Whenever I stop searching for something, I find it. I’ve been looking for fun, comfortable round-toe, low heeled tomato red booties for years, but nothing pleased my fussy feet. Then I accidentally stumbled across these little darlings and fell in love. I ordered them, popped them through their stylish paces and voila – another unexpected pair of 8-hour shoes. Brilliant.

Booties are an excellent alternative to ankle boots, loafers and oxfords. They’re warmer than pumps and ballet flats because you can wear them with cozy socks, but cooler than mid-calf or knee-high boots because there is less coverage. Perfect for warm Winter and cool Spring weather.

These booties are available in three colours (grey, red and black). They’re soft, cushioning and roomy in the toe box, meaning that the bootie might work for a slightly broader foot too. The two inch heel is ideal and the vintage ruching detail is charming. Suede is not a good idea in wet weather but the flat leather styles can be sufficiently waterproofed with waterproofing spray. I went up half a size to accommodate my long toes, an insole and thicker sock, but you might be fine ordering your regular footwear size. I hope they work out as well for you as they did for me.

As a hip, arty freelance graphic designer, long time YLF forum member and East Coast native Maya was the first person I thought of when the opportunity arose to review products from YesStyle.com. The company gave her a budget of $200 to road test some of their items and this is how it went.

When I close my eyes and daydream about my fantasy wardrobe, I envision a closet full of trendy, arty, and urban looks that capture my style persona and suit my lifestyle. It is no secret that this fantasy was greatly shaped by my fabulous Korean and Chinese roommates whose killer sense of style immediately appealed to me, and with good reason: Asian street style is playful, trendy, and edgy with a good dose of practicality. For years, I have been trying to make this style my own with varying levels of success. While some American retailers come close, I maintain that the best way to get the look is to shop locally. Unfortunately, I won’t be going to Seoul or Hong Kong any time soon, but thanks to Angie’s fairy-godmotherlike ability to make dreams come true, I came pretty close. With a wave of her magic wand, Angie introduced me to Stefan Janssens, Internet Marketing Manager for YesStyle.com, who provided me with the opportunity to road test a few popular Korean apparel brands.

I took no time getting to work and selecting my goods, and as I clicked through the website, a few things quickly became apparent:

• You’ll need to be small: Many of the clothes I saw were one size fits all and cut for a straight and petite frame. Based on my experience, the Asian “one size fits all” spectrum can potentially encompass US sizes 0-6, depending upon how generously cut the garment is. At a curvy size 4, I had to be discriminating about the cut and style of my final selections. Happily, YesStyle has the garment measurements listed for each item, so there was no guess work required. In the end, I stuck to tunics, tops, and dresses and had no issues with fit.
• You’ll need to be daring: YesStyle is not for the faint of fashion heart. As someone who is always looking past the style horizon, this is a bonus to me, but if your style is classic and flop-proof, you might feel out of your element. The 80’s and 90’s revivals were in full swing with plaid, leggings, distressed jeans, legwarmers, oversized tunics, and shoulder pads. Fabulous!
• You’ll need to be young: The clothes on YesStyle are, for the most part, casual and trendy. Having youth on your side will open up a lot more options, but as always, style is in the wearer as long as you remain selective.
• You’ll need to act fast: Items on YesStyle sell out quickly, so it is best not to wait on making a purchase. If you order directly from the Hong Kong warehouse, your order will ship more quickly. Items which are not in stock at the warehouse can add up to 7 days to the shipping process. You can filter the items that are readily available by checking off the “in stock” box.

What you make of the quality will depend on what you are used to and what your lifestyle demands. As a budget-restrained 25 year old with a casual lifestyle, I do not require (or even desire) luxurious fabrics and a polished look, so most of the clothes I received from YesStyle passed my filter without a hitch. If you like shopping at H&M and Forever 21, you will probably like YesStyle as well. As always, there will be some variation between brands and even individual garments in terms of quality and fit, but among the brands I tried, I was very pleased. The service I received was excellent and I will surely be shopping with YesStyle in the future!

The tops and dresses in these outfits are the YesStyle items I put to the test, while the camisoles, bottoms, footwear and accessories are my own. They mixed in perfectly with my wardrobe!

Things are hotting up for the chance to win a $300 TJ Maxx gift card. Multiple outfits have already been posted and things are looking good! You have until midnight tomorrow (Friday 6 November) to post pictures of your outfits. Go, ladies! Many of you have flawless Maxxinista style.

In my neck of the woods, Winters are long and Springs are cold. As much as I would like to sport light weight items in Springtime, I end up wearing Winter clothing and footwear for a good part of the season. But I get bored, really bored, with my Winter wardrobe after wearing it for months on end. Most of all, I get tired of wearing black boots, black frocks and jackets and dark outerwear.

Because I desperately feel the need to refresh my look for Spring, I’ve learnt to build up an assortment of Winter weight wardrobe items that don’t look overly Wintery. The following items use colour to say “Springtime”, but will keep you warm:

• Light and brightly coloured footwear: You’re after shoes that you can wear with socks or hose, but that aren’t black and heavy. Think of boots, booties, loafers or oxfords in colours like grey, red, blue, chestnut, taupe, tan, cream and white.
• Light or brightly coloured coats, jackets and trenches: I wear a bright blue wool coat, a cream leather jacket and a quilted cream trench coat in Spring time. I hope to add a citron wool coat to my Spring outerwear collection too. Unless it’s really cold, my heavy wool grey coat and long black puffer will rest up until the following Winter.
• Light or brightly coloured knitwear: I actually wear brightly coloured pullovers and cardigans alongside their black and grey counterparts all through Winter. But bright knitwear is all I wear at the start of Spring. They are great layering pieces and signal to the world that warm weather is on the way.
• Textured nude tights: As far as possible I like to say goodbye to black and grey hose in Spring time. I prefer to substitute the look with flesh coloured micro fishnets or polka dot hose instead.

I sport brightly coloured scarves and handbags all year round, but consider introducing these in Spring if you normally stick to dark colours and neutrals for Winter.

Why post about this in Autumn when Spring seems so far away? Well, it might affect what you purchase for Winter right now. If you try looking for the perfect pair of tan boots in February, you probably won’t find them. And you might think twice about adding another pair of black boots, black frock or a black jacket into your Winter wardrobe mix.