Another Wardrobe Staple

It's Paris Fashion Week and I have absolutely no idea what the trends are for A/W 2012. I'm more of an inspired shopper than one to follow trends. I shop"non-seasonally." What does that mean? I'll tell you...

It usually starts with some flashback image of a look that I want. It can be a photograph or a picture of something I saw in a magazine or a flyer. Or it can be a memory of something I used to wear or of an item I saw at a store years ago that I can't get out of my head (obviously, should have bought as I continually think about it).

For a while now I've been wanting a gray light wool tuxedo jacket with a shawl collar. I know that sounds utterly specific and ridiculous. But it is a "look" that I have been searching for high and low. I came close to finding something similar in the summer of 2009 at the store Confederacy in Los Feliz but it wasn't quite right. Plus it was way over my price range and too small to boot.

I've been on that search for that perfect gray tuxedo-style jacket (just as I was for that perfect black leather motorcycle jacket), and my search has finally come to and end...

All I can say is "Thank goodness for the internet."

Yesterday my gray light wool shawl collared tuxedo jacket arrived. It's almost perfect. It would have been better if the shawl collar was more tuxedo in its scoop-depth (such as this Balmain to the left). It's actually more just a shawl collar gray jacket. But I'm not going to complain. It will serve its purpose.

This was all in thanks to shopstyle. Thanks to the folks over at PopSugarFashion sites, they make it so easy to do a "fast search" for something you are looking for. Type in black ankle boots and they'll find everything on the internet that has black ankle boot in its description that is on e-commerce. I'm thankful for shopstyle for finding me a bunch of things. Including this jacket.

Of all the places, my gray shawl collar jacket was from Ann Taylor. But living in Omaha, I've become a fan of places like Ann Taylor and LOFT as I don't have the access or funds to shop like I used to. But looking at shopstyle's site for tuxedo jackets, I couldn't find one that was gray. It wasn't until I typed in shawl collar gray jacket that I found this almost-perfect item.

While browsing the site, I found this jacket as well. I had seen a great double-breasted jacket (also from Balmain) that was over $2000. A great navy number with gold buttons. I thought, "a cool double-breasted jacket would be nice too," but didn't even think about it until the jacket to the right came across as one of the items during my gray shawl collar jacket. It's not exactly a shawl collar but I'm glad it made its way onto the search.

I loved the look of it. I could tell it was super long, oversized and had great potential. But I didn't know that it was $169.99 and reduced to $14.90. Fourteen dollars and ninety cents. With shipping, it was $20.85. Thanks to MANGO, I received a seriously awesome jacket yesterday. It might look not so great in this photo, but I put it on and was wowed by how perfect it was. Plus, it has great tailoring in its lining. My only pet peeve: I wish women's blazers had inside pockets like men's jackets.

I've added two fantastic gray jackets to my wardrobe and feel like I'm getting closer to achieving what I think are the best staples for any woman's closet.



source gray jacket
source white jacket
source gray double breasted jacket