Thanks to Angie's style consultation last night (http://youlookfab.com/welookfa.....uggestions) I decided there was no time like the present to see if I could find the red clutch to go with my Christmas Dinner & Dance dress.

I had NO idea just how many different red clutches are out there...there's mulberry, wine, raspberry, blood red, shiny, sparkly, feathered - you name it, I saw it. But I wanted a true cherry/apple red. I also wanted something fairly sleek and modern looking with some structure to it. Again - not easy, I found slouchy, soft, round, puckered...egads, it was TIRING. Just as I was about to say enough for one day, I saw this little gem in the Le Chateau window. It had structure, it was sleek, it was cherry red and the hardware is silvered coloured. I had decided I didn't want to spend a fortune on a red clutch because clutches are not a style of handbag I use often - maybe only 3-4 times per year. I was ok with it being faux leather. It was on sale for $40 (even better I said to myself) but when the saleslady brought one out to me (they weren't yet out on the floor, just the one in the window so she had to grab one from the back) the clasp wouldn't stay done up. I said "nope" could you grab me another one? So she went back and came out with the second one but the outside of the hinge on this one was sharp and I could just see myself catching it on my dress so I said "nope" could you grab me another? With a fairly big sigh, off she went and soon came back with the third version. It was perfect - I felt like Goldilocks finding the one that is "just right". I thought it may be only $40 but it's MY $40 and it's going to be spent well. Angie - I hope this gets me that A+ I'm after???

Then as I was leaving the mall, a pair of beautiful black patent leather Marc Fisher pumps with a beautiful silver coloured buckle detail on the pointed toe caught my eye. I was going to wear my old Anne Klein kitten heels for the evening, but they have seen better days. So I thought well what harm could it do to try them on. They are BEYOND comfortable so I decided to get them for myself for Christmas. Then when I went to pay for them the sales assistant told me they were on sale today only 50% off! Whoo too!!!

So here's a wee picture of the dress, clutch, shoes (well only one...but I promise you I actually bought two) and ring (I already owned the ring) that I'll be wearing December 10th. I also wanted to show you a close up of the lace and rosette detail on the top of the dress - I think it's beautiful.

I wanna say a special "thanks" to Angie for her help in putting this together. I can hardly wait to play dress-up and dance the evening away!

I also wanted to tell you/show you my Grandmother's trick on how to stretch leather shoes that are too tight across the top of your foot. You stick a potato that's slightly wider than your foot and jam it into the toe box. It keeps a constant pressure on the leather and helps it to stretch a bit. Because a potato is soft there is no damage done to the shoe. I bought these Rockport Mary-Janes about a month ago and they were just a bit tight across the top so I shoved a potato in there last night and today they are perfect.

Thanks for looking - sorry this is soooooooo long.