Month: November 2014

The Tyranny of Pants

MaxMara Ragni coat; Free People peasant floral dress; Marc by Marc Jacobs Magazine bag
Dress, Free People (via consignment); cardigan, Joe Fresh; scarf, Aldo; boots, Josef Seibel; coat, MaxMara; bag, MbMJ (swap)

Break free, my friends! This winter, do not submit to the tyranny of pants, weather be damned!

[Or, you know, submit and all, if you like pants. Or have to wait for the bus. I’d feel really terrible if you ended up with pneumonia or something.]

Where was I? Oh, yes. I was telling you about how much I hate pants.

MaxMara Ragni coat; Free People peasant floral dress; Marc by Marc Jacobs Magazine bag
look, ma – no pants!

I’ve never been a fan of pants (as long-time BCRL readers well know), but the extra 20 pounds I haven’t managed to budge since my daughter was born have made me really dislike pants. And, conversely, really love dresses. So easy. So comfortable. Who needs pants?

MaxMara Ragni coat; Free People peasant floral dress; Marc by Marc Jacobs Magazine bag
layers and layers and layers …

Now, if you want to get technical, you could say that I’m actually wearing pants here. I mean, some people consider leggings to be pants. I don’t, but some days I feel like I’m in the minority with that. What’s the consensus?

MaxMara Ragni coat; Free People peasant floral dress; Marc by Marc Jacobs Magazine bag
but, hey, no pants!

Snow Day

Marc Jacobs purple floral dress; Marc Jacobs Kirsten bag; MaxMara Ragni coat
Dress, MbMJ (thrifted); scarf, Aldo; boots, Winners; coat, MaxMara; bag. Marc Jacobs (via eBay)

Snow days in Edmonton are about as ubiquitous as grains of sand on the beach, so I don’t take them all that seriously until much later in the game. Like when they dump 2 feet of snow on my driveway. A few inches … eh. Time to wear a dress.

I was especially excited about this particular dress, so I was going to wear it regardless, snow day or no snow day. First of all, it’s hella cute. Check it:

Marc Jacobs purple floral dress; Marc Jacobs Kirsten bag; MaxMara Ragni coat
belt, J. Crew Factory; tights, Target

Secondly, it cost me $6 at Value Village. Did I mention it’s a Marc by Marc Jacobs dress? It has a retro-boho vibe that works perfectly with my MJ Kirsten bag. It’s almost as if they were designed by the same person … OK, that was my really lame attempt at fashion humour. Don’t worry, I’m not quitting my day job any time soon.

Marc Jacobs purple floral dress; Marc Jacobs Kirsten bag; MaxMara Ragni coat
brrrrrr …

Especially since I also fail at taking fashun bloggery photos. For the record, this wasn’t an attempt to be cute; my husband had just remarked that my nose would put Rudolph’s to shame, and I was feeling a little, um, self-conscious. Oh well, it all goes with the snow day territory.

Marc Jacobs purple floral dress; Marc Jacobs Kirsten bag; MaxMara Ragni coat
frolicking on the driveway, fashun blogger style, ain’t what it used to be …

What I Bought: November

November can easily turn into shopping extravaganza, thanks to the phenomenon known as Black Friday. In recent years, Canadian retailers have jumped on the bandwagon, so this has now become a sort of second Boxing Day. For the most part, I find the hype unwaranted in both cases. That is not to say that great deals can’t be found on Black Friday; it’s just not the end-all and be-all of bargain shopping, at least in my books. Equally impressive deals can be found any time of year … if you’re willing to shop secondhand. And you know where I stand on that.

This month’s shopping recap illustrates my point. In total, I bought 7 items for $210 (original retail approximately $1,910). Six of these items were bought secondhand, although most of them are either new or almost-new; the last one was purchased new at retail. Overall, I paid 11% of retail cost. The bulk of those savings comes, not surprisingly, from the pieces purchased secondhand.

[Quick wardrobe analytics: for the secondhand pieces, I paid, on average, 12% of retail prices. One of the pieces was discounted by 94%!]

It will be interesting to see how these numbers compare to any Black Friday shopping I end up doing. (I’ll be away in Ottawa at that time, so this post was prepped in advance.) I’ll review those purchases in my December wrap-up.

Alright, on to the details:

Calvin Klein Saxton Pumps
Calvin Klein Saxton Pumps

I have 3 pairs of black pumps, but only one that (a) is an almond-toe style, and (b) not patent leather. That pair has seen better days; I bought it in 2010 and have worn it frequently since then. Now, the 4 inch heel feels a little less stable than I remember it, pre-baby #2. I am a recent convert to the wedge heel, so when I spotted this CK pair at Winners, I decided that an upgrade was in order. These pumps were not on sale, and were a little more expensive than I like to pay for this type of brand, but I figured that I could probably get a decent Cost-per-Wear out of them over the next 3-4 years nonetheless.

Nine West Rocha Pumps
Nine West Rocha Pumps

My last pair of nude heels also “developed” issues after my last pregnancy. The heel felt too high, and the shoe felt a half size too big. Random. In the past, I would have looked past these issues, and suffered accordingly, but I’m over uncomfortable shoes at this point. I put my old pair in the consign/donate pile, and added “nude heels” to my to-buy list. Not long thereafter, I lucked into finding a barely worn (non-patent) pair of nude heels  on my local consignment store’s clearance rack. (The heel of my actual pair may be a bit lower than shown in the picture; actual inches aside, they are quite comfortable.)

Valentino Flat Bow Pumps
Valentino Flat Bow Pumps

I know, you guys. I did a double-take too. I found these at another local consignment store (Red Pony), also barely worn, and couldn’t quite believe the price sticker. The owner told me that the consignor had not specifically indicated whether the shoes were authentic or not, so she priced them accordingly. A close inspection + some Google-fu action convinced me that they are, indeed, the real deal. So I bought them, even though they are only “extra special occasion” shoes (think weddings, Christmas parties, and the like). I’m not generally a fan of peep-toe pumps, but these ones look terribly pretty on my feet. And they make me almost 6′ tall, which is a nice bonus (I have a lack-of-height complex).

Ralph Lauren Floral Dress
Ralph Lauren Floral Dress

I have been thinking about this dress for a long time. My work bestie bought it some time last year, and makes it look phenomenal. (We share a love of florals, in case you were wondering.) She swears it’s not only comfortable, but also machine washable and durable. Me wanty. But I figured that the logistics of “sharing” the same distinctive dress in our small department would be too complicated. Sadly, last month, my work bestie left to pursue another opportunity; although I am thrilled for her, I was pretty gutted to hear she was leaving … so I decided to make my own silver lining. This dress won’t make up for the loss of a wonderful colleague, but it will make me feel like a million bucks on a dreary Monday morning. (Side note: eBay is wonderful for locating NWT pieces from 2-3 seasons ago at highly discounted prices.)

Speaking of RL dresses, I also found this one at Value Village; with a 30% off coupon, it came to $12. On the same trip, I also found a Marc by Marc Jacobs dress, which was only $6. (My score paled in comparison to Cassie’s … I mean, just look at this.)

Tibi Iris Ikat Faux Wrap Dress (denim multi colorway, not pictured)
Tibi Iris Ikat Faux Wrap Dress (denim multi colorway, not pictured)

This is what happens when I’m bored and find myself on eBay. A dozen random searches later, impulse buy. My version is blue and brown (not red and pink as pictured), but won me over with the iris print. The buckle detail at the waist is also interesting. Did I need a new dress? Do you even need to ask?

As always, I’m linking up with Fran and the other budgeting bloggers, so head on over there for more budgeting fun. And then tell me: what did you buy this month?