A head-to-toe consignment look! The pieces are of various vintages, but they came together quite nicely … in my closet. Hehe! Burgundy is one of my power colours, and I love wearing it as a “neutral”. It’s a nice substitute for black, I think.

The J. Crew pieces are all pretty classic albeit basic, but they’re “fancied up” by the shoes and bag. And that’s my not-so-secret secret to looking polished at the office. I’m firmly in the camp whose motto is “expensive shoes and bags make everything better” – including mall clothing. I might get that embroidered on a pillow or something. Of course, the “expensive” would be in literal quotes because you know I don’t pay retail if I can help it.

There’s a whole lotta grey happening here, and I love it. This colorblock (does it count if it’s all different shades of the same colour?) dress by Pink Tartan was a real consignment score: beautiful, made in Canada, and only $30. The fabric is a 96% wool/4% elastane blend, so it falls nicely on the body. As a bonus, it’s lined. Really, the construction is quite impeccable. It’s one of the few examples of this dress style I’ve found where the waist actually hits me at my natural waist as opposed to several inches higher. (I have a long torso, sigh.) The only things missing are bra keeps – a minor quibble.

Of course, because it’s the middle of winter, and Edmonton might as well be called Winterfell (House Stark 4evah!), I threw on a blazer for not-freezing-my-butt-off purposes. It worked. And then I added a red bag, because there is only so much monochrome a girl can take.

I got new stuff, you guys! The skirt is old Anthropologie via eBay, and the blazer is thrifted J. Crew. It’s the Super 120 blazer, and it looks unworn – a real score for $8. The cut is fantastic. Here is a weird outtake that gives a better sense of the way the blazer fits:

In other words, like a glove. I have fairly broad shoulders and a comparatively smaller waist, so that is no small feat. Here’s the really weird thing: the blazer is a size 0. I almost didn’t try it on because, let me tell you, a size 0 I am not, even at J. Crew. (The skirt I’m wearing here is a size 6, to give you a sense of my actual proportions.) And yet, this blazer fits. ‘Tis a mystery. Has vanity sizing really gotten so far out of control? The only things that took some time to get used to are the rather high armholes. At least, they feel, um, high. I’m pretty sure I don’t have armpit fat, so this must be a quirk of the style. That reminds me of something I’m almost certain I read somewhere (with a 5% chance I may only have imagined I did): Coco Chanel used to cut the armholes of her jackets high, because the result looked … Better? More chic? I forget. Anyway, the moral here? Before you pass on a thrift find, try it on because you never know.