Winter is here. It's been here for a few days, now. We had a minor snow fall last weekend, and the snow has stayed. Hubby's heavy jackets, and winter gloves and toques are unpacked. And he's been skiing once already. So it's official, for him.
But, me... I've been thinking that I should delay hauling out my winter coats until the very last minute. I've been trying to come up with outfit combinations that involve extending the season for my fall jackets, while at the same time trying not to freeze various parts of my anatomy.
So I've been looking for outfit inspiration while pedalling my exercise bike, perusing on-line images, and leafing through magazines from the last few months. I love all the monochrome looks I've found. Not monochrome in the standard matchy-matchy way. But outfits comprised of a single colour theme, with differing shades, and textures. Like these looks below. The red outfit is from Victoria Beckham Fall 2017. The blue/grey look is on Victoria Beckham, so one presumes it's from her own collection. And the cream sweater and pants are from Max Mara Fall 2017.
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| Find all these images on my Pinterest board here |
My Akris sweater with burgundy NYDJ jeans from 2015, a chocolate brown Akris leather moto jacket that I bought almost ten years ago, and a double-faced wool scarf bought at Holt Renfrew in 2010. Oh, and my Stan Smith sneakers. I could wear my brown Paul Green boots with this outfit, but I thought the sneakers were more fun.
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| Piecing together my monochrome-ish outfit |
For accessories I wore my Anne Marie Chagnon earrings from Magpie Jewellry here in Ottawa. And a leather cuff that I bought at Covent Garden Market in London in October. From an artisan named Caroline Faiers. The great thing about her cuffs is that they can be adjusted for my small wrist. Hurray. You can find more information about Caroline Faiers' collection here. And you can see Anne Marie Chagnon's work at her on-line store here.
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| My Caroline Faiers cuff |
So, off I go to town. Stopping for my gloves and purse on the way out. Hubby is making boeuf bourguignon for dinner. I won't say that my outfit inspired him, but nevertheless, one suspects that might be the case. Actually, it's my Mum's oven beef stew recipe, to which we add red wine, and lots and lots of different kinds of mushrooms. I'm off to shop for red wine and crusty bread which will accompany the perfect dinner for a crisp, early winter evening. In my opinion, anyway.
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| See? There's just a dusting of snow. |
Now... back to my earlier comment about not freezing various parts of my anatomy. I'm still willing to make some sacrifices in the name of fashion. Of course, nothing like we used to do back in the day. Ha. But even though I'm still wearing my light leather jacket, I'm not willing to be cold. So to that end, I have pantyhose on under my jeans. Heavy socks in my sneakers; I hate cold ankles. My Akris sweater is cosy and warm under my jacket and scarf. And I'm wearing dark brown leather gloves, that you can't see here. So, I'm warm enough to take a break from errand running and sit on a bench in this little riverside park in Manotick. For a few minutes, anyway.
And speaking of Manotick. A couple of months ago I ran into a lovely woman while out shopping. She stopped to say hello because she recognized me from my blog. I was really surprised. And tickled pink, to be honest. She lives in Manotick too. And she told me she found my blog from a mention on Sue/Une Femme's blog. We laughed at how amazing blog-land is that a woman from Manotick who, while reading a blog written by a woman in California, finds out about a blog written by someone who also lives in Manotick. Cool, eh?
I hope all my American friends have a wonderful Thanksgiving. And since the Black Friday shopping craze seems to have spread from America to Canada, and even to the UK... please try to stay safe out there folks. Don't get trampled. Better yet, shop on-line.
Or even better than that, forget Black Friday altogether. Shop your closet.
Or... or... maybe make some boeuf bourguignon, pop it into the oven, and curl up with a good book.
How about you folks? Do you like monochromatic dressing? Or even monochromatic-ish? Are you heading out to do battle for the bargains on Black Friday?
Also linking up this week with: Visible Monday, #IwillwearwhatIlike, Style Me Wednesday, Thursday Favourite Things, Passion 4 Fashion, Fun Fashion Friday, Saturday Share Link-Up