1-3. Haven't worn this shirtdress in a while so thought I'd bring it out again. Something was not quite right with this outfit (like all the different mismatched brown colors) but I didn't have time to tweak and had to rush off to work. Oh well! Any suggestions for next time would be appreciated!
Anthro Winter Tree shirtdress
Lafayette 148 caramel leather jacket (Nordstrom Rack)
Linea Pelle leather belt
Easy Spirit nude pumps
Calvin Klein V diamond necklace
Jason Wu for Target straw bag

4-10. I was super excited at how this outfit ended up coming together! It was totally different when I hung it up last night (I thought I'd save time and pre-pick my outfit since I had to go to work early today, but I ended up still spending a lot of time this morning tweaking it).

I wanted to wear this pleated ink blue skirt since I hadn't worn it in a while and LaFrancaise talking about navy and black got me wanting to do that color combo. At first I was going to wear the skirt with my black and white stripe scoopneck tee, and the matching blue pleated scarf, but I've already done that before (http://youlookfab.com/welookfa.....isian-chic) so I thought I'd try something a bit different this time. Then I thought I would pair it with my ink blue jacket, kind of like a suit (like in this thread: http://youlookfab.com/welookfa.....-and-cardi), with a black and white tank underneath, and my matching blue snake pumps. I even picked out a matching blue flower pin for the jacket (kind of Chanel style, I thought), and a chunky blue gem necklace that so far I haven't been able to incorporate into an outfit because it's so darn blingy and ostentatious (http://youlookfab.com/welookfa.....ack-market). (All of this from WHBM, by the way).

I thought, this will look so French! But then I thought about it more, and even flipped through the Parisian chic book to get some inspiration, and I got the sense that they kind of frown on hyper-matchiness (Ines was like "Avoid the ladies who lunch look at all costs" and "Don't buy whole outfits") so I thought the matching colors and outfit all from one store was probably not very Parisian. And I thought the blingy necklace would be too flashy for the Parisian sensibility. And she talks a lot about mixing high and low, so I decided I should try to mix it up a little and give the outfit a little more edge and variety.

BTW the black and white stripe tank is a Bailey 44 that I initially bought full price at Nordstrom, but then it went on sale so I went to the store to try to get a price adjustment. But they said they couldn't do it because it had already "gone to the Rack" and now they weren't "allowed" to sell it to me, so I either had to just return it or keep it for full price. I wasn't happy about that and asked to speak to the SA's supervisor and the supervisor said it was OK to do the price adjustment so I ended up getting the $150 tank for $60! Yay! (I would have just returned it if they had refused).

So this morning when I woke up I swapped out the ink blue jacket for my black leather jacket. Instead of the pumps I tried black lace up booties, but it looked too schoolgirlish with the skirt and bare legs (kind of cheerleader) so I switched to my knee high Frye boots, and added some black socks to minimize the skin showing even more. I know I'm probably pushing some age-appropriate and/or work appropriate boundaries by wearing this outfit combo to work, but I'm having fun, and well, I'm my own boss so I can wear what I want!

The necklace is a score from the OC swap (thank you to whoever brought it!), which I like because it kind of looks like black pearls. More understated. And I like the juxtaposition of wearing "pearls" and a feminine skirt with the tough jacket and boots. I also threw on my UWP hammered silver bracelet for more girly toughness (I'm still laughing at how I found my UWP jewelry at White House Black Market). Finally, the Sak purse is an old gift from my sister--I haven't used it that much because it's rather plain and black which isn't my usual colorful style, but I found it was just perfect for this outfit...I think Parisian chic tends to use a very neutral and understated color palette. And I like how the texture of the bag adds to the outfit.

Today when I wore this, I felt like it was worth all the time and effort I took to tweak everything. I felt like it really came together with what I wanted to try to achieve (navy and black Parisian chic with a little edge and girly toughness). Did I succeed? Would a real Parisian woman dress like this or is this just my imagination of what a "French" outfit looks like? Will have to see what LaFrancaise's verdict is!

Almost everyone I saw today had a positive comment about my outfit. One patient (a middle aged guy, who I wouldn't think would notice such things) said "You're the most stylish doc I've ever seen!" Even DH liked my outfit (I thought he might think it was too OTT but he liked it, I think because the colors are restrained, and he said he liked the boots--as did everyone else). And I loved walking around in this swishy skirt--loved the ruffling of the pleats when I walked and when the wind blew it around (tried to show the twirliness in one of the pics). So it was a rousing success!

Thanks for looking and for all of your comments! Thought you might enjoy this long-winded story of the process behind this outfit!

Tahari black leather jacket
Bailey 44 black and white striped tank
White House Black Market pleated blue skirt
Frye Melissa black laceup boots and black socks
Swap black pearl necklace
WHBM hammered silver necklace
The Sak black purse