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

Wardrobe Staples

It's been a few years that I've been searching for the perfect leather motorcycle jacket. Even before I was a fashion editor, I used to want items in my closet that didn't actually exist in the current marketplace. Chalk it up to an innate sense of what's to come? I just remember back in the early 90s when I moved to NYC and all I wanted was a pair of knee high zip up boots in a caramel brown leather with a slightly rounded toe that were like the ones I wore in the 70s. Needless to say, I couldn't find anyone who made any boots that were knee high. I'm not kidding. They just weren't available. Fast forward a few years and it seemed like everyone now made that silhouette and a knee high boot was not like trying to locate a needle in a haystack.

Well, it's been the same thing for this leather motorcycle jacket. I found a really great one in December of 2008 in San Francisco. It was even a really reasonable price and the store was willing to give me 20% off too. But I was cash poor and really couldn't justify spending the $350 on myself. Of course in retrospect I am upset that I did not take my own advice and just buy it on the spot. I know how it is. If you find the item you've been looking for, and it's not a fortune, grab it!

I remember contacting the store when I returned to do a phone order and they said they would have a manager call me back. Well, that never happened. And as I always say, follow up is soooo important! A lesson I learned far too well when a week later I called back and they said the jacket had been sold. ARGH!

I decided to contact the company of the jacket to see if they could locate one in another store, in another city, or even directly from them. No such luck.

Ever since that debacle, I've been in pursuit of the perfect leather jacket. I wouldn't say money is no object but I definitely learned my lesson and decided that I needed to have an open mind (and pockets) if and when I found the piece.

Two and a half years later with random searches at stores across the nation both in person and via online purchases, I finally found a reasonable version of what I've been in hot pursuit.

My Twenty8Twelve "Aldridge" leather motorcycle jacket was pre-ordered back in August with a delivery date of mid-October (per Nordstrom.com). To my surprise, it arrived on the last day of September. All I can say is that I acted like a little girl on Christmas morning. And that's not pretty on a 41 year old woman...

It's pretty darn close to "near" perfection. It ain't perfect. But it has a lot of what I wanted: a fold down collar (opposed to the many collarless versions I found), classic asymmetrical zippers, a longer/regular length (opposed to the many cropped styles), side zipper pockets. I would have liked zippers on the sleeves but instead I got two vertical zippers in the back (like vents) which actually provide some "let out" for wearing the jacket with something more bulky underneath (or in my case, providing more room for my continued top-heaviness from nursing!).

I paid towards the top end of what I wanted to spend but it didn't matter. I got what I wanted and now I can "be at peace" (haha) knowing that I finally have the jacket I've been looking for and can start wearing it all the time, especially with the weather starting to finally turn crisper.

Next up on my search for the perfect wardrobe staple? A champagne sequined shawl collar long cardigan in ivory. If you happen to find it, let me know.