Smart Shopper

This dress was another purchase from when Sal and Mike were here, and it was also another item on my shopping list: basic sheath dress. It seems my tastes are shifting towards the simple and unfussy lately. This dress is utterly perfect: it has a good amount of stretch to it, the subtle darts at the waist give it shape while still being really flattering, and the asymmetrical pleated ruffle gives it some visual interest while still looking classic. I got this dress for a steal at Jeremy's, a local shop that sells discounted designer clothes. Many of their items are damaged, but this dress is perfect as far as I can tell.

When I got home from work I wore this dress, sans cardigan, to our neighbors' open house. This was no ordinary open house; it's a spectacular Victorian mansion, the gem of the entire neighborhood, and it's listed at $3.8 million. One dresses up for an open house of this caliber. Thankfully I was already dressed, so I waltzed on over and tried to look natural amongst people who actually have $3.8 million to spend on a house.

The next day our neighbor called to thank Mark and I for coming, and also to say how great I looked in my dress. Just as the open house was no ordinary open house, this was no ordinary compliment; when a sophisticated gay man with impeccable taste calls specifically to tell you how great you looked, that's a compliment to treasure up and enjoy for a lifetime. I'd gladly have paid full price for this dress to get a compliment like that, so you can bet I feel like a smart shopper now.

Dress: Escada Sport
Cardigan: Anthropologie
Tights: Wolford
Boots: All Black
Earrings: Wendy Mink
Bracelet: Betsey Johnson

Restraint

This dress is the last of my Paris purchases, and it has a fun memory to go with it. I'd been out shopping all day and wound up over near the Centre Pompidou, where I stopped at a nearby creperie for a galette and a very large carafe of wine. Feeling warm and merry, I set out towards my hotel and along the way spotted a Promod store that was still open. Tipsy shopping ensued, and I ended up popping into a couple more stores and finding some great gifts in addition to this adorable dress for myself. Surprisingly, while at Promod I limited myself to just this dress and a few basic layering shirts including the one shown here. I tell you this showed remarkable restraint, given how fond I am of Promod and how many other cute, mod style dresses they had on the racks.

A few people commented on these boots when I posted them the other day. They're made by Brako, a Spanish company whose beautiful shoes are designed both for comfort and style. In fact I've made the 3-mile trek to work several times in these already and they're perfect for walking. I found them at a wonderful shoe store here in SF near Union Square, called Nobel Shoes. Brakos seem to be difficult to find this side of the Atlantic even online, so I'm happy to have stumbled upon them in a brick and mortar shop; a shop which incidentally I pass very often on my way to and from work. I expect there may be more Brako shoes in my future.

Dress, shirt: Promod
Boots: Brako
Bracelet, ring: Metal Pointu

Quick Conversion

One thing I've noticed since I've been walking to work is that I'm wearing pants a lot more often, I think because they feel less fussy -- there's no slip to deal with, or a skirt that's clinging to my tights, or blowing in the wind, or whatever. There have been a couple of times where I've changed my entire outfit once I got to work, but that involves a lot more hauling of stuff than I'm willing to do most days (especially since I often also walk home and thus have to haul everything for 6 miles). So my goal is generally to build an outfit where I can wear it mostly in its finished state, and change or add one or two things once I get to the office. Don't worry, I'm still looking for ways to make my skirt and dress-based outfits easy to wear for the walks, and I'll happily share any new tricks I hit upon.

This is an example of just the sort of quick-conversion outfit I'm after. I wore my Bastien short boots for the walk, and carried the tall boots as well as the white cardigan in my backpack. Then when I got to work it was quick and easy to convert the outfit for the work day.

Next week I'll be traveling to Germany and France on business (I know, I know -- what a sacrifice, right?), so I'm definitely going to be putting some of these new tactics to work for my travel outfits. In fact I think a couple of the pieces in this outfit will be making the trip with me. I'm going first to Dusseldorf and Strasbourg, and then spending the weekend in Paris before coming home. Dusseldorf and Strasbourg are for work, but the Paris weekend is all mine. Good thing I haven't started my Christmas shopping yet!

Tunic: All Saints
Knit pants: Club Monaco
Cardigan: 12th Street Cynthia Vincent
Boots: Modern Vintage
Necklace: Wendy Brandes

Spirit

I wore this to work on Halloween, so as to be in the Halloween spirit and still not have to deal with a costume. It was a good call, because pretty much no one downtown wore a costume, and also because this was way more comfortable. And yes, Halloween was almost a month ago and I'm just getting around to posting this now. It has just been that busy lately.

If you're in the US, I hope you enjoyed your Thanksgiving weekend. I certainly did; we spent a lot of time relaxing for a change, and for Thanksgiving dinner Mark and I went to Harris's for some delicious steak. OK it wasn't exactly a traditional meal, but I've made up for it by spending the last couple of weeks warming up for International Pie For Breakfast Month with plenty of pumpkin pie. It's always Thanksgiving when there's pumpkin pie.


Dress: Skunkfunk
Tights: Sock Dreams
Boots: Modern Vintage
Necklace: Untamed Menagerie

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