update

kind of the coveteur esque, no? And also ellie, can you see how my bed touches all walls? my little shoebox room!

Alright. So winter shopping list is ticking along quite nicely. As already noted, I've ticked off the wang sweater (minty wang as it shall henceforth be known) - decidedly not as wintery as it should be for a winter purchase considering the icy-pole colour and open knit, but still very fun to wear with navy blue pants a la stevie . I've seen quite a few fitted maxis at Country Road et al but they haven't really moved me. I got this loose, drapey one in the most gorgeous rust colour that makes me happy - even though it wasn't quite what I was looking for, i'm so glad that I listened to my heart and got it. And now let me reveal purchase number 3 - the fur gilet. This one is a shearling vest, less furry and more cool, and it is so damn perfect. It goes with everything - and I mean everything - in my wardrobe and I haven't taken it off, even when it's been a bit too hot for a shearling vest. I love it so much. 

I can't quite believe how well I'm going with winter shopping. The prism glasses are still a desperate need, but money right now doesn't permit me to get them. I may just wait for a little while and purchase them in June or July. They are not strictly speaking a winter-y item, so I can do without them for the moment. My current glasses are okay - one of the side bits has broken off, but i've re-attached it with a safety pin how craft am i!! - so the situation isn't super dire. With my IM coat, parka, opening ceremony swing coat and various winter favourites like my ankle boots, sweatshirts and loose shirts, I'm almost ready to go. I'm itching to start wearing my old winter staples again - charcoal sweatshirt, belted swing coat, tan ballet flats - that made me so happy. It's funny how your style can change and yet you still sometimes want to wear those outfits that you used to love. I think that even though I'm not as eclectic as I used to be (minty wang is the exception of course) those bleeding colours of orange/red/blue/purple on the Opening Ceremony coat will be so fantastic with my new favourite palette or caramel coloured neutrals. I'm really excited. Can you tell? I'm shopping my closet.

Benah

But - here's a caveat. I think I have a couple of new things to add to the list. Instead of the pochette I'm desperately loving this benah bag. I'm definitely leaning towards the canvas with leather trim in the red colour - more exciting than the black, especially with outfits like my favourite black skirt, swingy jumper and suede ankle boots, or my shearling vest, navy blue pants and charcoal sweatshirt. I love making impact with accessories and accessories alone. It's funny what working in a handbags department does to you. I used to not care at all about bags - now I can't get enough of them. After seeing hundreds upon hundreds of women toiling and striving to find the perfect bag for work/day/night/wedding/casual/dressy it's exciting to search for accessories that you know will go the hard yards with your wardrobe. I know that this bag will become a real staple for me. And remember how I moaned about not being able to find a scarf to fit my bill of "chunky, oversized, wrap around your whole body forever a la this vogue us editorial"? Well I found one. Actually I found two. The first one is mimco, charcoal grey - perfect colour - and beautifully, gloriously chunky. But half acrylic, which is a little sad. The second one is Benah (again you say! Well Brenda Harvey's stuff is so fantastic, it warrants multiple mentions) at both bloodorange and the corner shop. Long, so you can wrap it once, twice, three times a lady around your neck and it comes in a raft of love-able colours from cream to olive via bright red. I'm leaning towards the olive one. But it's a smidge more expensive being super soft, super lovely cashmere. Obviously paying more for quality is important, and necessary. More investigation is needed. But I'm so glad that my scarf holy grail is finally in reach after years and years of searching (and years and years of disappointment).

So, update

1. A fur hat or stole or long gilet, something fur to add a touch of glamour to outfits.

2. A streamlined pochette or clutch - delayed in favour of the benah bag

3. Ankle/calf length jersey skirt, maybe double faced, in khaki green, navy blue and brown. Fitted, not full or gathered. (I am pretty picky when it comes to my skirts, which I guess is why I wear the same one over and over again). one purchased in a rust colour, still after an olive and a navy blue, but these are basic pieces I'll wear forever so will always be on the look out.

4. Prism glasses in London, crystal grey or tortoiseshell - still on the look out

5. An inextricable desire (thanks for the phrase Notes to a Mouse via  Fleurette) for this Alexander Wang sweater.  done and done, and i mean done.

and my "always winter wardrobe planning" list:

1. chunky, oversized, woollen scarf - about to be finally, finally, finally crossed off after about 2 years of searching and never finding the perfect one. yeeeahhh!!

Ah winter, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

X

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