Thrifting Queen

Not long ago I posted that I didn't like myself in skinnies and found them to be unflattering. Well lo and behold, last week I came across these Attitude by Jay Manuel dark burgundy skinnies, fell in love with the rich colour, tried them on and brought them home! I love the colour and the fit and feel they can work in my wardrobe both for casual wear and for work. The skinnies aren't a keep or return as they are staying.

I just spent an hour playing in my closet with some very quick stylings and I was right - these will be very versatile and I'm surprised at how well the colour works. Can I trouble you to look at these stylings and let me know what works and what doesn't? If there is something that doesn't, are there components of the outfit that work but one of the items needs swapping out? Plus I would love any and all suggestions on what else to pair with these. 

BTW please excuse the complete lack of make up or hair styling. I literally took these about an hour after getting out of bed and just having had a cup of coffee. Haven't even brushed my teeth yet…

#1 - with black booties, silk shell and leather blazer
#2 - same outfit without the blazer
#3 - same outfit but with navy Lanai blazer instead
#4 - with denim shirt
#5 - with cream silk blouse, sand wedge booties and fur vest (this looked better in my head and is a fail)
#6 & #7 - with my emerald green cashmere sweater (thanks Astrid for the great colour combo inspiration!)
#8 - with a simple cream chunky knit and sand wedge booties
#9 - with gold drapey sweater, animal print belt and booties
#10 & #11 - with animal print tank, Spiegel leather jacket and black booties
#12 & #13 - with black tank, black booties and charcoal drapey Eileen Fisher cardigan (time to break this sweater out!)
#14 - with animal print tank and purple leather jacket (although the purple is a different shade, can they work together as tonal?)
#15 & #16 - with animal print tank, python booties and white leather jacket
#17 - with black booties and blush Zara blazer
#18 & #19 - with tall black leather boots and cream/black striped sweater

My physiotherapy on my ankle has started and I've been given the ok to try out shoes today, as long as they aren't high heeled. So my outfit started with my choice of shoes - my flat animal print/black leather pointy toed Fluevog oxfords.

To book end the golden animal print portion of the shoes (which photographs so much lighter in my close up shot for some reason), I chose my metallic gold slouchy sweater that I bought last year. I've semi tucked and added a black leather belt to my TR Cameron jeans. Jewelry is my rose gold/black watch and gold wedding band. I then chose my black leather handbag with gold hardware and because it's a beautifully mild day today, will be wearing my Club Monaco black wool wrap cape-style jacket when I head out the door.  Because I'm trying out a bit of a daytime smokey eye for makeup, I put away my strong red lipstick and am wearing Quo pale burgundy lip gloss instead. I'm not normally a lip gloss gal, but I love this one.

So what do you think? Does this all work together for a casual Friday? As always, all comments/suggestions welcome.

Jacket: Club Monaco (consignment)
Pullover: Esprit
Jeans: True Religion
Shoes: Fluevog
Belt & handbag: Danier Leather
Watch: Fossil

My kingdom for a pair of real shoes!!! I'll be glad when I can try out real shoes and booties next week. This silly ankle boot is cramping my style :(

Today's outfit again centred around having to wear the ankle boot and therefore choosing tights and a skirt for the ease. I then added to my black pencil skirt, a berry coloured tank and topped that with my cropped retro houndstooth jacket.

I then added my black/white leather handbag, silver wedding band and grey/silver bangle for accessories. 

My Keep/Purge question is with respect to the houndstooth jacket - I absolutely adore the retro style of it and the fit is excellent. Plus I LOVE LOVE LOVE houndstooth. However, I'm wondering if this is not the most flattering length and shape of jacket on me. It ends just at the widest part of my hips which IMHO completely accentuates the width there. What do you think of the jacket - keep or purge?

As always, all comments/suggestions welcome.

Jacket: Simply Manakin Petite (thrifted)
Tank: Gap
Skirt: Cleo Petite
Boot: Blondo
Handbag: Danier Leather (thrifted)

Ugggghhh…it's cold here now and I haven't had a chance to go and pick up my new berry cashmere-blend coat from Wonder Woman (getting the sleeves shortened) and I'm finding pants (other than jeans) tricky to wear with my ankle brace because I can't wear a shoe on that foot yet and my pants are all hemmed for a bit of a heel.  So today's outfit is all about warmth and comfort.

I started with my old v-neck ponte knit sheath topped with my animal print merino wool cardigan. Yes, the sheath is too big but that felt very comfy today and hopefully the width is reigned in some by the closer fitting cardigan. I'm wearing two pairs of tights layered for leg warmth and my Blondo knee high boot on my right foot. I've added an extra sock to my sprained ankle foot for even more warmth.

I went with my red quilted handbag and my rose gold/black watch - can't get enough of this watch! And for a change, I've added a necklace. I've been kind of off my necklaces in the last year but this outfit kind of called for something in that neck space. Of course, a swipe of red lipstick finishes it off.

So what do you think? does this work together? As always, all comments/suggestions welcome.

Cardigan: Lord & Taylor
Sheath: Banana Republic
Tights: Hue
Boots: Blondo
Handbag: Nine West (thrifted)
Watch: Fossil
Necklace: Lia Sophia

I'm glad it's Casual Friday (Denim Day in my office) so I don't have to think too hard about how to work my mini boot into my style. If you wanna know why I'm not wearing a shoe on my left foot here's the story http://youlookfab.com/welookfa.....re-walking.

These Wit & Wisdom skinnies are no longer very skinny but that worked to my advantage this morning as I could stretch the pant leg over the brace. Then I just slip my foot into my Under Armour sandals. In order to keep my heels approximately the same height, I chose for my shoe my pretty pointy toed black leather/animal print Fluevog oxford. If you're only gonna wear one shoe, might as well make it fab right?

With the dark jeans, I chose my simple but favourite sparkly hi-lo navy sweater that DS gave me for Christmas last year. When I head out the door, I'll have on the Spiegel leather jacket and to change things up completely, I chose my two-tone vintage Fossil handbag. I like how it is totally opposite the black and navy colour palette and kind of works with the animal print in the shoe. For jewelry, I'm wearing my rose gold/black watch and gold wedding band.

Does this work together? As always, all comments/suggestions welcome.

Sweater: Laura Petite
Jeans: Wit & Wisdom
Shoe: Fluevog
Handbag: Fossil
Watch: Fossil (thrifted)

Whoops….realize I forgot my close up still shot at the end. Sorry 'bout that!

I have the same tomato red Gap blazer as Amy does and also found I wasn't reaching for this jacket much in the last year. But I was inspired by her brilliant pairing the other day with animal print and decided to copy that idea.

I chose my animal print pencil skirt and a simple black knit tank. I then added nude hose and my knee high flat boots. On top of that I added the Gap blazer, scrunched the sleeves and chose my rose gold/black watch and gold wedding band for jewelry. My handbag is my trusty old black and white leather one.

Thanks for the inspiration Amy - maybe this blazer deserves to come out of the holding zone after all!

This outfit has identified a wardrobe hole though. I don't have any knee high black dressier boots with a heel and definitely would have preferred that type of boot with this outfit. 

Anyway, over to you - what do you think? Does it work together? Does this blazer deserve to stay in my wardrobe? As always, all comments/suggestions welcome.

Blazer: Gap
Tank & skirt: Sears
Boots: Blondo
Handbag: Danier Leather (thrifted)
Watch: Fossil

I feel like Goldilocks with these black watch trousers - first pair was too big, second pair I ordered was too small, and this pair is JUST RIGHT! PPP definitely paid off in getting the exact fit I wanted - a bit of ease but still slim fitting. I will confess I just got them the other day and haven't had time to shorten them so just rolled them once so I could be on Team Wear. I hope that looks ok.

I've paired the trousers with my new navy v-neck cashmere. I have been looking for the right weight, fit, and colour of this sweater for almost two years and finally found it - again with Lord & Taylor. It's not a super dark navy colour but then that's not what I was looking for.

For footwear I chose again my black patent booties and am using my black leather handbag. When I head out the door I'll be topping it all with the Spiegel leather jacket. Jewelry is my rose gold/black watch and my gold wedding band.

I feel good in this. It's really a fairly simply and minimal outfit but I feel put together, stylish and comfortable. What do you think? As always, all comments/suggestions welcome.

Sweater and trousers: Lord & Taylor
Booties: Ara
Handbag: Danier Leather
Jacket: Spiegel
Watch: Fossil (via eBay)

Today's outfit started with my Maggy London faux wrap dress - still going strong after two years. What's great about this dress is that it still works with my new size - I just moved the snap over a wee bit and tightened the tie. I would have loved to have paired my black and white ankle strap pointy toe kitten heel shoes with this but alas, it's too cold now for those shoes as they really do work best with bare legs :( 

So instead I put on a pair of nude hose (thank you Angie for letting us know it's ok to wear hose!) and popped on my blue-purple suede booties. On top of the dress I've added my black leather blazer and chose my black/white leather handbag. Jewelry is just my silver Haida wedding band.

When I head out the door I'll be adding my navy coat and navy/white polka dot scarf.

So what do you think? does this all work together? as always, all comments/suggestions welcome.

I love my foxy tee - it's got an outline sketch of a fox's face and neck and its wearing a gold sequinned eye mask. Kind of a dressier version of a graphic tee I guess. So how to wear it for Denim Day at work?

I paired the tee with my bootcut jeans. I chose to fully tuck as I think that automatically makes the tee less casual and added my black leather belt. I then topped that with an older Gap charcoal herringbone blazer. The blazer has solid black felt elbow patches, a slight hi-low type hem and a bit of a preppy/equestrian vibe to it.

I then added my red booties for a happy bit of colour and my new black leather handbag. Rose gold/black watch and wedding band round out the outfit.

What do you think? Does it all work together? I realize the blazer is not a trendy but is it still in style? As always, all comments/suggestions welcome.

Blazer: Gap
Tee: Olsen Europe
Jeans: Jessica Simpson Curvy Bootcut
Belt & handbag: Danier Leather
Boots: Sam Edelman