The Big Bang Belt

Yesterday on my personal blog Postcards From Omaha, I wrote about how I was in need of some new clothes and ended up purchasing almost a dozen pieces at Ann Taylor. Yes, that Ann Taylor. I am surprised by how many great staple pieces I bought both this past weekend as well as another trip I made there fairly recently. On my blog I spoke about how I'm a good editor: how I can spot the good items from the bad (read: dowdy, corporate 80s looks that Ann Taylor kind of has the bad reputation for) and quickly edit through a whole store's merchandise. But what I forgot to mention is that once you have these key pieces, it's all about the styling.

When I opened Trocadero, I wanted to concentrate on all my favorite things. Those included accessories, shoes and gifts. And within the category of accessories, I really focused mainly on handbags, jewelry and some scarves. Some people have wandered in the shop looking for belts. We don't sell belts. And there's a reason: I don't really like them. I am not a fan of wide, garish belts with buckle ornamentation. I don't like the belt as "a trend." If anything, I like belts very sparingly. And perhaps that's why I like vintage belts and not so much new ones that are "new to the scene."

On one recent shopping excursion to Ann Taylor, I happened to purchase this top to the left. It didn't seem to be very popular as many sizes were still available and it was on sale like 4 times. I think it was "take an additional 50% off the sale price" sort of thing. I think I might have paid between $25-$35 for this top (originally $88). I liked the gray neutral of the top with the daytime shimmer of matte sequins in a bronzy gold.

I also happened to snag a great gold lurex cardigan from the super sale racks and thought it would pair nicely with the gray top.

I'm still a bit top heavy to date and my waist line has seen slimmer days so with those two in combination, I I find that most shirts fall on me in an unflattering boxy way. Add the cardigan and it just looked really flat and boxy.

Lo and behold, what did I learn? I discovered that the one accessory that would really put the whole look together was a skinny belt! And thankfully for me, Ann Taylor had one in a great gold lizard. I couldn't have picked out a better match for what I needed.

I still don't think I'll be stocking belts anytime soon at the Troc. Instead I recommend you head over to Ann Taylor and check out their wide assortment of skinny belts. This is one item that you'll want to own in different colors and it's just the right accessory to create a waistline and break up a head-to-toe color look.

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