A mix of some fashion week looks I fancied.

Diane von Furstenberg

Issa

Mulberry

Starting this month I'm no longer doing the traditional French Wardrobe Challenge. I made it through one year, which is pretty darn good! So now I think I have learned quality over quantity and basics over crazy pieces. From now on I'll just be mindful of my purchases and try to stick to buying mostly basics.

I did a pretty good job this month with a few exceptions.  I splurged on two rings from Lumo that I've had my eye on, but I used advertising money I had in PayPal so they were 'free.' I also scored a few deals that I couldn't pass up. One was a pair of silk pants from The Outnet that will be perfect for my trip to Greece (I also had to buy a navy tee to go with them.) The second was another pair of pants - faux suede and super soft!

From now until my vacation starts on April 11th I'm going to try not to buy ANYTHING (no clothes, no movies, nada!) And then during my trip I have a list of a few things I want to buy. When I get home I'm going to attempt a few months of no-shopping to get myself back on track after a rough tax season. In that way, freelancing sucks! Three huge chunks of money will be leaving my bank account within 3 months, thanks to 2014 taxes and 2015 quarterly taxes.



THE RULES

1. Be mindful of purchases
2. Quality over quantity
3. Basics are best

MY PROGRESS

Clothes:

1. *NEW!* Blank Vegan 5 Pocket Olive Jeans ($23 via South Moon Under, retail $98)
2. *NEW!* Sea printed silk tapered pants ($56 via The Outnet Clearance Sale, used advertising money)

Basics:

1. *NEW!* Zenana Outfitters navy tee ($5.99 via Marshalls)

Shoes:

1. *NEW!* Diane von Furstenberg 'Emma' pointed toe flats ($18 via Marshalls, retail $250)

Accessories:

1. *NEW!* Ray-Ban 'Erika' Sunglasses ($15 via Ditto, with coupon code)
2. *NEW!* LUMO 'Violet' Ring with Australian Opal ($85, used advertising money)
3. *NEW!* LUMO 'Rope' Ring ($40, used advertising money)

Gifted:

1. *NEW!* Orox Leather laptop sleeve
2. *NEW!* Orox Leather 'Merces Petite' bag

Once again my outfit plans were foiled by the weather! This weekend I went to South Moon Under's 1st Anniversary event with Lydia. I was hoping the weather would be nice (aka not raining or snowing) so I could wear my fun printed Carven skirt (seen here) with a tee, suede jacket, tights and sandals to show off my second Orox Leather Co. handbag! Unfortunately, it was flurrying/raining all day and really cold, so I had to resort to wearing a dress with an over-sized sweater and I look a little dumpy...not pleased.  On the plus side, I had gotten my hair done on Thursday night at a party and was amazed to find that it wasn't totally ruined by Saturday morning, so I let it have one more day before taking it out and washing my hair, ha ha.

Other than that, the day was great! I broke a promise to myself and bought a pair of pants (only $23!), had some Chinese food for lunch and finished reading The Cuckoo's Calling.

Back to the bag. How adorable is this Merces Petite purse Orox Leather sent? It's made of the same leather as the laptop sleeve I shared on Friday. It has an adjustable double knot shoulder strap so you can wear it short or as a crossbody. There is even a little sleeve compartment inside perfect for storing a cell phone (my iPhone 6 fit great!)

Dress: Diane von Furstenerg (Coco's on the Green), Sweater: Inis Crafts (Marshalls), Boots: Grandma's, Rings: old, Marc by Marc Jacobs, Lumo 'Violet, Lumo 'Rope', Bag c/o Orox Leather

After yesterday's outfit it was back to cold weather again! Mother Nature clearly cannot make up her mind. At least I'm getting to wear my chunkier sweaters more.  Like this one, super warm and one of my favorite splurges. I don't wear it as much as I should, will have to rectify that next year and wear it at least once a week! I'm also wearing my newest bargain - a pair of Diane von Furstenberg flats that I scored for $18 at Marshalls, regular price: $250!

Cardigan: Burberry Brit (Net-a-Porter Sale), Sweater: Marc by Marc Jacobs 'Pyo' (Saks Off 5th), Jeans: Free People (eBay), Flats: Diane von Furstenberg 'Emma' (Marshalls)

Another attempt to stay warm but not wear jeans! I paired my Diane von Furstenberg wrap dress with my new sweater. The color of the sweater perfectly matched one of the colors in the print on the dress - score! Originally I was going to wear flat boots with this look but it made me look a little dumpy, the heeled boots solved that problem.  I also tried the outfit belted to add some definition, not sure how successful it was, but that's why we experiment! (hence why there are a lot of pictures from the same angles, to show the difference)

Dress: Diane von Furstenberg 'Zaina' (Coco's, more on ebay), Sweater: Cocogio (gift), Boots: Cordani (Roundabout Resale), Necklaces: BubuRuby & Isabella M (gift from Lydia), Rings: moms, vintage, Brilliant Imports & Marc by Marc Jacobs (TJ Maxx)

Rather than doing a ton of posts featuring collections from New York Fashion Week like I usually do, I decided to be SUPER picky and just share some favorites from the whole week. Will hopefully do the same for the other cities. I went through as many collections as possible but there are far too many to go through them all. Ha ha.

Alice & Olivia		Altuzarra
Coach		Diane von Furstenberg
Elizabeth and James		J.Crew
Jason Wu		Michael Kors
Nicole Miller		3.1 Phillip Lim
Rebecca Minkoff		Rebecca Taylor
Rodarte		Steven Alan
Thakoon Addition		Tory Burch
Vera Wang		Yeohlee

Photos from Style.com