I am feeling a bunch of things for Fall, but I am wary because I feel like I'm pulled in different directions that I may not be able to reconcile with what I actually wear on a daily basis in cold weather. I'm going to work my thoughts out here and hope that maybe some of you have some insight.

Here my style words (I could probably stand to come up with one or two more), and my style moniker is Fun NY Eclectic:

Colorful
Urban
Fun
Modern

Contrast

(My style for F/W is harder edged but I always gravitate towards bright colors, prints, and contrast)

J Crew denim skirt (could be a good completer piece for my bold tops.

Boots (Born combats will replace less comfy ones; red Pikolinos)

Ecco sneakers (still waiting in proper size)

1.STATE blazer a bit of a wildcard as I tend not to reach for blazers (more below); love it though

Halogen cobalt sweater (very much my wheelhouse, practically a wardrobe essential for me despite the color)

Boden purple coat (see find; will order soon)

Other purple items (Boden has a ton and I love this color; more on this below)

Navy bootcut cords

Oxfords/brogues

Boots in a toffee color (not really sure if I could integrate these successfully enough to justify)

These latter two are my problem areas that I want to dig into below.

Blazers: I love blazers but I don't reach for them a lot. With more wardrobe planning, I may be able to solve this. I don't own too many blazers anymore beyond what I am holding on to for occasional professional needs, so this plaid blazer is an experiment. I love it, but will I reach for it? I love the cord and tweed blazers in bright color at Boden, but I should see how it goes (I also have one Boden tweed blazer). These are also darn difficult for me to layer, both under and over (my arms are kind of large for my size.) The season for wearing them as my only jacket is short here.

Blouses: I've ordered this Angie J Crew pick in the paisley scarf print. I tried on an even brighter colored one at JC recently, but it was so bright and busy that while I liked it on myself, I thought that even I would hesitate to reach for it. I tried on this scarf print in a maxi dress (beautiful but had no use for it), so I thought the blouse in the scarf print my satisfy my urge for a blouse. Blouses can be hard to fit on me unless they are oversized (see this striped J Crew pick, which I own now.) I have some blouses I wear, but often default to knits because they are easier. If this J Crew blouse works (big if), I may just keep it to that one purchase.

I think I crave the structure of blazers and blouses for fall, but my style skews towards fun and colorful and what I think of as less sophisticated... but I'm craving more structure and sophistication, maybe because I'm turning 40 in October. Furthermore, every Fall, I also want to add all the tweed. Boden makes this seem possible this year, since they have some of these items in colors I love. I also don't want to go nuts until I see if I can succeed in wearing these items. Yes, I love the Boden plum tweed pencil skirt, but my desire to wear skirts in the winter is often minimal.

I am not sure if I can reconcile the "fun NY eclectic" style I've worked to define with both these urges to buy more sophisticated items (in me colors, though), and with the fact that in the cold weather I often reach for the easiest things (jeans and pullover sweaters, which gets tiresome by March). How far can I go to push myself without getting into the realm of making too many costly mistakes? What is the line between sophisticated and colorful, or are those things easier to reconcile than I think (Angle seems to do it but she relishes ladylike details that I don't, like pearls.)

Congrats if you made it this far! Phew!