I would like to see the coat over your black Lisa, or even with denim.....

I think it's a gorgeous outfit on you -- truly! And I suspect you're just not used to yourself in light neutrals. The coat is possibly the weakest link, but even there I wonder if camera angle might be fooling us a bit...

Add a bit of jewellery, too, to make it feel more "you."

What a pain about the boots. They do look good, anyway, so at least there is that.

Love the colors on you, and your nails! I too like it more without the coat, and wonder if a deeper brown would be better. What about a leather jacket or other shorter topper?

Love the red hair & russet nails w/that cream sweater! It’s a really good look—maybe you’re simply accustomed to dark neutrals and need to re-calibrate your eye for the cream, beige, & taupe?

late to the party and have only read partial replies, so I may be repetitive or missing something:

For me, Lisa, a little waist structure is all the outfit needs. Can you half or partial tuck? Can you fold the bottom of the sweater up on a diagonal so that we see at least more hip on one side? I often use this latter technique when a tuck won`t stay put or when I need to cut the horizontal girth of the backside (not your problem, but definitely mine).

Can you use foot inserts or other magic to make the booties fit? The outfit components are indeed splendid!