Details: Club Monaco turtleneck (retail, old), Ralph Lauren sweater (eBay), J. Crew blazer (retail, old), Fossil belt (thrifted), Banana Republic pants (retail), Coach bag (Poshmark)
Thoughts: This shade of brown is one of my faves … wait, did I just say “one”? Does that imply I have more than one favourite shade of brown? Who am I????? It’s true, though. I’ve been afraid of brown — well, not afraid exactly, more like uninterested — my whole life, but it turns out that it’s actually a beautiful colour. Or colours, rather. This shade is at the intersection of brown and burgundy, and I love its richness. There is some of it in the blazer as well, which really helps to tie this all together. A simple but extremely satisfying outfit.
Details: Gap shirt, Ralph Lauren vest, Zara blazer, Esprit belt (all thrifted), Ralph Lauren skirt (eBay)
Thoughts: This is a Historian/Trailblazer mash-up, and I love it. Papa Ralph does pattern mixing really well,, and also juxtaposition, and that was my aim here as well. The trickiest part was choosing the right fair isle vest, and I made my decision based on the colour palette (of course). There is a bit of brown in the vest, and I thought the cool grey would go well with the greyish blue of the skirt. I think the brown belt with patinaed silver buckle was also the right choice here, to bring the vest and skirt together.
Details: Liz Claiborne sweater, Roolee dress, Gap blazer (all thrifted)
Thoughts: As much as I’m becoming a brown-loving girlie, there will always be a soft spot for black & white outfits in my heart. I don’t think black flatters me as much as brown does (especially worn close to the face without other, brighter colours to balance it out), but I find that paired with white, it doesn’t end up looking so severe and “draining”. Basically, I don’t look as much like Casper the ghost, compared to when I wear all black. And y’all know how I feel about mixing different b&w patterns — no wrong options, ever.
Details: Ralph Lauren shirt, BR belt, Urban Outfitters skirt (all thrifted)
Thoughts: Guyssssss! I’m obsessed with this outfit. This is why I NEEDED a white men’s shirt in my life. The fit. The slightly turned up collar. It feels so … cool. A white shirt paired with a full, long skirt — and a statement belt! — has been on my mind, as an outfit formula, for months now and I’m so excited that I can finally make it happen. I could not resist thrifting this skirt because (a) plaid, (b) tiers, (c) volume! I don’t love the polyester fabric, but I guess I can’t win them all. The waist is stretchy, which is nice. Because I had to wear the skirt higher on my waist, so the belt would cinch at my narrowest point (to emphasize the volume on the bottom), I decided to add a petticoat to extend the length of the skirt. The top-and-tail effect of the white was a nice added bonus.
Details: Ralph Lauren shirt, Gap belt, Jeanne Pierre sweater (all thrifted), Banana Republic pants (retail)
Thoughts: I broke my no-retail streak recently, but I think you will understand why. You know the BR corduroy wide leg trousers I bought in Dec 2022? Yes, you do — they’re in the first outfit above. I LOVE them, and my biggest regret ever since buying them has been not getting the camel brown version at the same time. I’ve been looking for it on Poshmark, but they’ve never popped up in my size. So what’s going on here? Well, I went to Winners recently to look for something for my daughter, and as I was walking out, I saw this pair of pants on the clearance rack. I recognized them immediately, in disbelief. Yes, it’s the BR corduroy wide leg trousers in camel brown. In my size!! The only pair. In my size!! And you won’t believe how much I paid for them: $12. Why? How? How did a pair of BR pants from more than a year ago end up at Winners? The biggest mystery. I am so happy they did. The only drawback is that this is the regular length, not the petite, so it’s longer than I would like it to be. I need very high heels to wear it as-is, which isn’t super versatile for me. I am planning to get them hemmed to the same length as my other pair. I can’t wait to wear them again!
Details: Ralph Lauren shirt, Wilfred vest, H&M pants, Joseph belt (all thrifted)
Thoughts: I told you last week that this red vest was making things happen in my closet, and here is more proof. I love both versions of this outfit, with and without the blazer.
About the BR corduroy Winners find, like myself, you’ve mentioned that you have a long torso. So many times I have preferred a regular size over a petite offering in pants b/c they have longer rises! I also have to cut or hem them, but at least that is do-able vs inability to change the rise of pants!
That’s a good point – hadn’t thought of that! The rise on these pants works great for me as is, but I’ll keep in my mind in the future. I just hate hemming pants 🤦♀️
Likewise, I don’t sew and it is seems like it’s more than $20 for a professional hem these days (it’s been a while though). It also stresses me out to choose the absolute perfect hem length for the shoes I think I’ll wear most with the pants, since I’m paying for it :-). Definitely grateful for many petite options available nowadays though!
Luckily, having mostly given up on high heels makes that choice a bit easier, haha! And it’s why I have tended to go for ankle crop pants so much in the last few years — they can go with every shoe. But I like the look of full length wide leg pants now, which does require that consideration.