Greg and I recently went to a business meeting in Fremont, a quirky nearby Seattle neighborhood. There wasn’t much walking involved that day so I left my coat and flats at home in favour of a blazer and higher heel. I was a little cold, but braved the outside photo session because the sun was out and it was a beautiful day.

Smart casual dressing was perfectly adequate for this business meeting so I put my own Chanel-inspired gal on the go formula into practice. I tweaked the formula because I wanted to wear boot cut jeans with cream heeled oxfords (the ones where I’d shortened the heels a while ago).

This outfit may seem like the kind of thing I usually wear, but it has elements that are new to my style. First, I’m wearing the Talbots striped tab sleeve tee I wrote about last week. I do not wear t-shirts or knit tops unless I am sleeping in them – yet  here I am in a tee. (The sky is going to fall on our heads). The drape and variegated stripe on this 100% rayon tee cannot be beat. It outshone the countless items of striped knitwear I tried, which is why the tee ended up in my closet. I’m happiest wearing it as a layering piece under a dressy jacket even though it has cute tabs on its three quarter length sleeves.

Second, I finally found a big gold watch that works. I couldn’t for the life of me understand why gold watches weren’t working when I started experimenting with the look. Then I realized I needed one with a white mother of pearl face. Aha! The soft pearl face made all the difference and now I can’t stop wearing my new gold watch with my gold wedding rings.

Third, no pearls. And this is a Chanel inspired formula. My recent style epiphany calls for clean, simple, modern and bold outfits. The Chanel bag has a vibrant gold chain shoulder strap which functions as an accessory. Adding a pearl necklace or bracelet to the mix would have been too much, especially against the boldness of the stripes and the multiple buttons on the jacket. So I kept my accessories to watch, wedding ring, specs and handbag.

The blazer is a fun 80’s incarnation in slate grey. It’s longer in the front than at the back which Greg thinks is just fabulous. The effect of slate grey worn with neutrals is usually pretty dull for my taste. But the boldness of the high contrasting stripes AND the gold hardware liven things up. I’m really into mixing grey with yellow gold at the moment.

You’re probably wondering why I’m carrying two handbags. Well, it wasn’t intentional, but the larger handbag ended up functioning like a briefcase for the business meeting, while the tiny cross body was my handbag for the day. Roll on Spring! I have lots of remixed outfits I want to wear, but I need warmer temperatures.

See a few more photos of this outfit on the YLF Facebook Page.