I announced nearly a year ago that I want to buy locally-made clothing, or clothing from second-hand stores, only. Since then I have bought...a handful of things at Zalando (3 jumpsuits, a blackberry cardigan, a sleeveless paisley blouse that goes with everything, 3/4 sleeve cream top, a dress that was altered to wear backwards, and cranberry bell-bottom jeans), one Italian-made vest /cape at a market, and then nothing. Irritation at myself over the Zalando purchase pushed me to stop shopping there; the item made in Europe is an improvement, but not all the way to where I want to be (although I haven't exactly decided on the borders of "local" for me; Northern Italy is pretty far away, but it's closer than East Asia, with better labor laws. Anyway...)

I have browsed in a few boutiques, and collected names of local designers there and at markets. But I'm realizing that I really like the encyclopedic feeling of web shopping and large department stores. What's a locally-promised shopper to do? Then it hit me: shop local labels online! D'oh.

These are from my first dive into a local brand, Vive Maria. I haven't decided yet if I will order them.

The skirt is so yummy. I can picture exactly how I'd wear it: with my berry-colored sweaters or the teal T-neck sweater I pulled out of the wardrobe recently, with black tights (if the background is black--I can't tell) and my blue pumps. To change it up, I could wear a black sweater and black boots. The model is 4 cm shorter than me, so it would be further above my knees, but I think that would work.

I'm a sucker for a sailor suit. Have I said that on here before? It probably underlies my weakness for blue dresses. Anyway, I'm wondering how this top would work with either a white T-neck or a white crew neck top underneath it. Both are very fitted underlayers, so wouldn't make lumps or bumps; it's the necklines I'm thinking about. On the bottom would be cranberry bootcuts, white skinnies or blue jeans. Would these work, or should they be full-length?

Should I do it?