pnkDesigns Blog

That Vivid Triclimate jacket I posted is out of stock everywhere I found this one - the Aeon - which has a detachable hood (thank god - that thing is ugly). Without the hood, I love it. However, my initial searches show it out of stock, too.

UPDATE: My beloved Shop It To Me email found this jacket for me at Dr. Jays, some urban-hip hop-street wear online store. I would never even know such a place existed, but apparently the North Face is hip hop hip these days. They seemed to have this in stock, so I ordered it.

I have 2 coats now, which are great. I have a light weight jacket. For cold weather, my only jacket is an old fireman’s coat that I inherited. It’s cool in its own way, and was my only winter jacket for many years. However, it’s really raged and is way too big on me. Tonight I started thinking about what I could get to replace it. My dad bought my mom a North Face jacket a few years ago that was really great. I went to their website tonight and am absolutely in love with the Vivid Triclimate Jacket. I love this white-grey-black combo and the structure of it. At $400, though, it will have to wait.

It’s getting chillier and I realize that I really need a trench coat. My outerwear situation is not so good. I never had much in the first place, except for a great tomato red coat from J Crew that mom gave me. I wore it until it was threadbare, and am also much smaller now. I replaced it with a beautiful red wool coat from Benetton last year. I also have a tweed car coat. That’s it. I don’t have anything lightweight for when it’s raining, or just a little to cool to go without.

A trench is perfect for that, but so many trenches are missing the structure I really like in my clothes. I found this one at Ann Taylor after a week of searching. I found others I liked better, but none were available anymore. Or, they were Burberry and fabulous and $1700. So I ordered this, and we’ll see if it lives up to my standards.

I have a great athletic watch, and a stainless steel Calvin Klein watch for work. Both are unisex. I like the bigger watch for work, but on going out this weekend I realized that I could really use a more feminine dress watch. Fossil has some cool ones (I’m partial to this one). I need to do more looking before I make a decision, though.

Boy do I need bags. I am surviving now, but not fashionably. I have:

• A navy canvas back with brown leather accents from J Crew. It extends to crossbody length, and it’s been my work bag every day since fall.
• A pink kate spade messenger bag, that I use occasionally for more casual days. It hasn’t come out this winter.
• A small grey wool bag with brown accents, part of the Chatham collection at Banana Republic. It’s very wintery, and will start to be out of place soon.
• Very casual small brown leather bag from Fossil. I don’t even like it much, but it was a quick purchase to have something to carry at the mall.

This means I only have two bags for work, and the Kate Spade is only good for very casual days.

I like to have something cross body because I’m always lugging around my computer, power supply, and papers. That also seems to balance the size right - I don’t like giant bags, but I need ones that are big enough for my stuff.

So I’m on the hunt and considering this from Fossil.

Up to this point in my life, I have only had $12 drug store / gas station sunglasses. I thought it might be nice to get something of higher quality, but I didn’t start appreciating sunglass style until last summer. As I contemplated stepping up, I also discovered CSI:Miami (a show full of sunglasses), and medical examiner Alexx wears a fabulous pair by Chanel:

So again with help from lucky shopping forum friends, I found the pair I wanted on ebay. They were identical (or at least very close) to the pair worn in the show.

However, when they arrived they were way too big for my face. I just looked silly, so I am still on the hunt for a good pair. I want medium sized frames, probably in tortise or brown, and if possible, I would love some by Chanel with the interlocking Cs.

Suggestions are always welcome. I suppose I will have to go to the store and try pairs on before making my decision. For now, I am back to the $12 pair, but I promise I threw out the ones held together with a safety pin.

There are a lot of things I need to complete my wardrobe.

1. Boots - I don’t own any. I need at least one pair with a high heel, zip up, black or brown.
2. Tops - tops have always been my problem. The winter is easier because I can wear sweaters, but I tend to have problems in the warmer months. Sure, I will get some polos for warmer weather, but I need more than that. I could easily use a dozen tops.
3. Jewelry - I have a very limited jewelry collection. One pair of earrings, a couple necklaces (only one I love), and two bracelets. That’s it. I need quite a bit more to be able to accessorize properly.
4. Pants and Jeans - I have exactly one pair of dress pants and one pair of jeans. I’d like a second pair of Rock & Republic jeans, and a couple more pairs of dress pants.
5. Dresses - I would wear dresses almost every day if I had them. Again, a dozen would not be too many for me. Summer is easier here because it’s more casual and there are more options.

My strategy is to buy off season as I can. Since I will make it through winter with what I have, I am going to look for deep sale summer things, and then pick up the winter things as the stores switch to spring.