A Dress for Any Season

I've done shockingly little (for me, anyway) shopping in recent months, mainly because of the consecutive large expenses of throwing a big wedding party and then buying a house. Moreover, because I'm much busier at work I have a lot less time to poke around on the internet and inevitably find pretty things to buy. This is undoubtedly a good thing; at my previous job I often felt that I shopped mainly out of boredom, and waiting for a package to arrive was pretty much the only thing I looked forward to there.

This dress is one of the only items of clothing I've purchased since May or June. The pattern in particular really appealed to me, because it can work for any season depending on what I pair it with. Pinks and soft greens would make it great for spring and summer, while jewel tones or burgundy will work for fall and winter. For this outfit I added the mustard yellow cardigan and burgundy socks to give it a fall look, but left my legs bare because the weather is still pretty warm.


Dress: eShakti
Cardigan: Anthropologie
Belt: a gift from Mom
Boots: Bata
Bracelet: Leslie Danzis

Statement-Making

How's this for a well accessorized outfit? Or rather it was until I had to go to work and leave these two charming canines at home. I can't say I'd get a whole lot of work done if I could take them with me, cute as they are.

A few months ago something rare happened; I fell hard for a pair of designer sunglasses, and decided to take the risk and buy them, even though I do tend to be hard on my sunnies. I'd seen several other bloggers wearing the Prada 'Baroque' round style and thought they were fabulous, but round glasses don't really work for my face and I gave no thought to buying any until I saw the related cat eye style.

I don't typically put a whole lot of thought into the sunglasses I buy, but something that Peter said when Sal and I met up with him in New York has stuck with me. I was trying on sunglasses and found a pair that was... fine. They would have worked. But Peter looked at them and said something to the effect of, "They aren't really bold enough for your style." And that comment just about knocked me over, because it was so right on the money -- here I put all this effort into creating statement-making outfits, and the accessory that's right there on my face is typically ho-hum and boring.

When I saw this pair, I knew they were the kind of sunglassds that can turn even a jeans and t-shirt outfit into something statement-making. And yes I have to be extra vigilant with them, but they make me feel so glamorous that they're well worth the effort. Thanks to Peter's chance comment, I now feel like I have a pair of sunglasses that can stand up the the boldest of my outfits.

Dress: eShakti
Cardigan: American Eagle Outfitters
Leggings: Black Market Baby
Boots: All Black
Sunglasses: Prada

Burgundy and Blue

Burgundy and blue has become one of my favorite color combos this year; for other ways I've combined these shades, check out this post, and this one.

In other news, Spencer is quickly picking up habits from his big sister Georgie. This is his first foray into posing for pictures with me. Here you can see that he started out sitting like a little gentleman...

...before he quickly got bored and started being a goofball.

I love how it looks like he's making a gagging face. Clearly the dog has no appreciation for a good pair of shoes.

Dress: Red Dress Shoppe
Cardigan: American Eagle Outfitters
Shoes: John Fluevog
Bracelet: a gift from Mom