Because I am heartily on team Wear It Now, and because I returned from sunny southern California to cool fall weather, I couldn't wait to break out a couple of the new pieces that I picked up at the YLF meetup this past weekend. When I started laying out my purchases side by side, one of the first combinations that came to mind was to wear this patterned sweater with black, gray, orange, and burgundy shades; a soft black button-down blouse patterned with tiny white birds; and a gold horned owl pendant with black and white chevron stripes. Must be in a pattern-mixing frame of mind.

I paired these pieces with my tried-and-true black pencil skirt and orange pumps. I guess this is my fall variation of the spiced shades that I was digging all spring and summer!

While a lot of people commented on how much they liked the sweater, I kept chuckling at one coworker's reaction. She said that I looked very "Halloween-y", and while that's true in terms of the black/orange color scheme, I also realized that I'm unconsciously going for a spooky theme too - I've got enough birds to populate the cast of a Hitchcock film, and the horned owl is rather ferocious looking!

The black and white aspect of the outfit also matches my not-so-spooky dog, who I am pet-sitting right now. The two of us are curled up in the living room enjoying a girls' night. I love my sweet Shadow!