Thursday, January 21, 2010

Gray day, gray outfit

Okay, I'll admit it. Some days you cannot fight the trend. The weather is still monochromatic, gray and dreary. So rather than buck the trend, I'm embracing it! Today's inspiration calendar was a dress with a statement necklace. Well, that didn't inspire me, so I pondered my closet. I bought a Flora Kung black/gray/white silk dress a while ago at the Scholar Shop, intending to wear it as a tunic. I paired it with skinny black jeans, black turtleneck, and gray "biker" ankle boots. Looking at the photos, I'm not sure the gray boots were the right choice, but overall I like the look.

I've topped it off with a new coat I got from Rue La La (an invitation-only shopping website - if you want an invite, leave me a note in my comments). It's by Free People, it's hard to see the details in the photos, but it's a slouchy black wool, double-breasted, with a sweater collar and cuffs. The retail price was $198, I got it on Final Sale for $69. I've been looking for a coat this length all season and I'm happy with this one.

Of course, that purchase takes us back to yesterday's post about shopping. I realized recently that I'm feeding the shopping monster by subscribing to so many different shopping website email updates. I've started unsubscribing to some; those I want to keep active I've reduced the notifications to once per week. I don't want to be a mindless consumer. I am striving to buy things only if I love them and want to keep them for a while. It's harder to do that when I have chosen to be bombarded with shopping opportunities. I was really struck by this yesterday, when I got a shipping notice from one of these invitation-only sale sites and I couldn't remember what I bought! So, that's my current goal - to slow down and think about things before I buy them. I'll keep you posted on how that's going.

Details: Work, no meetings
Coat: Free People - RueLaLa.com
Turtleneck: Juicy Couture - Marshalls in Houston
Tunic: Flora Kung - The Scholar Shop in St Louis
Belt: Lucky Brand - The Lucky Brand Store in St Louis
Jeans: Vanilla Star - TJ Maxx
Ankle Boots: No 704b - DSW in Houston

I think this is my Victoria Beckham pose (haha):
2010 Jan 21-6
2010-01-21Collage

Here's a picture of me wearing the coat (thanks for asking, Chelsea!):
2010 Januar 21-1

Here's a closeup of the coat:
2010 Jan 21-7

5 comments:

  1. I loooooove the booties! Best choice ever. Post a pic of you wearing the coat!

    (I can be bossy cause she's my mom!)

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  2. I can totally relate to what you say about reading so many fashion blogs, it's like feeding the shopping monster. I have learned/am learning not to be so obsessive about wanting everything I see, and like you said, only buying things I really love...

    I did this 2010 shopping Rules, calling it S-T-O-P, and I couldn't decide if S should stand for SLOW DOWN, or SHOP LESS. I really need to do both.

    Good luck, and I look forward to reading other ways you might slow down that shopping monster!!

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  3. Ooooh, I love the tunic and booties!

    Fashion blogs don't feed my shopping monster too much, but the coupon emails sure do. I send them all to my junk folder now, and when I am ready to shop I look through and see what I have. That's helped a lot.

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  4. Looking good! Great tunic. I've been trying really hard to just delete the emails when they come in. It's not always easy though!

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  5. P.S. The tunic is really a dress - but I hiked it up and secured it with a wide belt. It's a beautiful silk jersey knit and I love the way it drapes.

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