Hype silk skirt: $140 at Anthropologie
Navy Sweater: $42 at Zara (a great place for tailored basics)
Plaid Coat: $140, also at Zara
Hunter Boots: $135 from Piperlime

I also spent $100 on body basics at Gap Body. I've always loved their intimates, and they have launched a great sport/fitness line that's very Stella McCartney.


Total Spent: $557 - nearly $200 under budget!

Today's look

It's still cold out, but, with the help of a sleeping bag coat I was able to wear a skirt today without worrying about freezing to death. Long puffy coats are not flattering but boy do they work!


Boyfriend sweater: The Limited, $55
Dot Skirt: Club Monaco, $125
Tights: Hue, $16
Boots: Naturalizer, $150

Love Me some Blanket Sweater

this sweater was on the expensive side, but I sure do get a lot of wear out of it. It's just so darn cozy. Plus it has good coverage so I can get away with jeggings at work without showing too much booty.


Sweater: Laurie B, $195
Printed Tunic: Urban Outfitters,$58
Jeggings, Juicy Coture, $125
Boots: Charles David, $250

New Skirt!

This morning started out a little funky in the outfit department. I was determined to wear this outfit...but with navy tights. You can't see it in the photo that well, but these are my olive green tights. My closet is actually clean and organized right now, and I look in all of the places I thought hey could possibly be in, but to no avail. My only thought is that Paddy, my evil little poodle, has eaten and completely digested them.

Skirt: Hype, $140
Sweater: Zara, $40
Tights: Hue, $16
Boots, Nine West, $50 on sale.

I forgot how much I loved Hype clothing until I went to their site...must collect more pieces!

Saturday Night Cozy.

I went out to my favorite place Saturday (Esperanto!) and was wanting a cozy casual look. After all it's a little cold out and I walked there. This fit the bill for me, but the photo is not flattering at all. The angle is a little high, so I look a LOT wider than I did in person - at least I hope so.

This outfit contains three of my October purchases which I realized I hadn't worn yet.

Sweater: Laurie B, $195
Blouse: Staring at Stars, $54
Jeans: Hudson, $160
Hat: Urban Outfitters, $28
Flats: Cole Haan, $138
Purse: Chanel, $2600

Thoughts? Comment's? Photoshop stretching tool?

Rainy Monday

Today is going to be a rainy blah Monday so I wanted to have a little fun. I looked for some color and tried to mix and match items a little. I think I turned out a cute outfit, though maybe the skirt is a tiny bit short. Oh well, I'm rocking it!

Sweater: Old Navy, $24
Denim Mini: Mossimo for Target, $25
Tights: Hue, $15
Socks: Target, $5
Boots: Charles David, $250

Rain. Blergh.

Last Wednesday - Favorite dress

This dress is probably 4 years old and I still wear the hell out of it every winter. It's an I.N.C. dress from Macy's that I bought for about $60. Normally I'm not a fan of I.N.C. as their materials are poor and tend to make even the cutest items look cheap and hang poorly, but this dress seems to be the exception to the rule. It's also super easy to wear - just add tights and boots and you're out the door!

Sweater Dress: INC at Macy's, $60
Tights: Hue, $15
Boots: Steve Madden, $120
Necklace: One of a kind, a gift.

I'm Baaaaaaaaack!

After a super long (and much needed) vacation in Bali, I'm back to NYC and my blog. It was odd getting dressed today. For the last 10 days I've worn a cotton dress or romper, flip flops, no make up and a ponytail. Now I'm in 45 degree weather instead of 85 and I had to get dressed...in layers. As I posted this photo today I realized the outfit is almost identical to the last one I posted. We are creatures of habit aren't we?

Blanket Sweater: Express, $70
Silk Military Shirt: Express, $70
Jeggings, Juicy Coture, $125
Boots: Nine West, $100 ish


Two more months to go and my experiment will be finished!

Wednesday Dinner

I took these photos before heading out for dinner - so they're not the greatest. I did one with flash and one without so you get the idea. This is my first wearing of my blanket sweater from Express. They are supposed to be a top trend this Fall/Winter and I love anything big and cozy so I'm pretty happy. And the navy sequined tank dressed it up for night. It was a great purchase - it gets tons of wear. And, if you haven't noticed, I'm already back to my fall winter staple: skinny jeans and boots. Hopefully this season I'll learn to mix it up.

Blanket Sweater: Express, $70
Sequin Tank: Express, $40
Skinny Jeans, Banana Republic, $80
Boots: Nine West, $100 ish

Mixing up the patterns.

Since yesterday's outfit was a little streamlined, I decided to be bold today. i am not great at mixing patterns and prints, but I think I'm learning. I just got this sweater at Urban Outfitters yesterday, and I wanted to wear it today, but decided to make myself do something different. I think it looks good, but I'm not 100% confident. The cream stripes in the sweater seem a little too light? But maybe I'm over thinking it.

Pins and Needles Sweater, $42
Tucker for Target dress, $35
Bronx Boots, $150

What do you think?

Monday - Black and Brown?

I've never really been 100% sure these two go together. I mean black and kakhi, sure...but black and dark brown? This morning I thought I'd experiment and give it a shot. Plus I wanted to wear my new black pants! Upon seeing this photo I have a couple of misgivings.

1) I wish I had worn different heels. I have a pair of brown and cream zebra striped Kate Spade shoes that would have been awesome.
2) I wish the detail on my belt buckle was gold tone instead of nickel.

Other than that I'm good with this outfit. Maybe it's a little boring, but it certainly makes me look skinny.

Gap True Straight pants, $50
Limited Cami, $25
Banana Republic Cardigan,$158
Banana Republic Equestrian belt, $40 on sale
Frye Kitten heels, $168
Michaek Kors Oversized watch (a gift)

What do you think - is it chic? Or a snooze fest?

A note on the watch - I felt like it was too big but when I took it to the MK store to exchange it. Ezekiel (the sales guy) convinced me that the Oversized watch was the one to go with. He pointed out that the model in their fall catalog is wearing it in every shot and she's (his words here) a skinny bitch! Ergo, if it's not too big on her, it won't be too big on me. Sold!

Polka Dots!!!

This dress is one of my new Anthropologie purchases and I have ZERO buyer's remorse. I love it. It's so me, I feel great today. And with the classic/retro shape it'll never be "out". Added pops of color - cardigan is just for my freezing office - but think it would look classy with all black elements too. Winner!!!

Anthropologie Polka Dot Dress, $258
Marc Jacobs Green Suede Kitten Heels, $250 on sale
Ann Taylor Cardigan, $58

Happy Day - Happy Outfit!

Friday's dress.

Today's dress is another easy cotton number to beat the heat. This black dress is by Kimichi Blue and I got it at Urban Outfitters last year for around $80. Shoes are my Enzo Angiolini Gladiators, $89,

I LOVE this dress. It's modest and comfortable, and the neck and sleeves have a little retro flair. Coincidentally, Kim has this dress too.

Yay - Weekend!

Disco Friday!

Who says you can't wear sequins for day? No one actually. In fact I've read several times that sequins are okay at any time really, just in the right amounts. Today I have on a new sequin jacket, but since the color (grey) is somewhat conservative, I thought it would be cute for work. Kept the rest of the outfit simple and wore very little jewelry. The result was lots of compliments! Yay!

Sequin Jacket ($68, Urban Outfitters)
Grey Tee ($18, BR)
Grey/Black dip dye scarf ($40, BR)
Black pocket skirt ($68, BR)
Black Bacara flats ($138, Cole Haan)

Challenge #4: Edit, Edit, Edit

As we all discovered early on in this blog, I have way too much shit in my closet. Since the weather's been cold, I've noticed that I still rarely wear pullover sweaters. And yet, I have 20 of them. That means I could wear one every work day for a month and never repeat. Which would be cool, if I liked sweaters that much. But I don't and I honestly wear them about 2-3 times a month.

So the bottom line is, I don't need 20 sweaters. So I challenged my self to edit my collection down to 10. Cut it in half and donate 10 sweaters. It's cold outside; someone in New York could use those sweaters.

I thought it would be easy, but it wasn't. I kept pulling sweaters out of the donate file thinking..."what if I want to wear this with X outfit?" or "But this would be so cute with Y outfit!". Still some of these sweaters haven't been worn in a year. Why is it so hard to let go of clothes I'm not even using? It took me an hour to do this. Kinda ridiculous, no?

So I'm down to the 10 sweaters I think I'll wear the most (pile on the left) and put the rest in the donate pile (on the right). As soon as they went into the IKEA bag I'm schlepping to the Salvation Army this weekend I didn't miss them at all. It's like they were never there. To be honest, I'd be hard pressed to describe the 10 I gave away, and I just did this challenge last night.

So what is it about letting go to stuff I don't need, and sometimes don't even like? I know I'm not alone in this dilemma or The Container Store would not do such a robust business.

What would be hard for you to give up? Heaven knows I dread going through my shoe collection!