Feature Attraction

Girly movie night with your best friend? Awesome. While wearing ruffles and florals? Even better.
It's just as easy to wear jeans with a blouse (or a nice knit top) and a cardigan as it is with a t shirt and hoodie. Trade up! The bolder the top, the less work you have do with accessories.
Same with the shoes. Cute flats are not exactly sneakers, but you can still do a mean run for the bus in them. While pretty much everyone has jumped on the ballet flat bandwagon, there is still time if you haven't.
Blouse: BCBG, BCBG Outlet (Tulalip WA)

Cardigan: J Crew

Jeans: Citizens of Humanity 'Faye', Hill's of Kerrisdale (Citizens: please start making these again)

Shoes: Steven by Steve Madden, Zappos.com

Stormy Weather

Normally I dress in bright colours to counteract Vancouver's grey skies, but on this day I decided to blend right in with an outfit that explored a more subtle use of colour.
The tiny polka dot print and ruffles of this cropped jacket adds dimension, while the satin sheen of the teal blouse and the crystal necklace brings a bit of sparkle. I liked how the contrast of the grey jeans make the blouse pop so much more than regular denim would have.
Jacket: Nanette Lepore, Ebay

Blouse: Nanette Lepore, La Belle Vie Consignment Kerrisdale

Jeans: Paige Premium, Zappos.com

Wedges: Cole Haan, Freedmans South Granville

Necklace: Thrifted, Salvation Army Kerrisdale

Umbrella: Echo, Winners

Candied Camera

Anna and I may have different style, but one thing we both do often is overdress. For the final exam, teachers often dress down, but I decided it was time to embrace the last day of the summer workplace dressing. The star attraction is, of course, my saltwater taffy blouse. I like it best with pink (of course) and used turquoise accents to keep it appropriately saccharine. These perfect patent pumps are Expression, The Bay's poorly named footwear house brand. Almost all of their shoes are classic shapes in leather (the heels have leather soles) at a low price point that often gets marked down. My black and white flats are also Hudson's Bay specials. Blouse: Kate Spade, Amazon.com
Skirt: Halogen, Nordstrom.com
Necklace: Sam Moon (in The Woodlands TX)
Shoes: Expression, The Bay
Sunglasses: Kate Spade, Winners

Watching My Tone

Plaid, bows, ruffles, and stripes may seem a bit overwhelming for one outfit, especially a work outfit, but the muted color palette and the near-perfect tonal match (in my favorite -- purple) really help to keep the outfit under control.
I love how well the colors blended, and the twee overload of the ruffle over the bow.
I kept the rest of the outfit simple with small pearl earrings and metallic shoes. The teal sunglasses were a fun after-work touch, celebrating the fact that the eye doctor has given my sad eyes the okay to wear my contacts again.
Skirt: Purr, South Granville, Vancouver

Shirt: Joe Fresh, Real Canadian Superstore, Prince George

Sunglasses: H&M

Shoes: Thrifted, Goodwill, Etown, Target

I can't wait to repeat this outfit in the fall with tights and my cream cardigan. xoxo Anna Rae

Von Trapp Accessories

Although I've really only paired my red pants with bold colors, I wanted to try pairing them with paler pastels. I like the idea of balancing out the bright red with a pastel color, and I knew this adorable top was a great first try for the color pairing.
The sweet colors and adorable ruffles are so twee that the red pants work as a nice balance. With a relatively simple outfit, I felt like it was appropriate to pile on some accessories. These glasses reminded me of Edith Head, which meant that I immediately needed to buy them, but the real star is my whistle necklace. Not only is it amazingly nautical, but it actual works. Every time I wear it I feel like I'm in the middle of Sound of Music.
Shirt: Joe Fresh, Real Canadian Superstore, Prince George

Pants: the Limited

Sunglasses: Hills, Kerrisdale, Vancouver

Necklace: Front and Company, Main Street, Vancouver

Sandals: Gap
Thanks Mono for being such an artistic blog photographer. I'm sad to report that these are the last of my Vancouver pictures. xoxo Anna Rae

Zebrights

While wearing this outfit the sun reflecting off my shiny shoes was enough to distract me from concentrating on any task at hand. They make even coloured patent shoes seem dull in comparison.

Can you blame my lack of focus in the face of their sparkle? Like many of my best finds, I stalked these carefully online until they went on sale. While you risk your prey getting away this way, I can rarely justify a full price purchase.
Also gleaming was my crystal (ok glass) necklace, which picked up the blouse's glass buttons. While clear accessories are no longer super trendy, I think lucite, glass, or crystal jewelry is a classic and almost endlessly versatile choice worth owning.

Cardigan: JCrew, Ebay
Blouse: Nanette Lepore, Nordstrom's Rack Seattle
Jeans: Hudson, Ebay
Flats: JCrew, jcrew.com
Necklace: RW&Co

The Right Place at the Right Time

This outfit has two themes: serendipity and 'screw you April showers'. Aside from the ruffle overload of the cardigan and top, (which has layers of sheer black ruffles that are not quite visible in the photos) the stars of my look were two fortunate finds in the form of shoes and a bag.

The finds? A brand new Kate Spade bag and my trusty and equally miraculous haircalf leopard wedges. The bag was an inadvertent discovery at Winners on a detour through the purse aisle on my way to the bathmat section. I espied the patent bow (again sadly hard to see in the photos) out of the corner of my eye and couldn't believe my luck. It stylishly fits a laptop and a whole stack of essays to mark. The bag has a tiny scratch on the back, so I politely asked for a discount, which I was granted. When it comes to markdowns, I find that a polite request is hardly every refused.

The wedges were purchased several years ago at the Kenneth Cole outlet. I had loved them in a shoe store in Vancouver all season, but didn't buy them because of the price and a wedge that was red rather than black, making less versatile. The following summer I found them at the outlet in my size and with a black wedge at 80% off. Success! Even if I am someday able to afford retail prices, I don't think anything can live up to the thrill of a great discount deal.

Bag: Kate Spade "Amelia Bon Vivant," Winners

Wedges: Kenneth Cole, Kenneth Cole Outlet

Jeans: Paige Premium, Fab Kerrisdale

Blouse: Club Monaco

Cardigan: J Crew

Necklace: Vintage, my Grandfather's

Carmen Miranda North

Anna was with me when I bought this dress at an end-of-season sale last January and thankfully convinced me to splurge a little on a truly special piece. It may be a simple black sweater dress, but the details on the sleeves punctuate the look, giving the dress (and me!) that extra bit of flair.
The delicate crochet ruffles remind me of coral while adding a bit of sass to my pedagogical hand guestures. Their sassy detail is typical of many Milly designs, (like my New Year's dress) most of which leave me lusting after an endless fashion budget. While I can't clothe myself entirely in Milly (or Kate Spade for that matter), I try to use their creativity and wit to inspire my own more budget style.

Dress: Milly, Holt Renfrew

Tights: Hue

Boots: Diba, Ross Dress for Less

Things that rhyme with purple

Of all my coloured coats, my purple one gets the most wear, likely because it manages to be striking but not overpowering (Anna also has a beautiful purple coat, shown here). My yellow cardigan is another item that both Anna and I own. I love yellow with grey, black, leopard print, denim.... the list is practically endless. My favourite thing about this cardigan is the delicate chiffon ruffles, even if they do make laundry day complicated. The blouse's high neck and ruffles have a schoolmarmy vibe that I love in a blouse (plus I actually am a schoolmarm) but an abstracted leopard-looking heart print keeps it current.

I finished off the look with my new silver flats. I have had to replace silver flats in my wardrobe multiple time over the past 6 years of so because they are just that versatile. My newest pair was a bit more of an investment, but one I'm hoping will pay off in longevity. I consider one pair of metallic flats (gold, silver, pewter or even bronze) to be a necessity you might want to consider adding to your wardrobe.

Coat: Tulle, Hill's of Kerrisdale

Jeans: Hudson, Fab Kerrisdale

Blouse and Cardigan: J Crew

Flats: Tory Burch, Ebay