My daily outfits consist of pants about 90% of the time. It’s rare that you’ll see me in a skirt or dress unless I have a meeting or event that requires it. And yet every season, for quite some time now, I collect Chanel skirts. They don’t always come as a matching item to my jackets, but there’s something so effortless and timeless about these skirts that I’d rather “invest” my money here than with their more glamorous competitors. So anyway, I thought why not do a series of looks with 5 random (not in any particular order of preference) Chanel skirts just to break up the August heat…which doesn’t make a great deal of sense in immediate hindsight as I type this sentence because the tweeds are hotter than a Texas sun. But what the heck, let’s get started with the first skirt!
Skirt #1: I’m posting this entry on a Monday, so I’m going to feature a work look. It’s a black & navy ribbon tweed skirt from the 09A season with hidden pockets. I’m crazy about how uncomplicated this style is so that it’s all about the fabric–and the fact that it could support a navy or black scheme, depending on what you wear with it. Chanel does black and navy almost as fabulously as with black and white.
To keep it simple, some of the tops that I could pair with this skirt are a blue-themed Etro button down,
a navy Prada cotton top which comes back in style every so often whenever chinoiserie is in,
or a navy with black details silk JCrew top,
For transitioning to a night event from work, I could just change into a black tuxedo shirt, throw on some really good jewelry and a clutch and I’m all set to go.
Anyway, here’s my favorite look for this skirt–just a plain navy cotton button-down JCrew shirt, Tahitian pearls, and pale gator classic flap (shoes are 3″ black peep-toe slingbacks):
I know, I know, I just made it all about the bag again, didn’t I 
? How ’bout another gratuitous shot of those gator scales for the road?
Tags: Chanel, Etro, JCrew, Prada, ribbon tweed
It seems like with every trip I try a different bag in the hope of anointing it as the Ultimate Travel Bag. I’ve tried pretty much everything under the sun, of all sizes, shapes, and price points…to no avail. But a recent score from sale season may have changed all of that.
I actually stumbled into finding this Chanel bag by ordering one for a friend from overseas without the benefit of even a picture or style number to research; we were only given the dimensions and fabric (black or gray denim) and she was game enough to take her chances that it’d work out. When her bag arrived, I knew I had to scramble for one of my own. As much as I love her gray one, I think the black version is definitely more me:
It is super lightweight, can be worn messenger style when I’m darting through airports, and can hold all of my essentials (even my laptop):
Can’t wait to test drive it on the next trip. Love the quilted flap and bordeaux nylon lining!
Tags: Chanel
Remember those yellow covered books–Photoshop For Dummies, Dating For Dummies, et al? I know, we all laugh about them and deny ever flipping through them, but when I’m in my closet I secretly wish for such a handbook on how to match accessories to clothes. I don’t mean I don’t know better than to wear orange with black except for Halloween, but as I’ve lamented here before, I have a mental block when it comes to matching things already in the “same” shade.
May I introduce Exhibit A: dark silver shoes and a dark silver clutch…no brainer, so you’d think…
but looky there, what’s going on with the brassy/gold tone behind the metal flowers as seen up close? It’s sort of like that age-old question of whether we should wear gold and silver jewelry together, isn’t it?
But since it’s hard to really see that when you’re looking at my shoes from all the way up there, I think it’s a safe match. Now let’s throw in Exhibit B, an extra layer of matching difficulty in the form of my recently featured dream jacket:
No problemo, you say. The gold crystal trims play up the gold in the shoes. Nice going.
Uh huh. And what if we throw in that clutch that seemed to match from before?
Is it just me or is something off here? So here is where I wish I could go straight to my Matching For Dummies book for some advice. Maybe it’s a case of too many textures clamoring for attention? Maybe it’s all the bling that’s blinding me so I can’t tell if it really matches or not? Why does that clutch now look purply? And while we’re at it, why do I buy stuff like this when I usually just wear black!? I’m like a Jil Sander person buying Cavalli clothes. Madness!
Anyway, I try a different shade of silver on the bag,
which seems to match more tonally…BUT:
oops, did I forget to tell you that there’s even more bling on the front of this bag ? Even Michael Jackson himself wouldn’t pile this much bling into one look. I think I’ll just carry keys and phone in my pocket, leave both bags behind, and call it a day.
Tags: bling, Cavalli, Jil Sander, Michael Jackson
