Here’s a collection of items that I like at Banana Republic right now. Some are simple, and others are more dramatic. There is an additional 40% off your purchase today, so go Team Bargain Hunters. 

• Striped Bow Crew: Fun, graphic, romantic and conversational. Fairly thick for a fine gauge pullover. 
• Monogram Colourblock Wool Cape: A dramatic piece for mild Autumn and Winter weather. 
• Turnlock Sweater Cape: A more casual cape with bohemian and cuddly appeal. 
• Quilted Knit Moto Jacket: This one is for Team Navy and Ink Blue. Texture rich and super comfy. 
• Extra-Fine Merino Wool Vee Sweater: V-neck pullovers are hard to find at the moment, so give this essential a bash if you’re after great layering pieces that are as fab worn on their own. Fluid and non-itchy. 
• Sloane-Fit Windowpane Slim Ankle Pant: I wish these were regular length, which they might be on you if you’re petite. Match with black top and booties and you’re done. 

These items can be dressed up for business casual and formal, as well as dressed down with denim items, relaxed footwear and handbag.

There are items on our shopping list that we don’t purchase because they simply do not exist. Or they exist at an unaffordable price point. This is what I call a highly elusive wardrobe item, or “HEWI”. 

The most elusive wardrobe item on my list is a pair of dressy and tailored cream knee-high boots that fit my narrow thirteen inch calf circumference. The boots must be low heeled, impeccable quality, and fairly pointy on the toe. Add to that the need for comfort, and it’s an even taller order. Dressy and tailored, low heeled boots to fit a narrow calf are hard to find in any colour. The fact that I want them in cream, well made and comfortable, makes them even more elusive. 

After five years of searching, I’m prepared to pay a high price for these knee-high cream boots. I also need to replace my dressy low heeled black knee-high boots that are looking the worse for wear after hard work in bad weather for eight years. I will not pass those on until I have a replacement.

At this stage I’ve given up and I’m no longer actively searching for tall dressy boots in black and cream that fit my style requirements and comfort needs. All good things come to those who wait, so I believe that these highly elusive wardrobe items are going to find me one day. And when they do, the victory will be sweeter. Right now, I’m relaxing into the fact that I can’t find what I want and I’m focusing on what is available to me. 

In the meantime, it’s so much easier to find short Winter booties and formal pumps that fit the bill so that’s where I’m spending my fashion dollars. Thank goodness I have my golden oldie, tall black dressy boots, and falling-apart cream Go Go boots to wear with skirts and dresses for now. These hardworking darlings will have to keep me going until their replacements enter my style life. 

Over to you. Do you have highly elusive wardrobe items on your shopping list that, season after season, are impossible to find? Do you give up searching and relax into it, or are you increasingly frustrated by the fact that they do not exist?

Haul out your jeans and trousers with wider hems. The outfit on the right is dressier and great for business casual. The outfit on the left is more casual, but might work in a relaxed work setting. The tops are key to refreshing the look of flared trousers and jeans. Sure, you can match them with tailored knitwear and knitted tops and look fabulous. But lets go trendy and change things up. Try the following top options instead: 

• Fluid or oversized cropped knitwear with a welt that is not midriff-baring so that you can semi or faux tuck by adding in a belt for polish and outfit interest. 

• Fluid or oversized high-low knitwear in a refined and soft fabrication. Because you’re wearing “volume on top of volume” in this version, the high-low hemline is essential for structure as is the drape of the top to ensure that it collapses back onto the body. That way you won’t feel like you’re wearing a shapeless sack. 

Choose any colour palette, in patterns or solids. Here are the components: 

Jeans or Trousers: You’re after flared leg wool trousers, jeans, or trouser jeans. Think streamlined wide legs, or roomy bootcuts if you prefer more structure on the thigh. 

Trendy Top: Choose roomy cropped knitwear, upscale sweatshirts, or high-low knitwear. Cropped knitwear can be chunky or fine gauge. I’ve chosen a chunky style because chunky knits are particularly trendy at the moment. Upscale sweatshirts can be made of mixed media, fleece, or neoprene. High-low knitwear that’s worn at a regular length is best in a soft and fine gauge knit. 

Footwear: I prefer a pointy or almond toe with wide hems so that’s what I’ve chosen in booties. Pumps are also great. Of course, round toes are just fine if pointy toes are not your thing.  

Outerwear: I vote peacoat because many bat for that team. Virtually flop-proof. But a tailored trench coat or wool coat is just as fab. A man coat would work pretty well too, creating nice straight lines against the flared hems of the jeans or trousers. 

Accessories: Finish off the outfit with a belt when wearing cropped knitwear. That way it’s as if you’ve tucked the top, which creates a polished effect. Add jewellery, eyewear, and watch as desired. I’ve thrown in an ink bag to remind you that navy tones with black are a modern combination.  

I have all the components for the dressier outfit on the right, and will be sporting it when I don’t have to traipse around in the rain. Who else is feeling their wider hemmed jeans and trousers this season?

Now that the days of going sockless are over in my neck of the woods, I had fun browsing Refinery 29’s roundup of cute socks for Fall.

What is the etiquette of wearing tights to work in 2013? Some still believe that “the more skin you show at work, the less influence you have”.

According to the Guardian, showing the toe gussets of hosiery is considered edgy and fashion forward again, just like in the mid-’90s. At least, the way Carine Roitfeld has styled them for a Harper’s Bazaar shoot.

Fab Links from Our Members

Deb wishes she could go see the “Suffragettes under Surveillance at Art Under Attack” exhibition at the Tate Britain. At the same time she was shocked to hear that “of the 2,300 works of art in the National Gallery in London, only eleven of the artists are women”.

Angie loved browsing Tommy Ton’s final shortlist of street style shots across New York, London, Milan and Paris fashion weeks for Spring 2014. Lots of fun and over the top outfits to peruse.

This blog posts explains how the Dress Spot works, a search engine for your colour palette. Vildy especially likes the feature that shows you an additional colour palette that is close to what you are looking for, so that you can refine your choice further with more “off shades”. 

Laurinda likes Kate Spade’s library-themed accessories, but is a bit downhearted that the common items of her schooldays are already fashionably retro.

This article really resonated with MaryK because her body image and self-esteem skyrocketed once she started taking daily WIW photos and got used to seeing herself in pictures. Plus, the point that Mums should get out from behind the camera and be in those family photos, can’t be made often enough.

“Women’s Fashion Turns to Menswear for Tips“. Pil found this article very interesting, especially after Angie’s post about the man coat trend.

MsMaven recommends reading this San Jose Mercury News article about harmful substances in cosmetics, a topic of concern to most women.

L’Abeille thought this survey of the history of eyebrow fashion, demonstrated via Loretta Young, was riveting.

A sweater with a sequined Santa Claus, and another one with sequined holiday baubles. CocoLion is in a state of semi-shock that the holiday sweater is now a high fashion statement. Would you wear them?