Riding

For the Year of the Horse contest on Polyvore, I put this set together. I was inspired by a day of horseback riding on the English countryside. Now, I've never been to the English countryside, and I've only ridden a horse twice, but this is what I imagine a fashionable lady wearing in the afternoon after a day of riding. You know while she's drinking tea on the veranda.

Something about this blend of a delicate and feminine dress with the strict tailoring of the jacket and a pair of hardy boots brings me back to the 90s. Do you remember the vintage-style button front peasant dresses with construction boots? But this look with more modern pieces is much prettier and more cohesive, I think.

What do you think about hard boots with soft dresses?

Riding by janetnewhall featuring cap hats

Couture dress / Phase Eight jacket, $145 / Charlotte Russe cognac boots / 3 1 Phillip Lim leather shoulder bag / Chanel pearl jewelry / Lauren Ralph Lauren chain jewelry / Lisa Battaglia cap hat

Stay warm

I've been eyeing this adorable dress for a while, but those black cuffs kept stumping me. The warmth of the dress' color and shape kept calling for tan leather, but it would just clash like hell with those sleeves. So I started trying everything in black, but it was too dark for the sweetness of it. So, gray it is. The black outerwear complemented the all-grayness I nearly went with, which I like better. And the random summery-green nail polish? I'll explain tomorrow.





The closest thing to this look that I've got in my closet is a burgundy tank top that I could wear with a gray cardigan and black pants...snore.

How would you deal with the black cuffs on the dress? Ignore them and go with the tan leather boots? Skip the gray, and stick with black? Maybe just say "screw it" and wear orange pumps (kidding).