Sweater: Carrie by Josee Paquin; Quince & Co. Lark in Iceland; my notes and modifications on Thule
Skirt: Alice + Olivia Pharl leather skirt; similar styles from Vince, Halston Heritage, and if you're gonna go faux, go all the way faux with this PU patent from ASOS
Tights: I never talk tights because all tights are tights, but I love these ombre tights from BZR shop and own them in several shades - they're tons of fun
Shoes: Gucci Ursula horsebit booties; similar (and by similar, I mean black bootie) styles by Dune London, Sam Edelman, and Giuseppe Zanotti
Lips: Yves Saint Laurent Volupte tint-in-oil in Pink About Me
It has been really really cold and I have been really really disinclined to stand outside wrangling a tripod to take photos. Fortunately, my husband and I both had a spare couple of minutes this morning and took some photos. Which makes me happy because I've a) missed blogging and b) have tons of things to tell you about since I made a number of "essential" end-of-season sale purchases. Like this skirt. Which I had wanted all season long, had lusted over in person and on line, and absolutely was never going to pay anywhere near full price for. 70% off you say? Yes, thank you. I will take a fairly staple dark grey leather skirt for my closet. Thanks for keeping my size in stock all season long!
Jess asked me if I wear my Carrie a lot as she's considering making one, so naturally I had to photograph how I style it. This sweater, despite its raglans (which I am more and more becoming less and less a fan of), gets a lot of wear because it is a) really warm, b) the most perfect turtleneck I've ever made, c) really versatile, and d) surprisingly soft. It's one of my favorite winter sweaters and I'm wondering if the rather wide raglan seams make it slightly less raglan-y on me. Once I decided on grey skirt with grey sweater, it seemed only appropriate to round it out with my grey ombre tights and...
BRAND NEW BOOTS OF EXCELLENT AWESOMENESS MUCH WONDERFUL HOORAY!
aka the boots I simply had to have for values of "simply had to have" that did not include "paying $1200." I wouldn't have looked twice at these shoes ordinarily as on paper, or more accurately in photo, they didn't do much for me. But the nice man at Neiman Marcus, after assuring himself the commission from the sale of my Christian Louboutin pumps, was in a good "let's try on all the things" mood and forced these on my feet. Where I fell in love. Because on my feet they are amazing. Super duper, top 10 kind of amazing. They were super duper top 10 amazing right until the moment I looked at the box and saw the price tag. From that moment on, these shoes were my on sale mission. I would find them on sale. WOULD! Except that while Gucci put the oxblood version on sale (and I was tempted), as you can see, the black ones remain undiscounted. Neiman Marcus did put theirs on sale (not as much sale as I would like, but I was getting desperate), but not in any size I could remotely pretend was mine. I mean, I'll suffer for fashion, but in order for my tugboats to fit in an 8.5, I'd need to chop off my toes, and I kind of like my toes. So that was that. I wasn't getting the boots. Many tears were shed. Until the magic happened: ebay. One day, on a lark, I took a look for the boots on ebay and there was a pair, barely worn, in my size, for about 1/4 the retail price. The time it took me to hit "buy it now" can't be clocked by ordinary timepieces because it was, as the scienticians would say, instant.
And I couldn't be happier with them. They were barely worn. They were practically new. And they were mine.
Finally, I want to talk up the stuff on my lips. I'm pretty picky when it comes to lip stuff. I want creamy, emollient, and easy application. Which generally has me shy away from lip gloss because it's always grosser and stickier than they claim. I completely impulse bought this stuff even though it comes in what looks like a lip gloss tube. But it's a tinted oil. The applicator is tapered like a lipstick so you don't end up with crap all over your face, and it is incredibly moisturizing while imparting a decent enough amount of color. I am completely obsessed with it and am going to be getting at least one additional color this weekend. Highly recommended!
