Thrifting Queen

Right now one of my favourite colour combinations is cognac and black. I have a few outfits in that combination on my Pinterest page. I find it a rich and cozy colour combo.

So today's outfit started with my black ponte knit sheath dress which I belted with one of my men's vintage belts. Then I added black tights and my cognac faux leather jacket. Deciding to go all out and make this a cognac party, I then added my cognac riding boots and my Fossil handbag which has brown and....you guessed it....more cognac!

For jewelry, I'm wearing my oversized gold watch and a gold chunky ring.

What do you think? Does it work? Too much cognac? As always, all comments/suggestions welcome.

Jacket: Revolutions
Dress: Cleo Petite (thrifted)
Tights: Roots
Boots: Hush Puppies
Handbag: Fossil
Watch and ring: thrifted

My hubby bought me this Vince Camuto cobalt blue asymmetrical zip jacket as a Christmas present but didn't want to wait for me to wear it. So off it went to Wonder Woman to have the sleeves shortened. I got it back late yesterday and true to Team Wear, it's coming out to play today.

I love everything about this jacket - the vivid colour, the asymmetrical zipper, the cropped length, how it's fitted when zipped and slightly boxy when open, the faux leather trim and details. I've paired it with a ruched asymmetrical tank underneath and my tweed tux-style trousers. For footwear, I'm wearing my Doc Martens Sara oxfords and to mimic the shoes, am using my black and white leather handbag.

What do you think? Proportions ok? As always, all comments/suggestions welcome.

Jacket: Vince Camuto
Tank: Attitude by Jay Manuel
Trousers: Jessica (Sears brand)
Shoes: Doc Martens
Handbag: Danier Leather (thrifted)

I commented in my WIW post today http://youlookfab.com/welookfa.....anta-scarf that my Danier Leather black blazer was my best purchase of 2012. Now I had a lot of great purchases this year - footwear, handbags, dresses, jackets, even a puffer or two. But my leather blazer makes me feel great EVERY time I wear it. I feel like it takes each outfit its paired with to a higher style quotient. So that's why I'm naming it 2012's best buy.

Interestingly enough, it was also the most expensive item I purchased in 2012.

Over to you....what was the best style item you purchased in 2012? Was it clothing? Footwear? Accessories?

My "Down Under" Secret Santa sent me two beautiful and colourful scarves and today I'm debuting the red/orange one. The colours in this scarf are rich and bright and there's a black animal print that shows up here and there in it. I wanted it to be the star of the outfit today so kept the rest of my look in a neutral colour palette. I started with my charcoal grey boucle knit dress. I added dark grey tights and my grey Frye double shaft boots. On top of the dress is the gorgeous scarf. I have tied the knot like a men's tie but with the knot lower down and just let the ends hang because I wanted quite a bit of the pattern to show. I then topped the outfit with my black leather jacket. To continue with the grey and black colour scheme, I'm using my grey snakeskin clutch.

What do you think? does this work together? how are the proportions? As always, all comments/suggestions welcome.

Leather jacket: Danier Leather
Dress: Gap
Tights: Hue
Boots: Frye (eBay)
Clutch: Sondra Roberts (thrifted)
Scarf: Secret Santa
Lipstick: MAC Brave Red

Thank you Secret Santa for the beautiful and unique scarf!

I thrifted this cream and black striped loose turtleneck sweater a month or so ago and have worn it quite often with jeans, but thought today to pair it with a pencil skirt, not only to act as a debombshelling item, but also to bring in the stripe trend. I tried it first with a plain black pencil skirt and I liked it but it was lacking a wee something. Then I tried it with this black skirt with the cobalt blue wide stripe at the bottom and loved it! Just something a little unexpected, you know?

With the sweater and skirt, I'm wearing black microfishnets (it's quite warm here today - at least by Winnipeg standards!), and my Blondo knee high boots. Anna had started a thread about choosing short boots over long boots and I thought I'd give my knee high boots some love today. To further play up the cream and black in the sweater, I've chosen my cream and black leather handbag. Jewelry is a black/purple/gold bangle.

What do you think? Does this sweater and skirt combination work? What about with the taller boots? As always, all comments/suggestions welcome.

Sweater: Pria (thrifted)
Skirt: Jones New York
Microfishnets: Hue
Boots: Blondo
Handbag: Danier Leather (thrifted)
Bangle: thrifted

At a time when the fashion trend is showing a lot of oversized items - slouchy trousers, BF jeans, voluminous sweaters, etc.....how do you tell if an item is appropriately oversized or just plain sloppy?

Here's some SYC inspiration for us:

http://frenchbydesign.blogspot.....quote.html

TGIF!!!

Today's pairing is about as simple as it gets. I'm wearing my favourite bootcut/mini flare jeans. There's a bit of bling on the back pockets but nothing OTT and I like that there is no fading, distressing, whispering, etc. These are the jeans I reach for when I want just a classic pair of indigo blue jeans on. I've paired the jeans with my cream and navy houndstooth Gap sweater. LOVE this sweater! It is so cozy and soft. Have I mentioned how thrilled I am that Gap Canada is now carrying petites?

For footwear I've got on the SE Petty python booties. This is their second day out and I can already tell I'm going to wear these more than I had planned. I'm surprised how well they work in terms of colour.

No jewelry other than my silver Haida wedding band and another silver ring on the opposite hand, and my red quilted handbag.

What do you think? Proportions and colours work? As always, all comments/suggestions welcome.

Sweater: Gap
Jeans: Suko
Boots: Sam Edelman
Handbag: Nine West (thrifted)

I decided it was time to get over my self consciousness and wear the VC teal/black banded tee I bought via NAS. Because it's quite body con, I decided to top it with a blazer. I chose my slightly dressier leather collared tux-style blazer because I don't wear it very often, although love it, and then scrunched the sleeves to bring it down to a wee bit more casual vibe for work. I've paired the blazer and tee with a simple pair of black trousers which amazingly enough, match in black tone to the blazer. So I guess it kind of makes a "pseudo suit".

Footwear consists of my trusty Clarks shooties. This is the style of outfit that I'm considering would be "amped" up by the addition of the Jeffrey Campbell strap-over oxfords with the metal plate heel that I posted.

Jewelry is a chunky mixed metal wrap around bracelet and I'm using one of the fabulous clutches Sona sent me - I love the pattern mix of the snakeskin print with the striped tee and how the darkest teal colour in the clutch matches the teal in the tee.

What do you think? Does it all work? As always, all comments/suggestions welcome.

Blazer: Nygard (thrifted)
Tee: Vince Camuto
Trousers: NJP Petite
Shoes: Clarks
Clutch: Sona
Bracelet: Cleo Petite

The ponte knit sheath dress I'm wearing in today's WIW post is starting to show its wear and tear. I would like to replace it but with a slightly better quality because it is a workhorse item for my wardrobe. Here are my requirements:

- petite (so the waist is in the right spot)
- black
- scoop or v-neck
- no embellishment
- machine washable
- a decent weight ponte knit
- sleeveless (this provides so much more versatility for me in terms of layering over and under)
- available in Canada either in brick & mortar store or via online ordering
- $200 or less

Will appreciate any and all suggestions!