I was in a lace mood on Wednesday (I'm getting farther behind with these wiw's!), and this brown blouse fit the bill nicely. I don't actually have that much lace in my closet, because my more romantic leanings are fairly recent. Plus, it's so tricky to find the right kind of lace, isn't it? Anyway, the weather had warmed up enough to wear it without a cardigan, which was perfect because I hate to cover up that sleeve detail. Even if no one sees my outfit but me (and now the forum)! As it was I actually ended up going to the library and popping into a cafe on the way home, so other people saw me too. lol It hadn't warmed up that much though, so I knew I wanted to wear this with a wool skirt. My favourite colour to wear with brown is grey (what a surprise! I sometimes think my username should be 'grey goes with everything'), so out came this grey wool skirt.

I found it on a thrifting expedition with friends when I went to visit them earlier this year, and I was so happy. I'd been looking for a grey wool skirt with pockets that fit my natural waist and ended somewhere around my knee for ages with no luck. This isn't as full as my usual skirt silhouette, but a little bit of variety in the closet is probably a good thing. The subdued lines make it feel a bit more grown up, and sometimes of course I'm in situations where I need a more mature presence. I think it's from the 80s, era of power dressing, as it's labelled Christian Dior separates and is a size 4 (in older vintage I wear a size 8). The way that the top behaved once tucked in, blousing a bit, reminded me of the Edwardian era, so I chose slightly more ornate jewelry. This amber ring was a present from my mom; she bought it at a street fair from a very friendly Polish couple who emigrated to the States a couple decades ago and now drive around the country selling amber and having a good old time. They're originally from Gdansk and showed us lots of beautiful photos as well as giving us good travel tips (Poland's on both our top 10 lists of countries to visit; my mom's got a lot of Polish ancestry and I just love Eastern Europe), so whenever I wear the ring I think of them. And of course I love amber because I love trees. The setting seemed to pair well with a silver bangle I've had for years that I got in Mexico.

I was all set until I remembered that YLFers don't like to see belt loops empty. These are subtle belt loops but still! I tried a couple of belts, but they disrupted the Edwardian feel, so instead I just used some velvet ribbon that I ordered recently (for a different reason). It worked quite well! Brown wool knee socks completed things, keeping my feet & lower leg warm without overheating me as tights might have done. I like that the skirt hem is low enough to pretty much cover the socks, making them look more like tights and avoiding any school girl vibes. I felt very good in this, a little bit sophisticated, but still casual and still me.

To go out I wanted a light-ish coat, so I added my trench, as it felt the most 'frock coat' like and kept the neutrals theme going. I've had this for years, it's vintage and I love its quality, but looking at the picture I'm not sure the colour loves me back. What do you think?

Clearly I was in a very talkative mood this morning, apologies for the extra long narrative! Feedback is always welcome, on colours or proportions or anything else you feel needs tweaking.