Hi, all --

I retired my old J. Crew plaid pants, a holiday staple. They are a straight-verging-on-skinny and I'm not enjoying that silhouette now. (I didn't donate them, though; they are such a great pant I think there's a chance I"ll come back to them later.)

Meanwhile, I've been wanting a velvet pant, wanting to add more red to my closet, and wanting to try the Colette wide legs for quite some time.

Voila, the Colette in red velvet comes to the rescue, along with a plaid shirt from J. Crew to make up for the lost plaid pants, and Ecco booties as featured in Angie's Fab Finds for this week, except in the limestone.

I love these booties. They are ingenious. They come with two sets of insoles so you can adjust the fit for different socks/ stockings. They are very stable because of the rubber sole. The leather is very soft. On my leg, there is not a lot of flower-pot effect. The toe is called "round" but I would call it a wider almond. Not truly round. Anyway, I love them so much I just ordered the black patent at the super sale price.

Love the Colettes, too! They are fun and cozy!

And the shirt conforms to Angie's description exactly:

Red Tartan Christmas Fabness. The red is less bright in person, and the fabric is a spectacular crisp and sharp cotton. Gorgeous quality. Size down one size. Layers well under roomy sweatshirts and sweaters.

Please forgive the photo quality. You can have dark plus over-exposed in my study, or brighter, with kitty litter box and a dirty mirror in my laundry room!