march budget

Popping in with a very quick post about March purchases -- there weren't many, it was a quiet shopping month that absolutely flew by!

As is often the case, my purchases have a nice cohesive color palette and will surely make friends with all of the other black and white and stripey pieces in my closet.

clockwise from l to r:

Club Monaco Tweed Blazer ($153) -- just a perfect little French-y blazer that looks great with jeans.

Uniqlo x Lemaire Striped Sweater ($40) -- I was happy to get my hands on one piece from this fun collab

Old Navy Striped Dress ($15) -- a great summer basic

Uniqlo x IDLF Sweatshirt ($29) -- this one is a disappointment, and probably going back. It runs super small (just as reviewers said) and the torso is quite short. Too bad, such promise!

Total -- $208 (not including the Uniqlo sweatshirt)
Monthly budget -- $200

Scoring the tweed blazer on a good sale felt like a win, so I don't mind spending most of my budget on one great piece. The cost per wear will be so tiny, I can feel it.

Lots of things on my radar for April. I feel like I fall in love with something new almost daily, and I have fairly expensive tastes right now. Here are the things I can't seem to get off of my mind lately:

yes, I need another blazer // I'm always on the lookout for cute shoes with a reasonable heel // another striped t-shirt // this one is a little crazy, but isn't it fabulous? I have a high school reunion coming up and there is a part of me that wants to show up in this...

Linking up with Fran and the budget bloggers -- did you buy anything good this month?

crazypants

I hated these pants when I first saw them. I was all, "nah, you missed on this one Zara". And then I kept thinking about them, and smiled when I realized the print reminded me of the wallpaper in my childhood bedroom. And then I fell in love, as one does. You may hate them initially too, but wait a minute...they'll grow on you. So how to wear them?

For weekends, they're easy. A turtleneck sweater would be good, and a white tee and cool sneakers would be very chic and unfussy. But I think they're most fun (and unexpected) dressed up for work. You won't be able to wear these very often unless you want to encourage lame comments from your co-workers -- "Look, you're wearing your crazy pants again!"-- so pull them out sparingly and have fun building some really interesting looks.

the aforementioned crazy pants, a whimsical print in a modern cut // the best match for a bold print is a subtle print, like this great windowpane blouse // your favorite preppy blazer pulls everything together // more pattern-mixing with a graphic handbag // very tailored, very feminine heels make a casual pair of pants more elegant