Pi�ce de R�sistance

The image that sparked the creation of this outfit is this one from the Prabal Gurung collection, which was part of my Fashion Week roundup post last week. And yes, I realize the two outfits really look nothing alike, but the kernel of the idea was simply to wear my furry vest over my long cream cardigan, not necessarily to recreate the whole outfit (though I still want to try that too). After that I just got carried away, grabbing as many white, cream, and beige items as I could find and throwing them all together.

The pi�ce de r�sistance was this cream harness that I snagged out of Mark's workshop; I thought it integrated really well with the other pieces and gave some geometry and structure to the outfit. I showed it here without the vest just so you could get a better look at it, but I did wear the vest all day at work so that the harness just barely peeked out.

Vest: Adrienne Landau
Harness: Audra Jean
Shirt: Michael Stars
Dress: Anthropologie
Cardigan: Max Studio
Skirt: Noa Noa
Boots: Apepazza

Bold Statements

I finally had this blazer taken in, after having to scrunch up the excess under a belt the last time I wore it. It fits far better now, with no scrunching needed. I liked the simplicity of this outfit; the long blazer and thigh high boots are fairly bold statements by themselves, so I didn't feel the need for a lot of extra embellishment. The tie at the neckline of the shirt added just a little bit of detail.

Blazer: J. Peterman
Shirt: a gift from Sal
Jeans: Joe's
Boots: Apepazza

Icelandic

OK, I'm officially ready for winter to end. It got so cold that I pulled out my Icelandic sweater, for Pete's sake! This thing has never been worn outside of Iceland, because beautiful as it is, it's deeply impractical for the San Francisco climate. Like the Danish sweater I posted the other day, it's another one of those gorgeous items I fell for while traveling in a colder climate than my own, not thinking that I might not have much use for it at home. I don't feel like this was a wasted purchase though; the traditional design isn't really in danger of going out of style, and the sweater is such good quality that it'll last for years.

I felt like the best way to offset such a bulky sweater was to pair it with my skinniest jeans, and to make my legs look longer still by adding these tall boots. I threw on the belt as an afterthought, but I think it gave the outfit nice proportions and kept the sweater from bunching up.

Sweater: Icelandic
Jeans: Joe's
Boots: Apepazza

International Pie For Breakfast Month

It finally cooled down enough to break out my vintage 1960's wool dress and try pairing it with my black boots, with the cuffs turned up for an over-the-knee length. For this outfit I didn't pair the dress with its matching cropped jacket, opting instead to modernize it a bit with the velvet blazer. But interestingly, when I pulled out the set I realized for the first time that I could use the jacket to give a 60's vibe to other outfits, so I've got one coming up with it. Funny that it never occurred to me before, probably because I always keep the dress and jacket hanging together.

I'd like to digress for a moment and discuss one of my favorite elements of the holiday season: pie for breakfast. Is there anything quite so delightful? A slice of pie is great for dessert, but to me nothing quite matches the satisfaction that comes with eating it for breakfast (especially pumpkin pie, my favorite). If I were a songwriter I would write an ode to having pie for the most important meal of the day, but with my limited musical talents I'll simply declare December as International Pie For Breakfast Month. Please feel free to celebrate accordingly.

Dress: Violetville Vintage
Necklace: vintage
Jacket: a gift from Sal
Boots: Modern Vintage

Blade Runner

Someone at work told me this outfit looked like something out of Blade Runner, which I thought was a most excellent compliment. It does have sort of a futuristic element to it, come to think of it, with the tall boots and fluffy lace shrug. I like how the shrug blends perfectly with the dress and makes it look as if it's all one piece.

This leads me to come up with the brilliant idea, here in December, to go as Darryl Hannah's character Pris the next time I have occasion to dress up for Halloween. But of course, thinking of it in December means that by the time Halloween actually rolls around, I'll have completely forgotten the idea and will be at an utter loss for what to go as. I did it last year too, and of course I have never been able to remember the costume idea since whenever it was that it first occurred to me. I would be a brilliant Halloween partygoer if only all my great costume ideas didn't get lost in the sands of time.

Shrug: a gift from my sis
Dress: local import store P-Kok
Bangles: Amrita Singh
Jeans: Diesel
Boots: Modern Vintage

Boho

It was Imogen who suggested I wear this dress over skinny jeans, and I kept that suggestion lingering in my head for the next time I decided to wear the dress. Funny how I can't remember what someone told me 10 minutes ago if it relates to work or household stuff, but anything in the way of clothing or style gets filed in some instant-access portion of my brain for easy future reference.

Although the boots covered most of the jeans, I thought they were too perfect a match not to wear. Boho isn't a style I don very often, so I guess when I do I ought to go all out. When I walked you could see the jeans as the dress moved around, which I thought looked great. This outfit was also a perfect opportunity to wear this pretty brass and crystal bracelet I got from Gilt recently.

If you look closely you can see how I tightened the boots at the top by cinching the wraparound strap and securing the excess length by doubling it back through the front top loops; when you see these boots again it will be with that excess length taken up in small brass buckles.

Dress: vintage
Harness: Audra Jean
Bracelet: Leslie Danzis
Jeans: Joe's
Boots: Apepazza

One Fell Swoop

This is the other new pair of boots I alluded to yesterday. They're a little lighter than they appear in the photos, more of a camel color and not medium brown. Normally I avoid suede, but these were just so darn pretty I couldn't resist. They reach all the way up to my lower thighs and yet have no hint of a Julia Roberts/Pretty Woman hooker vibe.

One complaint about these is that on me they're a lot slouchier than they appear in the listing on Endless. In fact I had to tighten those straps at the top of the boots to keep them from slumping all the way down to my calves. But tightening the strap did work, and Mark had just the perfect buckles to put on them so that I don't have to take up the excess length by doubling it back through the front loops. It's a handy thing to have a leather craftsman in the house.

These boots take care of several fall trends in one fell swoop: OTK boots, camel, and suede; adding the military jacket and bubble-hem skirt brought the trend count to 5 in this single outfit. As for the big piece of string stuck to my right arm, that was purely accidental; good thing I noticed it before I left for work.

Jacket: thrifted
Belt: Audra Jean
Skirt: Attila Design
Boots: Apepazza