This is long. Sorry for the navel-gazing, but I desperately need advice.

I have a thing for animal print this year. Perhaps I am slow on the draw (as it has been popular for a while), or perhaps I am just easily influenced by suggestion (the NAS). I do not want to overdo things, and I don't want to be "tacky"; so how much leopard/animal print is too much?

This all started back when Anna said that leopard was a neutral that could be worn with my metallic green Free People flats. She was right (did anyone doubt it?), and I almost always wore those flats with a leopard print dress (covered by a black cardigan) that I have since passed on. So there is NO other animal print in my wardrobe right now except a scarf mentioned at the end.

But the NAS this year! There are SO MANY animal print items! I am so torn! Following are the items I am considering. I need your opinions, because I feel like I am verging into "tacky" territory. How often can one wear animal print without becoming Peg Bundy? I know, personally, I can only wear ONE animal print item per outfit. Even so, in my climate, that is 6 or 7 months of possibilities (cool weather, as I don't do animal print in summer). Is one or two outfits incorporating an animal print item per week too much? And FWIW, if I wear the bag, it is not seen with the outfit except when I am entering and leaving the building.

The shoes are, well, shoes; they can be worn with any outfit. They are comfortable and flattering. I do like how dark and subdued the pattern is, and I tend to wear a lot of all black. These could be a point of interest without being in-your-face animal print. And I have been looking for animal print shoes forever. Then again, that was before the blazer and the coat and the bag...

The bag is again, an accessory. It clearly cannot be worn with another animal print piece at the same time. Then again, as an accessory, it will be kept forever, so it can be worn five years down the line or ten years down the line after I've recovered from animal-print-mania, and it would only be seen twice a day (if I see the same people) when I enter or leave the building.

This coat is IT. I could not believe when I tried it on how flattering, comfortable and well-made it was. The lining is wonderful. It is not a thick coat, so it is a transitional piece to wear in fall and early winter. It will not do the job in a polar vortex (then again, we've had far more 40* F+ days per winter than ever), but it is wonderful, and somehow feels less LEOPARD than the rest (more subdued). That could be my animal-print-addled brain talking. But I love this coat and how it fits.

This jacket seems like overkill with the other pieces, but the print is so nice - dark and neutral and less in-your-face than others. It fits well, has a slight stretch, and it has a button closure. Why does that matter? Because I want blazers with the option of closing, and SO many are open now. A blazer can last forever, but will THIS blazer be a lasting piece? Is this print better or worse than the rest? Again, I wear a lot of black, including black dresses and black tights, and this piece could provide a pleasing diversion.

These shoes are, literally, a different animal. Does the snake print make them different, or is is just more animal print? They're black and white as opposed to brown and black. They're quite comfortable and would coordinate well with dresses or trousers. I like them, but again, I just wonder when is too much too much?

This is potentially FIVE animal print items in the running. Any one of them I would pounce on, as they all fit well, feel good and play well with the rest of my wardrobe. The only other animal print I have right now is a scarf, and that's an Alexander McQueen and will be with me until I die. So if it doesn't get wear for a year or five, it will still come out again later. Is five animal print items too much? If you were to choose between them, which, if any, would you eliminate and why? Sorry to be so needy, but I'm just stuck as to how much to TOO much.