Yup, another navy dress. For anyone keeping score at home, that would make 3 in total. What can I say? The thrifting gods provide, and one must not question. I liked this Nanette Lepore version too much to pass it up … so I didn’t. Instead, I did the next best thing, and purged the other two navy dresses I had.

The other Nanette Lepore dress in my closet (eyelet) was a little bit too loose in the bust and had a slightly less office-appropriate vibe, so letting it go was an easy decision. The Milly x BR dress, which I got in my last clothes swap, was a harder piece to purge; it fits quite nicely, and it’s perfectly suitable for work. However, it was just too similar in style to this one, such that if I had kept both, I’d be in a “splitting my wears” situation — in other words, not getting a lot of wear out of either dress. Ultimately, I decided to trust in the quality of this dress based on the brand, and the Milly went into my swap pile for next year.

Let me say this: playing closet Survivor games is all fun and whatnot, until I start second-guessing myself and feeling sorry for the “losers”. I have a rescue complex when it comes to clothes — and I wish I was kidding when I say that. Tell me you have a tough time letting go of clothes too. Please. Anyone. Anyone? Sigh.

So many stripes. So much colour. Pairing this blouse with light purple cord (?) leggings might have been overload, but I could not resist the matchiness of it all. Add in burgundy shoes, and the matchiness goes to another level. However, since it was a cooler day, I also threw in a coat — black, to balance out the colour riot — like so:

But seriously, though: cord leggings? Only at Anthropologie, you guys. I can attest, however, that these Pilcro pants are very comfortable, and *can* reasonably pass for skinny cords. The only difference is that there is no zipper and no functioning front pockets, but who’s the wiser, really? (Well, except for you, because I’ve just told you.) For $8, I’m not going to sweat it. In fact, my whole outfit is thrifted (except for the bag & shoes), and came in under $30. Not bad for a Technicolour dream outfit.

Pants day is still my least favourite day of the week, but I’m coming around to it slowly. It helps when you’re wearing shoes this cute. Wait, is it time for another close-up? I think so.

Ahem. The rest of the outfit isn’t bad either. You probably can’t tell, but these are my *navy* (not black) thrifted Sloan pants, which happen to go nicely with an old J. Crew top I affectionately call the “moody floral”. When J. Crew floral prints are good, they are SO good. I haven’t actually looked at the new Crew offerings in months, and I’m starting to wonder if I’ve been missing out. Oh well, I’ll find out in another 12-18 months when they start turning up in consignment and thrift stores.

I topped everything off with my greige blazer, because when in doubt, etc. No word of a lie, this is starting to rival my tweed J. Crew Factory blazer for off-the-charts versatility. It’s something about this colour, so unassuming on its own — kinda like a chameleon. But enough about that. Tell me: do you dread pants day, or live for it? And if it’s the latter, what’s your go-to outfit maker?