My Week in Fashion: Tuesday

Today is another work day for me, but I'm not anticipating too much crawling on the floor or lugging boxes around, so I can be a little dressier and less careful about wearing durable clothing. So I opted for one of my easy go-to pieces. 

This look includes a sweater dress, tights, boots, and a hat. 

I bought this sweater dress from JC Penney a few years back, after seeing it advertised repeatedly on my Facebook page (not the first time I've done that, so clearly FB ads are effective, at least on me). I ordered it online, and the page glitched while I was submitting my order, which resulting in my accidentally ordering it twice - which was fun, because I gave the extra one to a friend who frequently wears similar styles. (*waves at Cindy Lou*) They no longer carry this exact dress, but they have similar styles including the one pictured above, for $25.99 (which I think is about what I paid for mine). 

What I love above this style is the fit-and-flare silhouette, which makes me look curvier than I am, and which camouflages my tummy. It's a look that flatters almost any figure. As with yesterday's outfit, I like the 3/4 sleeves because I don't have to worry that they're too short for my long arms. The square yoke offsets my sloping shoulders, and the slight vertical ribbing is slimming. The black and gold color palette is neutral enough that I can add a colorful scarf or lightweight jersey cardigan, but it's visually interesting enough to leave as is. The skirt length is also short enough that I can pair it with leggings, but long enough that I don't feel too bare with just tights (or even bare legs if I wear boots). 

Side note on the tights - I finally bought myself some Queen size tights and they are a REVELATION. I think of Queen size as having extra stretch around, but I never realized how much extra stretch they add to length. This tall girl wishes I'd tried these years ago! No more readjusting my waistband every time I sit down then stand up again. 

Now, back to the boots. Like yesterday's brown boots, today's black boots have a few subtle details that take them a step beyond basic, but that aren't too fussy. They have a horizontal seam attaching a wide top band, as is traditional with riding boots, as well as a vertical seam at the front of the calf. There is a vertical buckle strap on the side of the horizontal strip and a single buckle strap at the ankle, and a shaped seam at the ankle (also very traditional styling for riding boots). All the visible seams are double-stitched, which is a sign of quality construction as well as simply adding a nice visual detail. My husband gave me these boots as a gift, so I'm not sure where they came from or how much they cost (but since he is willing to pay much more for clothes and shoes than I am, I'm guessing they were over $100). I found this similar pair at Fingerhut for $79.99.  

I sometimes wear my brown boots with this outfit, since the tan pattern ties them in, but with black tights, black boots were definitely the way to go. I also occasionally wear leggings with this dress, and when I do, I sometimes wear either ankle booties or fun flats (like the leopard print slip-ons you may see later this week). 

Monochromatic outfits can be boring, so I usually add an interesting detail of some kind. With this dress, I'll wear a vivid turquoise draped jersey cardigan, a long pendant necklace, or a solid-colored scarf, but today I decided to add some character with a hat. 

I tend to favor short-brimmed hats for daily wear, so I opted for my all-black straw kettle brim hat, which my husband laughingly refers to as my "Annie Hall hat". It's not quite as domed as the bowler hat that Diane Keaton wears in the film, but it's not totally dissimilar. I bought it from a vendor at the Eastern States Exposition a few years ago for the ridiculously low price of $18. The label says Angela & William, but they no longer seem to carry this style. I was able to find a similar (although more decorated) hat on Etsy for $65.  My hat has a simple wide black ribbon hatband with a flat bow at the back and ribbons that are, alas, too short to be called "follow-me-lads". 

So that's my look for the day! Nothing especially new or trendy, but a few workhorses that get a lot of use, and a handful of variations on how to style the central pieces so that the next time I wear this look, it will look like an entirely different outfit.