. . . or maybe it's a continuous cycle for me. I am not a planner when it comes to my wardrobe, and I have a hard time projecting what I'm going to want to wear tomorrow, let alone the next season. Perhaps this is a characteristic of the extreme mood-based dresser.

Recently I got interested in finding a striped top to go with a patterned sweater I bought at AllSaints a couple of months ago (Emotive cardigan, in Finds). I have worn the sweater several times now that the weather has gotten cool enough. When I bought it, I also bought a short-sleeved striped tee that looked really good with it (Anna striped tee in Finds). So I've been trying to find something similar with long sleeves--even looking at fabrics, because I could easily make one. I went to our new-ish local Bloomie's--a tiny outpost of Bloomingdale's department store--the other day to return one of said striped tees, which just didn't work.

While there, I browsed around. There was some kind of sale going on. I found a pair of leopard-print jeans I wanted to try. I've had leopard print jeans on my mind since I tried a pair earlier in the season and they didn't work out. Not just any leopard would do; I liked subtler patterns, not high-contrast, and colors that tend toward olive browns. These fit the bill. But they didn't fit me too well; too skinny and too high rise. Since I was going into the fitting room anyway, I had also taken in a beautiful blue cashmere pullover that had caught my eye. It was meh on me, too long in the body.

But now the nice sales associate, Richie, said he thought there was a pair of leopard print jeans I might like, in a subtle pattern. And a pretty blue cashmere sweater in a shorter length. They were really nice, styles I liked very much. The leopard print was indeed subtle, though it was not my preferred olive shade of brown, which I hadn't mentioned. I didn't know what I would wear the jeans with. The blue cashmere looked awfully good with them, though. And Richie brought a charcoal and white patterned, cropped (to high hip on short-waisted me) cardigan, which pattern-mixed surprisingly well with the jeans, too. He had other ideas, brought jackets for inspiration that reminded me of things I had at home.

I came home with all three pieces (although I traded the blue pullover for a dark, cool pine green one, which we decided was even a slightly better color on me), the first Finds below. I now also have a Bloomingdale's Loyallist membership (free, no card required) and a new favorite sales associate, who has already followed up with me. Oh, and lest you think I didn't feel the least guilt about about shopping for myself during the height of gift-giving season, I did pick up a little something for part of a friend's gift, too.

I spent a couple of hours with at-home try-ons yesterday, and I'll share some of the pics with you here. The colors are bad because of terrible lighting, but you can get an idea of the silhouettes anyway.

The photos:

1) Leopard jeans (Rag & Bone, Shea high-rise straight leg), brown merino tee (Kit & Ace), brown and black belt (Suzi Roher), black merino short cardi (Kit & Ace), black booties with brown trim and red stitching (Pikolino)

2) Leopard jeans, brown merino tee, wine wool & cashmere cardi (Vince), black Pikolino booties

3) Leopard jeans, charcoal featherweight turtleneck (Eileen Fisher), charcoal and white patterned wool blend cardi (Cinq à Sept, Love Doodles Millie), pewter metallic lug-sole loafers (Pedro Garcia)

4) Leopard jeans, pale pink cropped cowl pullover (AllSaints Ridley), blush belt (AllSaints) [also liked it with pewter cutout belt (Fossil)]; taupe suede pointed low-heeled booties (Paul Green Willow)

5) Leopard jeans, pale pink cropped cowl pullover, black and brown belt, dark brown faux fur bomber (Save the Duck), taupe suede booties

6) Black with white pinstripe wool lantern pants (OSKA Renzi), cool off-white cotton oversized blouse (OSKA Raima), charcoal patterned cardi, black moto booties (Blondo Camila)

7) Slim medium wash jeans (Paige, Cindy high-waist straight ankle), off-white cotton oversized blouse, charcoal patterned cardi, charcoal patterned socks, charcoal patterned sparkly suede oxfords (Mephisto Sabatina)

8) White cargo jogger jeans (AllSaints Florence), charcoal turtleneck, charcoal patterned cardi, charcoal patterned socks, pewter lug-sole loafers

9) Leopard jeans, brown tee, brown & black belt, taupe floral denim jacket (made by me), black Pikolinos booties

10) Slim medium wash jeans, pine green cropped cashmere pullover (Theory), charcoal patterned suede oxfords (my outfit for the rest of the day)

11) Close up of the pullover

12) Close up of the cardi

13) Gray barrel jeans (AllSaints), offwhite textured mock turtleneck (AllSaints), charcoal patterned cardi, black cowboy boots

Thanks for looking! Comments, thoughts welcome.