Friday Night Outfit

I hope that you are enjoying all this OOTD and OOTE posts, I find that they are easy and fun to write (if my camera and my memory card reader collaborate, which is not at all a certainty in this world as they are both falling apart. Some days I spend HOURS trying to download pics) and it just crossed my mind that they are the equivalent of the "transition" episodes of your favorite TV series when nothing really happens but the producers need to give you something or you'll be soon watching another show.
(Speaking of which, have you watched Madmen last night? Boy, it was really somber, I'm not sure if I liked it (especially because Roger looked like a great man compared to Don/Dick) but the last sequence was poignant (as they often are)).

Today I want to share the outfit that I wore on Friday evening to dinner at friend's. Actually I was just "trying on" the outfit and it ended up being the outfit that I wore because my daughter was having a babysitter panic attack and was doing everything she could to delay the moment when she would be alone with her (like asking for milk, that she NEVER drinks before going to bed) and my husband was unusually inattentive to my daughter's cries (normally he runs when my daughter asks for something, especially milk. He is the "milkman" of the house, has always been), so basically I had to take care of her and didn't have the time to change. Don't get me wrong, I love this outfit but I think it was a little bit too much for the occasion, I would have preferred to wear pants instead of the deco skirt but I couldn't figure out quickly which pair (and then it was too late).




Looking at the pictures afterwards I understood what I find refreshing in this outfit: the absence of ruffles (and tiers). This blouse is the Harlow silk blouse from Fall 08 and it looks like it comes from a different era, the pre-ruffles Jcrew era (although they had just launched the Victoria and a couple of other ruffled shirts but I thought that they would be the exception). It's so classic and well-made, a staple in a woman's closet. Not to mention that the darts at the waist (that you can't see very well in the pics because it was tucked in the skirt) make it incredibly flattering. I'm kicking myself for not buying another one on sale in the fresh guava (or was it papaya? I can never make the difference between the two shades) or honey glaze during the TURKEY and HOORAY promotions last year (by the way, do you think that this year we'll have a little something besides FREE SHIPPING for the holidays?), especially because I paid this one around $35.

I wanted to show off the blouse (and the buttons in the back that go all the way down. Not that anyone has noticed), so I didn't wear a cardigan. I tried it with the Eden velvet blazer in black that I have recently purchased for less than $100 but I ended up wearing a coat directly over the shirt because I'm not sure that that I'm going to keep the blazer. I really need an evening black jacket but to be honest I think that I can find something more flattering, especially around this time of the year. Sometimes I buy Jcrew because I'm too lazy to look around. Anyway, I took a pic:



Last week when my daughter was at school I was strolling down Madison Avenue and I saw a street vendor around 60th st. that was selling a $10 pashmina that reminded me of the deco skirt, so I bought it (it wasn't a big investment and it felt very luxurious at the touch for a $10 scarf). The print is quite similar, but the background is whiter, while in the deco skirt there is the same amount of black and white:





I did wear it with the deco skirt and my black puffer coat even if it was a little bit too much print together, but I plan on wearing it a lot with my white Zara coat this winter. Now I have to go back and get the ocelot one!

Have a nice evening!