The 4-5 piece French wardrobe #3

[blackcoffee]

i'm trying to invest more in classic items, shoes and bags, rather than things that will fall apart quickly.

just bought my first big leather bag and i love it

source: my own photo

and warm black leather boots- it's so cold here right now

source: my own photo

a warm camel wool coat, i always wanted to have one

source: laredoute.de

 

[LegsXI]

^ great items blackcoffee I love coming this thread to keep me inspired and on the right track i.e. not buying cheap poor quality or impulse items of clothing !

 

[Jinadaze]

Blackcoffee, where did you find those shoes? It's really hard to find a good looking and warm pair for winter and those are both.

 

[blackcoffee]

thank you

Jinadaze they are from Clarks they are the "Mortimer Liz" Boots
i took me forever to find warm boots that i liked!

 

[Melisande]

Red and Navy, How gorgeous are those gold shoes???
Please send them my love; tell them I say hi and give them a big kiss and have fun together for me too!

I totally agree with everyone about soft gold and metallics being wonderful staples. I love my gold ballet flats too!

Blackcoffee, and your bag? Where is it from? I adore your choices too, very classic and chic! I've been looking for a bag similar to yours.


My thing for the 4-5 piece wardrobe is that I'm very fortunate to have all of my gaps filled now and am coasting along. But I've gotten bored, especially with the black down coat I've been forced to wear every day for the past month in these subzero temps, with at least three months to go. I think I need a new set of gloves and hats and scarves...wondering what style/colour...

 

[blackcoffee]

it's from milan from a small shop that sold leather bags/shoes/suitcases/gloves, i just spent the weekend there.
really great shop, but i don't remember the name. i guess there are lots of shops like that in milan.
i saw it and fell in love, it even was on sale

 

[Jinadaze]

Jinadaze they are from Clarks they are the "Mortimer Liz" Boots
i took me forever to find warm boots that i liked!

Thank you! The price is very reasonable too.

 

[fashionista-ta]

Red and Navy, How gorgeous are those gold shoes???
Please send them my love; tell them I say hi and give them a big kiss and have fun together for me too!

I totally agree with everyone about soft gold and metallics being wonderful staples. I love my gold ballet flats too!

Blackcoffee, and your bag? Where is it from? I adore your choices too, very classic and chic! I've been looking for a bag similar to yours.


My thing for the 4-5 piece wardrobe is that I'm very fortunate to have all of my gaps filled now and am coasting along. But I've gotten bored, especially with the black down coat I've been forced to wear every day for the past month in these subzero temps, with at least three months to go. I think I need a new set of gloves and hats and scarves...wondering what style/colour...

I wouldn't mind some purple gloves in the least Emerald would be pretty too. Or polka dots ... I am finding that opera length knit gloves are easier to deal with than leather ...

I wonder if it's possible to find metallic gold shoe polish? I feel it should be Or perhaps you could apply some gold leaf

In fact metallic gold shoe polish does exist--Amazon has it. I also saw a recommendation to use nail polish ... I think I like the metallic shoe polish better.

 

[fashionista-ta]

Exactly where I'm at - late 30s & trying to avoid "cute!" Although I like a little fun and wit!

Agreed. I find that things like polka dots, animal prints, bright colors continue to work. I think my shoes that look like spats are witty, and those work well. (It's funny, so many compliments from men on those shoes--and one guy at work wanted to steal them Another said, Where do you find these things?? )

 

[blackcoffee]

asos has some great coloured leather gloves in their sales! i think i saw emerald ones!

and mango has polka dot gloves, they are classic but the dots make them special

source: mangoshop.com

 

[eizhowa]

Things lasting for the next 10 years: I think that was me who wrote that Well, I happened to buy some really sexy/cute/girly stuff when I was 29/30 years old. And I remember at 31 I looked at them again, feeling like they would only look good on a teenage girl. So I try to think more before I buy something very of the moment these days. Is it classy enough to look good in a few years? Is it a quality that will survive a good number of wears? I don't want to buy stuff that is only for the woman 10 years older than my actual age but I don't buy anything that might look ridiculous in a few years. This doesn't mean you can only buy black turtlenecks - I think there is plenty of fun stuff that can be ageless and it depends a lot on ones personal style, too.

I started collecting silk and vintage dresses and beautiful, well made coats when I was 13-14 and I still use them now. I am only 20 so they are not 10 years old yet, but I don't think they will go any more out of style in the next 3-4 years. So of course I have always felt perfectly justified in spending all my savings growing up on dresses If I were 30 today I would still have worn all of them. I just hope not everything will be about leather and PVC when I am 30. Then I'll be doomed

Apart from dresses, coats and leather handbags I do expect my clothes do get worn out/outdated within 10 years, though... Unless you have a MASSIVE wardrobe and only wear it 2-3 times a year

 

[Melisande]

Oooh, thanks for the suggestions! Purple sounds wonderful and the Mango polka-dots are very stylish too. I wouldn't get bored of those!

Blackcoffee, ahhhh Milano, but of course...Enjoy your bag!

I don't know maybe they've improved the technology, but I've tried gold metallic shoe polish before. Unfortunately it didn't work because once a metallic finish is scraped off, it's not just polish or dye...it involves a surface treatment of the leather that seems to be quite different from other colours. It's more like...varnish? So the polish did little good...hard to explain but I think you know what I mean...next time I would go with nail polish myself. Or, you can also look at it this way: I've also seen that sometimes when the metallic finish gets old it looks like patina and takes on a gorgeous aura of wabi-sabi

Re cuteness over 30...I think I'm guilty of becoming increasingly eccentric past thirty. I've always had that tendency but it's getting worse. I'm now wearing a hairpin with a huge old 3-dimentional birthday cake on it... I don't go for it trying to look cute though, but because it's fun and weird...in a cute way, hopefully.

 

[Melisande]

By the way my mother's friend (a very stylish woman in her 60's) was recently talking about the importance of "otonano kawaii"...adult cuteness. I love the idea. We can still be adorable at any age, just probably not with the same clothes. And it's not mutually exclusive with being elegant at all, in fact one only enhances the other.

 

[Nemova]

I think the thing about being thirty (and over) is that women start to worry less and less about the kind of impression they're making on people. I'm 31 now and, as much as I dress adequately for each occasion in my life, I'm rarely, if never, going to forsake my own style and comfort for the benefit of looking "appropriate" (according to other people's perceptions) and meeting the expectations of others. As of now, that includes wearing (nice, elegant looking) sneakers to work. I do that because I can but mostly because that's what I need to do right now (I've recently injured my right foot), and I know I'm doing it the right way.
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[pinkpol15h]

I finished my items for winter! I am loving this restricting buying, as I often experience buyer's remorse (am a sucker for sales..)

I purchased a down parka for the winter. I purchased a MMM wool coat and Junya puffer jacket last winter but they ended up being to thin for Canadian winters.

This is from a brand called TNA, relatively inexpensive and very heavy duty. My last one lasted 4 years.

I picked the dark magenta-y wine colour.

fpishere.wordpress

I purchased new Prada boots too, the last one in stock I told myself I cannot wear UGGs anymore.

This style, but less "fluffy" shearling, and it is folded over.

Bluefly

I also picked up a cocoon-esque black check coat with black removable shearling collar, and a dark wine-maroon double breasted peplum jumper, both from Burberry Brit. I couldn't find any pics on Google but both pieces are beautiful OH, and a pair of mitts from TNA on my way to the cash register, but I don't think they should count as an item

The Burberry coat is actually in its dust bag. I will not be wearing it until next winter so I'm not sure as to whether to count it in this season's item or next year's winter item??

 

[fashionista-ta]

^ Sometimes I start shopping for a future season quite early Sounds like in reality that's what you did.

 

[RedandNavy]

I have chosen my additional three sale items and they all arrived today. I'm very pleased with them. The bag especially is soooo lovely. I've been looking for a lovely investment bag for a long time now and always felt so attracted to Chloé bags but never could afford one. When this Madeleine duffle bag went on sale I just had to get my hands on it. Lovely leather and such a classic!!

The gloves are great fun and go well with my recently purchased fur vest, and the dress should have arrived for Xmas but unfortunatelly didn't. Anyway, I like it and will keep it for other winter festivities. The "jewels" on it are lovely and the color is fantastic for my color scheme.

All in all I think I did very well during sales but I wasn't really very focused during the season. While all pieces that I bought were fine, I feel that I did a better job last fall / winter when I practically bought one outfit piece by piece (yet with pieces that go with other things, too.)

Still, I have bought nearly everything I wanted to except a sweater, but I never really saw one that I loved and that I thought was reasonably priced. Well, I guess something will come along my way sooner or later. The golden boots are GREAT fun though, so happy with those! I've also been wearing my winter jackets a lot, of course.

Pics: Net-a-Porter and Stylebop.

 

[fashionista-ta]

^ Very nice! I can't tell exactly what the gloves are made of, except I think not leather ... are they fabric? Looks like you could put a jacket or something over the dress and wear it for, say, business or something more casual ...

 

[RedandNavy]

Ta-ta: The gloves are stretch-velours. They are really more of a play thing but I consider them a detail that can make a great look. Didn't you buy a pair of black gloves this season? When do you wear them?

I confess I ordered my January item in the sale today, too. Shoes I will see whether they fit when they arrive and then I'll post them here (if I keep them).

And about the dress I think you are right, I could equally wear it for work or a family brunch or something. I think I'm going to wear it next week at my hubby's birthday and then whenever I feel like it. I love a special occassion to introduce a piece into my wardrobe.

 

[fashionista-ta]

^ Yes, I did ... I wear them whenever it's below 50 degrees F

Happy birthday to Mr Capricorn!