I bet you’re wondering about what left my closet this month? It’s what I’m here to tell you about today so I hope the answer is a resounding YES. I’ll settle for an apathetic “alright”. too.

Here we go.

Sam Edelman Black Pumps

I wore these pumps a lot. Like, A LOT. Stylebook is telling me 15 times, but that doesn’t account for the dozens of times I wore them as “commuting” shoes to work. The CPW was in the pennies, considering I spent $8 on them in the first place. They were nice, serviceable shoes but 2 things counted against them. One, they were cheap suede and showed wear easily. Two, the d’Orsay style had my foot slip-sliding quite a bit; this was fine before, but once I changed jobs I started walking 5 blocks to and from my office as part of my daily commute, and the shoes could not keep pace with, well, my pace. I like to walk fast, and the shoes kept slipping from my feet, which irritated me. Once I realized that the heel tips had been worn down and needed replacing, those 2 things proved to be the nail in the proverbial coffin. I wasn’t prepared to pay $18 to repair shoes that I didn’t capital-L love.

I’ll keep an eye out for a replacement pair of low heeled black pumps at the thrift store, and in the meantime, I will rely on other shoes to fill the gap. I have more than a couple of black shoes, some flats, some higher heels, so I should be just fine.

Rich & Skinny Pink Jeans

Stylebook tells me I wore these jeans twice (CPW $4), which is handy because I honestly did not remember. They’re perfectly nice jeans but I don’t wear a lot of pink currently, and I don’t foresee that changing. I have a number of coloured casual pants — practically a rainbow — and a bit of culling was in order.

Meanwhile, I have 3 pairs of mustard pants and I am keeping ALL OF THEM. Ahem.

Judith & Charles Grey Blazer

I’ve been purging my blazer collection ruthlessly, and this one simply didn’t make the cut. No hard feelings. I let it go simply because I found that it wasn’t super versatile in my closet. I paid $10 and wore it once, which is not great, but I will see about trying to recoup some money by consigning it.

Speaking of Judith & Charles though, a reader had a not-so-great experience with the brand recently. Here’s her story:

I purchased a dress I had coveted online from Judith & Charles, on sale (mind you from $450 to $370).

Their policy states that I can return the dress within 7 days for a full refund, so when it dropped an additional $45 from the sale price not even 5 days after the first price cut, I asked for what is a justifiably acceptable price adjustment, like I do with all retailers.

Right? WRONG.

They refused and told me that their policy only allows price adjustments on “full-priced items”. Customer service said that I had to literally bring the physical item I purchased online to the store, return it, and then buy it again online or in-store — if they happen to have my size — to get the discount. All that, rather than just adjusting it for me online. With a family and full-time job, that is a hassle I would much rather avoid.

After intervention from an in-store manager (who contacted her district manager to plead my case), the online store eventually issued me a $45 credit; but, instead of doing it correctly and making it $45 plus the 15% tax I paid, they shorted me $6.75 on purpose, I believe (no one can be that deliberately obtuse to forget taxes here in Canada). I don’t even want to write back and complain because I’ve completely lost faith in the online store. They went to some trouble, it seemed, to alienate a customer who was willing and able to pay higher prices for clothing. You can bet that I will be voting with my wallet in the future.

My take? Always check return policies extra carefully, especially when a decent chunk of change is at stake. Policies like this is why I would much rather shop secondhand any day of the week.

My new office does casual Fridays just like my old one, but since the dress code is more casual to begin with, I`ve been using Fridays as opportunities to experiment. Instead of the usual jeans+dressy top combo I would usual pull out, I`ve been trying pieces that are a bit more, um, adventurous. Like this Maeve cropped blouse. The print is whimsical, the sleeves are whimsical, the length is … well, if not whimsical then definitely not the same old, same old. To be honest, in my mind I call this my `circus shirt`; not sure why that association is there, but it is. It`s probably the colours and the volume.

To balance all that whimsicality (and level it up, style-wise), I paired the shirt with slim, wool pants that are fairly classic — perhaps borderline staid. The shoes were a compromise; a classic pump, but in bright, happy red. I liked how everything came together. I only had one last-minute switcheroo; I ended up choosing a black layering tank instead of the nude I had originally planned. The nude looked better under the shirt, but the cropped length meant that some of the tank `peeked` out above my pants waistband every now and then. The impression was one of `naked midriff` at first glance. No bueno. The black looked more intentional (and less scandalous) so I went with it. I`ll save the nude tank for a day when I`m wearing higher waisted pants. The day will come sooner rather than later, I`m sure.