This is the Lida Baday dress I thrifted for $7 at Goodwill. It has pockets. The print looks vaguely ink-blot-y, but thankfully not in a Rorschach kind of way – that could make for some awkward water cooler conversations. The one thing I was nervous about in regards to the dress was its neckline; it’s square, and cut wide on the sides, which means that I have to go the strapless bra route. I don’t know if I’m alone in this, but I absolutely abhor strapless bras. As instruments of torture go, they might not be up to Inquisition standards, but they’re usually more than I can handle on a daily basis. Surprisingly, this dress was fairly comfy, undergarment situation notwithstanding. Color me surprised. Not literally, because I’m wearing black and white. Har de har!

[Fifty negative brownie points to the first person who pipes up that black is a colour. One hundred negative brownie points to the first person who starts talking about physics. Party poopers.]

This Pink Tartan suit is my second oldest (two) piece in my closet, again by a long shot. As far as I recall, I picked it up from a clearance rack of a consignment store, 7 or 8 years ago. I’ve been hanging on to it this whole time because of its quality – excellent workmanship and attention to details, and it’s made in Canada. I haven’t worn it much, though, because the style always seemed to me to straddle the fine line between retro and “grandma clothes”. On my younger self, it felt … costumey. But, perhaps, its time has finally come.

It’s still a lot of suit, but I feel like it actually looks best when worn together, rather than mixed with other separates; it has an identity, you know? Anyway, I’m glad that I hung on to it.

I wear a lot of black to the office. Black and white and blue. Part of it is the whole New Look thing. Part of it is … well, black is just easy. Easy and safe and conservative. But you know what is also easy and safe and conservative? Tan. Yeah, there’s a risk of looking like a walking bowl of oatmeal; but, honestly, black doesn’t always do a pale complexion any favours either. Anyway, I don’t have a lot of brown in my closet, so whenever I need a “warmer” neutral, I pull out my tan sweater and, hey presto! Outfit.

My one pet peeve about these sweaters (the Factory version of the retail Tippi, the name of which escapes me at the moment) is that they wrinkle and pill like nobody’s business. I really probably should invest in some better quality versions but (a) I hate spending money on sweaters (yep, another weird shopping quirk), and (b) I feel like I need to refine my sweater colour palette first. I have a rainbow of these J. Crew sweaters, and if I’m going to splurge on the next level s**t, I need to be more selective. I do think that “tan” will make the cut, though. And black. Of course.

Oh, and the post title? The skirt feels very autumnal to me because of the colours in the print, and it feels strange to wear it any other time of year. Which is, erm, a stupid reason to not wear a perfectly serviceable skirt. So, here we go: fall in January.