One of the many benefits of meeting up with Angie recently is that she helped me crack a code to my style. I wondered aloud why a couple of really nice items I had purchased just were not working for me - a soft JCrew blazer from last year, slouchy soft tweed pants from WHBM, and she noted that they lacked a certain sharpness that I seem to love. She is so right! For a long time I have fought my penchant for button down shirts - but they are essential to my most “me” outfits. I love the defined shoulder and the crisp collars, even in a shirt with some ease. It’s the preppiness Lisap often points out in my outfits. They’re both right. Unstructured, soft outfits appeal to me but aren’t me. I have to be more selective! (Fortunately I have a daughter whose style is soft and slouchy; she became the recipient of my mistakes.)

Here’s today’s outfit, with a nod to Joe Jackson (who I’ll be seeing in concert this spring):

Sharp, structured, checked, wide leg pants with cuff: Zara, new this winter
Madewell shooties: new this winter and extremely comfy
Eileen Fisher cropped mohair sweater: thrifted last year

All comments welcome!