I was definitely not feeling fresh when I wore this outfit — the winter cold snap has brought with it, well, colds for everyone at the house. Even though the kids are getting ever more self-sufficient, it’s still tough to be on “parent duty” when you’re under the weather; come Monday, you’re more exhausted than on Friday evening. Oh well, I tried … to get an outfit together, that is. My inspiration was the new enamel daisy pin I recently got at Swish. I thought its whimsical vibe would pair nicely with this J. Crew sweater, particularly the collar. The pencil skirt got added to the mix to “adult” things up.

If you couldn’t tell that I wasn’t feeling all that hot from my wan visage, then my accessories would have given away the truth. I didn’t even really try; just threw together all the burgundy things, and called it a day. The end result was unintentionally preppy, but I liked it — not quite my usual style, but nicely adjacent.

I encore-ed this dress a few weeks ago because it’s my favourite kind of weekend wear — easy and cute. I threw a colourful coat on top, because when you’re going all out, you have to go ALLLLL the way. The coat is more blue-leaning in real life, but photographs quite purple, so can split the difference and call it blurple. Or not. It sounds kinda terrible, now that I think about it.

I was also very excited to take my newly thrifted Hush Puppies boots out for a spin, but ended up regretting my elan by the end of the night. Admittedly, I did quite a bit of walking that day (we took the kids to see the Festival of Trees at the Shaw conference centre), which is perhaps unfair to a new pair of shoes (these looked brand new), but the result was not good at all. They were fine for the first hour or so, and then things went downhill rapidly; they were painful by the second hour, and downright excruciating after that. So much so that I ended up re-donating them the very next day. It was a huge disappointment, and one of my few complete thrifting misfires this year. Wah, wah.

At least the rest of the outfit gave me no troubles. You can count on a swing dress to be comfortable in all circumstances. And thank goodness for that!

[A new chapter of A Temporary Engagement is up today — check it out here.]

So … the title is kinda self-explanatory but, yes, I got a new bag — a vintage, 2-series Chanel maxi single flap bag, to be exact — and I couldn’t be happier. Those of you who remember my reservations about my old Chanel bag might be surprised. After much careful consideration, I realized that my biggest issue with it was its size; it was simply too small for my everyday needs. The timing of my decision to sell it was fortuitous, since it meant that I was able to buy this larger version when I came across it in a local vintage shop (Swish boutique, Manulife Place). The size of this vintage maxi is perfect, as is the slightly longer chain strap length; I also rather like the larger double C lock closure. My only initial hesitation had to do with the colour, as I wasn’t sure if this caramel shade would be as versatile as black. I’m glad I got it anyway, because I do think I’ll get lots of use of out it — certainly more than my previous Chanel.

For its inaugural wear, I paired it with one of my favourite dresses, worn here as a skirt. I love throwing on a plain black sweater over a dress, because it’s a simple but effective outfit and it doubles the versatility of the dress. I also added some brooch bling, because that is how this magpie rolls. I found the larger of the two pieces at Goodwill, and it’s precisely the sort of rhinestone extravaganza I cannot resist. There is something about aurora borealis rhinestones, in particular, that just gets me every time. The smaller piece is actually a clip earring. I was originally going to use a safety pin to attach it to my sweater, but ultimately decided to just clip it to the edge instead; I liked the resulting placement better. I’m always looking for new and fun ways to get more use out of all my vintage pieces, so if you have some ideas, hit me up in the comments.