Last month you may remember I bought a turquoise KS hobo bag on sale (I posted pics earlier here: http://youlookfab.com/welookfa.....ade-anthro), but it was too light colored for my tastes and a little too plain and unstructured--it just didn't feel like "me". So I returned it. However, I got in trouble trying to help Sveta when she posted a thread recently asking for help finding a new bag...I sent her a link to a flash sample sale that Kate Spade was having that day, but she didn't end up getting anything from there. I swear I was just looking and trying to be helpful, but somehow ended up buying two new bags for myself--whoops! The first is also a turquoise bag, but it's a slightly darker color than the last one and it's more unusual...it's encrusted with these big 3D turquoise "jewels" or "tiles", kind of like a subway station or a bathroom, LOL. It's a little bigger and heavier than I expected (I was planning to use it as a little evening bag), but I like it! The other one is a grey croc tote. I don't have a black tote and sometimes I need a neutral tote besides the brown and red totes that I have or the Fossil velvet floral satchel. But I really didn't want to buy a boring plain black tote, so I went for a grey croc tote instead! With plum colored edging and a purple lining! It even holds my laptop! I love classics with a twist--that's my motto! What do you think of these new bags--are they more my style? I haven't really used them and still have the tags attached, but I think I'm going to keep them!

Here's my attempt at Rita's challenge to dress down a formal skirt. Ever since I tried the RATE Kate Spade look, I've been thinking about trying to roughen up my usual ladylike tendencies. Kind of like the 90's Kate Moss feminine grunge look (I'm obsessed with Joseph Altuzarra's fall collection with parkas over slinky dresses). I used my pencil skirt, which isn't evening wear per se, but is one of the fancier skirts I own. And I paired it with the turquoise KS bag that is something I'd typically save for evenings. I used my parka and some new lace-up ankle boots to dress them down...normally I'd wear pumps with this skirt. I know the turquoise bag and olive parka kind of clash, but notice the skirt actually has olive and turquoise on it. And the brown boots match the belt. I wore this whole silly getup to work, if you can believe it! I thought people would laugh, but I actually got a lot of compliments on my outfit!
Anthropologie Vaterland parka
H&M shirt
Anthro leaf belt
Anthro Liquid Acres pencil skirt
Kate Spade High Line Leica bag
Mia Nanette lace-up ankle booties (bought from Endless during a 20% off sale)--these are my first pair of ankle boots! I love these because they have a zipper so you don't have to keep lacing and unlacing them to get them on and off! So comfy too! What do you think of these new boots? I was so excited to wear them I forgot to ask you all first!

For Rita, here's a better example for your challenge, where I dressed down a formal Kate spade dress for work:
http://youlookfab.com/welookfa.....other-wiws

And here's a couple more bonus WIW's. Yesterday it was raining so I wore my chianti Aquatalia rain boots to work, but they were hidden under my Theory trousers. Which by the way, I now realize I bought too big...they're size 6 which before YLF I thought was my size, but now I realize I'm really a size 4. It was one of my first purchases at NAS, so I'm learning now! Anyways, I loved having my "secret superhero" boots on under my work clothes. And I brought my new grey KS tote.

And finally, my look from Wednesday...I had the day off so we took the kids to the Cal Academy. I wore a Missoni for Target blouse and my new purple Anthro Golden Gate Cardigan, and Gap jeans and black boots. My daughter also wore a Missoni for Target cape to match mine, but she picked the rest of the outfit herself. As you can see she is already into crazy color and pattern mixing, just like her mom! It was fun to wear "matching" outfits!

Comments and suggestions welcome!