2011 Roundup: Of Erin, By Anna

A surprise to even Erin, I decided to go through the 2011 archives and find my top 5 favorite outfits that Erin wore over the past year.

What I love about this outfit, is how much I covet each piece of it -- I can't choose what's my favorite, but it might be the shoes. Each piece works perfectly into Erin's strong sense of style, and here I'm most impressed with how she balances the feminine dress -- ruffles! pink! -- with the playfully schoolboy oxfords.
This outfit has some inherent bias because I took the pictures and bought a matching cardigan from Joe Fresh. I'm impressed by Erin's ability to construct professional outfits with simple pieces and fun, slightly quirky accessories. Teal and yellow? An inspired color combo.
I could have chosen all of Erin's novelty prints for this top five, but I managed to choose just two. I think this is my favorite outfit of the year. Instead of pulling back after pairing the twee top with the bubblegum pink skirt, Erin heightened the color palette with the teal necklace and shoes. An amazing result.
If there's something Erin has mastered its the animal print, so I obvious had to include one in my picks. This dress has made a few appearances on the blog, but this is my favorite outfit because of the amazing tights and the additional textual interest with the suede shoes. Erin's outfits always look so pulled together; she matches texture with texture and her necklace to her shoes.
Erin may love an animal print, but I am madly in love with this novelty animal print. The outfit doesn't just showcase the piece, though, it uses it to create a look that's both completely modern and strongly inspired by vintage. I can't get over how sassy that skirt is.

Erin, I love seeing your outfits, and can't wait to see what you'll wear in 2012. xoxo Anna Rae

Easy Being Green

Sweater dresses are awesome. You can wear them with tights and flats or leggings and boots and be as comfortable and warm as if you were wearing a bathrobe. The key is to avoid scratchy wool or cheap acrylics in favour of cashmere and merino wools.
While adding a cinch belt to this dress didn't up the comfort factor, it did help play up the graphic black and green stripes, the reason why I didn't add anything to the colour palate. My favourite feature of this dress (other than the colour, stripes, and soft cashmere) is the three-quarter length blouson sleeves. They are easy to type in, a cinch to pair bracelets with, and forgiving on long arms because they look intentionally rather than misfortionally too short. (I know that is not a word)
Dress: Juicy Couture, Ebay

Tights: Hue, The Bay

Belt: Mexx

Necklace: Le Chateau

That's Not My Name

I stalk clothes. When I first discovered that Nanette Lepore had produced both dresses and blouses with a print of boys' names in script I knew I had to own one of them. The print also came in pink on black and I would buy it as well if I could!
As an English PhD student I of course love font as pattern, and adore the way you can't really tell what the print is unless you look closely. There is also something so deliciously retro and tongue-in-cheek about having "Ralph", "John", and "Harry" emblazoned on a conservative blouse.
A black skirt, pearl studs, and simple turquoise flats set off the top without competing with it.
Blouse: Nanette Lepore, Ebay

Skirt: Teenflo, Winners

Shoes: Banana Republic, Ebay

Photos by my lovely fiancée Reece, whose name sadly doesn't appear.

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

Puppy Love

I'm a cat person. But when dogs get little bows and become printed onto silk chiffon it makes me feel like switching sides. I like my novelty prints rendered on the twee-est shapes possible, and the ruffles and tiered sleeves of this top fit the bill perfectly. Novelty prints always feel a bit 1940s to me (my favourite dressing decade) so I tucked them into a tweed pencil skirt with the slightest of fishtail hems. The hem also features an asymmetrical frayed ruffle, keeping it from being too derivative.
I just had to match the Scotty dogs' bows with my shoes. I recently purchased this patent pair so I can continue to wear red pumps in inclement weather, as my suede ones are just not Vancouver friendly. The pointy toe makes them a bit more vampy, but the low heel keeps them walkable.
Blouse: Femme de Carriere

Skirt: Nanette Lepore, Holt Refrew (on summer clearance)

Shoes: Vince Camuto, Winners

Thanks to Mono for her photography!

Black and Blue

If you don't own teal tights I suggest purchasing some. I love the punch they bring to the simplest of outfits.
I kept up the bruise theme with a grey striped tank and black cardigan. The cardigan is Joe Fresh and features a great gathered trim. It's still available (also in beige) if you want a cheap new basic!
The shoes aren't new but are worth featuring. They have the perfect point and chic flat bow for a touch of timeless elegance. Don't own pointy-toe black flats? Get some.
Tights, Necklace, and Cardigan: Joe Fresh, Real Canadian Superstore

Tank: Talula Babaton, Aritzia

Skirt: Anthropologie, Turnabout Consignment (Broadway and Balaclava in Vancouver)

Shoes: Restricted, Amazon.com

Concrete Jungle

I rarely take 'going out' photos, an oversight I hope to remedy despite the challenges of evening photography. I braved Yaletown hecklers and unflattering streetlights just to bring you these shots of my new black and white animal print haircalf pumps .

The outfit that I wore for drinks with the ladies consists of items I wear to teach. Because I am on a limited budget, I try for most of my purchases to be both business casual and cocktail cute. That way moving from academic life into nightlight just requires more daring coordination and thicker eyeliner. The majority of your wardrobe should be wearable to more than one type of event, even it it means your students will write about your shoes in your course evaluations.

Blazer and Pumps: Zara

Blouse: Club Monaco

Jeans: Paige Premium, Zappos.com

Necklace: Vintage, Etsy

Bag: Kate Spade, Kate Spade Outlet

The Scarlet Leopard

I am so glad I picked up this snow leopard print dress earlier this year at Zara. While normally I wear it with bright tights, this time I chose to experiment with texture rather than pops of colour. The flower print of these stockings is subtle enough that it adds depth to the look rather than clashing.

The black tights also make the red shoes pop! I took advantage of the dry weather to wear these great low pumps. Sadly, the inherent incompatibility between suede and Vancouver means they don't get enough wear as they deserve.Normally I wouldn't be quite so matchy-matchy with my accessories, but I like how the red shoes and necklace add balance to a look with a lot of different textures and prints like the ruffled shoulders and snakeskin embossed belt.
Dress: Zara

Belt: Mexx

Shoes: Sam Edelman, Zappos.com

Tights: Gifted by Mom, from Portugal

Necklace: Thrifted, The Salvation Army Kerrisdale

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

Busy as a Bee

Nothing like getting back to the September grind to make dressing like a worker bee appropriate. Yellow and red are the 'popiest' colours to pair with black and white, and yellow feels fresher to me.
Reading this article about polka dot addiction made me realize that I am not alone. And also that I am perhaps a little bitter about the current uber-trendy status of my beloved spots. I think perhaps my spotted wardrobe needs its own family portrait.
This look is pretty simple, but full of details like ruffles, bows, and mixed-print accessories to make it something special. I'll never tire of this Joe Fresh blouse. Prepare for its American invasion soon my southern readers...(see article in October's ELLE) 24°30 or fight!I'm looking so pensive despite my sunny sweater because my lovely photographer Judith is departing for the semester for the libraries of Amherst. Her loss, combined with the darling Jenna's graduation, has left me looking for photographers. Names starting with letters other than 'J' may also apply.
Cardigan: J Crew

Blouse: Joe Fresh, Real Canadian Superstore

Pants: no brand, Winners

Shoes: Jessica Simpson, 6pm.com

Belt: Old Navy

Bracelet: Vintage, Etsy

On Uneven Ground

Formal shorts. Abhorred by the Fug Girls, difficult to wear, and, for me, a bit short for comfort. When confronted with this fashion challenge, I responded by retreating into my comfort zones: black and white polka dots and a coloured shoe.
The shorts are a silky (and sadly easily wrinkled) modal blend, so I paired them with a silk shell to skew dressy rather than casual.
Although I normally abide by a 'short hemline-flat shoes' rule, with shorts rather than a skirt I went all out and wore heels. I'm just glad that I was sitting down and paying too much attention to my brunch to get toppled over by the small earthquake that shook things up in Vancouver on Friday.
Speaking of shoes, I love these. They are over seven years old, but still just as wearable thanks to their 1940s silhouette and bright mix of textures.
Shoes: CF by Carlos Falchi, Winners

Shorts: Gap

Blouse: Michael by Michael Kors, Ebay

Sunglasses: Kate Spade, Amazon.com

Checking it Twice

My beautiful photographer (and birthday girl!) Kelly suggested that this post was really take two on styling gingham and polka dots since they appeared together so recently in my romper post. But, as you are all aware (or will be if you keep following TTTB) polka dots and Erin go together like peanut butter and jelly. I can't help but think (wish) that Marc and Stella's Fall '11 looks were inspired by on dotty obsession. These pointy toed slingbacks are an especially fun example. My only complaint is that they are canvas get dirty really easily. Do you think I can Scotchguard them?Although this is yet another black+white+colour look, thanks to Anna's sartorial influence, my perennial favourite now benefits from the extra excitement of pattern mixing. I am so excited to continue being inspired by one another. Dress: JCrew, Ebay
Belt: Thrifted, Salvation Army Kerrisdale
Shoes: Chinese Laundry, (n.b.please change your brand name) Amazon.com
Necklace: Sam Moon, The Woodlands TX

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