statement necklace

happy friday everyone!! hope you have wonderful plans for the long weekend!

my mother told me that she's noticed over the years that i like sparkly things whereas "younger P" did not. (she may have also said "you like weird things" but she was looking at the j crew ram necklace - wore it here). wait until she gets a load of george the giraffe (here). HA. admittedly, when i accessorize, i am now more "blingy" than i used to be. i love my pearls, but i've acquired a taste for statement pieces like this necklace. the colours are fun, but they're bees!! little bees in a bib necklace. how whimsical is that!

are you a statement piece person or are you a traditionalist when it comes to accessories? 

these zara shoes are a studded evolution of the colourblocked shoe that i have worn a gajillion times (here, here, here.. hangs head) and erupted over the blogosphere in the spring. they are cut a bit higher in the front and the heel is thicker as well as spiked, but the pitch is the same. took my usual zara size 38 *i'm a 7.5 US*

welcome to the newest members of the accessories family: "all hail the green" statement necklace (get it at a-thread.com here) and the double-strand giraffe necklace from j crew (here)

outfit - top: zara, old; jeans: joe fresh, similar here; accessories - zara clutch, necklace, shoes

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pink

last saturday, we went to a beautiful wedding.  it was outside, in a historic covered bridge which was so romantic. spending a late afternoon and evening with our friends as they affirmed their love and commitment was just so wonderful for mr. P and i on our own wedding anniversary. the officiant told the story of the bride and groom, as we all laughed at their adventures and reminisced about our own. the whole evening was a perfect date night - i got to dress up, meet fantastic new people, listen to some awesome music and just hang out with my hubby. 

after some typical P-style ruminating, humming and hawing, i shopped my closet. i posted on instagram a picture of my dress and accessories all lined up the morning of (way to leave it to the last minute!). as the wise gabrielle "coco" chanel has been quoted to say "before you leave the house, look in the mirror and remove one accessory." that's exactly what i did. i took away the necklace and let the dress neckline speak for itself. 

do you follow that "remove one accessory" principle?

the final outfit and below, before "looking in the mirror". 

and a prom-like picture taken by momma P of the two of us

outfit - dress: zara, old, similar here in red; shoes: valentino, old; bracelets: pop of chic, t + j designs; purse: chanel vintage

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sunshine

i wore this outfit to work yesterday and it was bristling cold in the afternoon, despite the sun. as my colleague and i walked on our starbucks run, all i wanted was a heater. and a blanket. and boots. i'm not ready for boots yet, because i dislike boot shopping. i can never find a pair that fits me right in the calves.

it's bizarre i don't enjoy boot shopping even though i adore shoes, and i have a love of cap toes that defies logic. it's just such a great detail. you'll see throughout this blog that cap toes find their ways on my feet whether it's a flat or a pump - i won't discriminate. i'm gleeful to have found these chanel pumps - they're like the mother of all cap toes. tiffany at i am style-ish has a gorgeous pair (here) which i love. j crew has a similar version called the etta cap toe pump (here) which i tried in my true US size and it fit beautifully. (and just for the record: how awesome are these valentinos?) what happens often when i find something i love is that i wear it alot. to the point of obnoxious-a-lot. then i put it away for a bit. i have a feeling these pumps will fall into that category, so tell me if you tire of them!

do you tend to reach for the same things over and over?

outfit - dress: diane von furstenberg capreena dress in marigold, my dress is sleeveless but get a similar one here; jacket: zara, wore it here, get it here; pumps: chanel, similar here, here and a cute kitten heel version here; watch: michael kors

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what to wear where: school open house

i'm happy to be participating in the first edition of "what to wear where", hosted by lovely bloggers amy at 4forever29 and melissa at i pick pretty. melissa aptly characterized the challenge as follows:

The idea is that we - and hopefully you! - will post an outfit each Tuesday that we plan to wear for an event actually happening in our lives at that time, in clothes we would actually wear - you know, as opposed to the magazine editorial look where moms are dropping off kids at school in pigeon-fur stillettos or whatever

this week's edition would be the school "open house" which means i get to go to the school after work. this normally involves dashing frantically out of the office to make it to the designated time to meet my kids' teachers. i love watching the over 6 feet dads sitting in the little wee chairs as the teachers explain the class routine and different things they want the parentals to sign up for. mr. P looks particularly comfy in those chairs. why would i wear this outfit? i'd be going after a full day of work, so this dress works for the office  and a 12 hour day. i won't look like a wrinkled mess and it is also not so short that i can't sit in those wee chairs (when you're a petite.. they're not that wee). however, i really wanted to find pigeon-fur stillettos though - next time!

when my friend I found this dress at H&M, i shouted "sydney has the dress and jean reviewed the blouse" in a display of "clearly-you-spend-too-much-time-reading-blogs". we were both impressed at the quality of the material. the dress worked belted or loose, which gives it a nice mod vibe. i added these tory burch kaitlin metallic cap toe pumps (i love cap toes, if you didn't already know). these ran large, and i got the 7, half a size down from my US size. it was funny coming out of the dressing room with the same dress on - and buying it purposefully being twins, but she is gorgeous, and has excellent taste so who better to be twins with! do you and your friends have a lot of "twin" items?  

outfit - dress: H&M, here; blazer: H&M, old; shoes: tory burch kaitlin pump, here, or if you prefer, it comes in a flat, here (size down for the flat too); necklace: spike the punch rainey necklace, similar here

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uniquely dotted

good morning everyone!! this post was a bit late coming up as i struggled to get back into my work routine. it sure didn't take long for my brain to get into holiday mode!!

today's outfit is really special to me because my skirt is a "sew petite gal" piece. i love her blog (here): she a DIY queen, and a fashionable and sweet mom of 2. jean at extra petite wore a pretty and whimsical SPG-made skirt with a removable peplum (here). i contacted SPG (she sells the skirt in her etsy shop) and we got to chatting. i'm so happy i did, as she is sincerely one of the nicest ladies. blogging has become a great creative outlet for me but the wonderful people i've met through it has been just icing on the cake! this skirt evolved after our numerous emails. i was so touched when she also sent me a crochet necklace that she made! i really cannot thank her enough for putting this vision of a skirt into reality for me. but mostly, i'm thankful i met such a kind and generous person.

outfit - blouse: banana republic; jean jacket: zara; necklaces: crochet necklace c/o sewpetitegal, and gold necklace t + j designs, old, but similar here *use code PHIPHI for 15% off; bracelet: banana republic; skirt: sewpetitegal; shoes: christian louboutin eel pigalles; purse: j crew edie purse in casablanca blue, here

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j crew reviews: collection jeweled collar sweater and shoes

i was fortunate to be able to squeeze some time to go to j crew while i was in the US. this was great because i was able to figure out my sizing on a number of things, and tried on a few things i was curious about. one of them is the j crew collection jeweled collar sweater (here) that is so popular and coveted (sold out online. it is item 94058 if you want to track it down). other bloggers like M, ajc, Tweed and Toile have also reviewed it so check them out too. i am throwing in the petite perspective in addition to their comments.

the size i have on is an XS and it was too big. there was an excess of material in the body and it "rolled" as i moved around.

as a result of the sizing issue too, the collar moved around a lot and did not keep its shape unless i played with it. i can usually wear all sorts of wool sweaters without needing any layering underneath, but found this sweater to be incredibly itchy at the arms and collar-bone. overall though, it is a beautiful sweater and i can see the appeal. however, for this petite, it did not work.

i love these collection etta calf hair pumps in hazelnut leopard, here. they ran true to US size for me.

the price point (350$ in-store in the US and 400$ on the canadian site - really j crew?) made me balk and leave them behind, but i will wait for them to go on sale. they were really comfortable and leopard? well, you had me at leopard.

the next pair i was super curious about was the mona tassel pumps, here (268$ in the US and a lovely 310$ for canadians - another moment of *crickets* pause for the canuck j crew fans). i was surprised they fit me, as i tried a pair of yellow mona's last season in my US size and they were prohibitively tight and the 8 were very loose.

these were actually fine in my US size - sorry for the weird angle. i was trying to do this quickly but now it looks like i have stumpy ankles! i am a sucker for cap toes as you know, and this was really cute and preppy. they were more of a dark beige/camel though. not brown like the stock picture.

hope you are all having a great weekend! xox P

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pom poms

with sale season winding down, did you manage escape the dreaded "sales goggles"? while i succumbed to the "but it's on sale" principle a few times, i did manage to be wiser and i passed on a lot. 

this outfit is comprised of some of my j crew sale finds. i brought several pieces in to try separately and just put both of these on together because it was convenient. my friend I said resolutely "get it ALL. wear it together." it was fun both worked together like that. happily, i found a number of amazing things on final cut (expect them here soon! i spilled the beans on some via instagram already) but hands down, the best sale find this season was these lara glitter heels. a wonderful VPS who knew i loved these, let me know that she just got them in the store and were further marked down. i got this gorgeous pair all said and done for 38$. i screamed when they got here, kept showing mr. P the receipt (and his poor friend too.. sorry, buddy!) and promptly wore them the next day. 

what was your best sale find this season?

outfit - top: pom-pom shell, j crew, here; skirt: classic mini in double serge cotton (bright spearmint) here; lara glitter heels, sold out but similar here 

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neutrals

the week is nearing its end, and so will my "stay-cation". the kids start back to school next week, and i've started to get full on into the fall season and bought fall-friendly things in the last batch of j crew sales  (today's the last day for an extra 30% final sale items with code LOVEIT) and gap (25% off with code GAPCLIST). i am favouring burgundy and deep eggplant, as well as navy, being my "colours" this season.

you've seen a lot of colour here, and know that i grew to love and embrace colour with time. however, monochromatic neutrals still have a very powerful hold on me. i love the serenity of a consistent colour palette, whether it's all camel, all white, black, beige, or gray. with a minimalist look, i keep accessories to a minimum too. switch the white top later for a burgundy or a navy, and i think these jeans will transition well to fall too.

have you figured out what your colour palette will be for fall?

outfit - top: zara, here; printed jeans: zara, not online, but similar here; shoes: christian louboutin gray suede lady gres; bracelet: the bay, old

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the girly girl and the studded moccasins

a while back, i wrote how my sister said i was too girly to wear studs when i was drooling over the valentino rockstud kitten heel (she made an exception for the rockstuds though). i also have a super stylish friend, jonathan, and we were thinking that perhaps people feel rockstuds are just too rocker/edgy for real life. it is true that rockstuds do push the conservative enveloppe alot. personally, i don't think spikes means you have to be a rocker, into punk or super edgy to wear them. 

so with that, here is the most recent spiked addition to the shoe family: zara spiked moccasins. how fun taking a preppy leather loafer and adding spikes to them!! they'll be a great alternate to the flats i normally wear, and a twist to my girly/preppy style. the spikes are real metal spikes on a real leather shoe (sometimes zara sells fabric/polyurethane shoes). these are a 38, my usual european shoe size (i'm a solid 7.5US). i've been on a shoe kick (quelle surprise) and got the tory burch kaitlin pump which is another classic pair with a twist. 

how do you feel about spiked footwear?

the lovely scarf wrapped in my hair is the hermes twilly - they are sold online on hermes.com (usually there is a section under scarves "little hermes" and twilly). the print i have is called the "coaching" and has the most vivid blues and reds. many of my friends wear the twilly as bracelets too and i tried that today as well (i'm not that coordinated, but you can tie it on yourself). i also use the twillies to wrap around the handle of my kelly and am still trying to master that. 

outfit - top: lacoste; jeans: gap boyfriend jeans, here (25% off using code: GAPCLIST); shoes: zara, here; accessories: scarf - hermes coaching twilly worn around ponytail, and as a bracelet; hermes kelly double tour sanguine lizard and palladium hardware

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dvf zalda and a wedding

this saturday, we will celebrate our 11th wedding anniversary. our friend is also getting married on the same day (yay!!) for a while, we didn't go to a lot of weddings. there was a phase when all of our friends were getting married and it seemed our summer weekends were filled with weddings. then they were all having babies and we went to lots of showers and baptisms. 

i submitted 2 outfits in a past PFC challenge but then just got this dvf dress from the hautelook sale. it is fun for a late summer wedding (heck it is fun!). the venue is a beautiful outdoor covered bridge and a stunning resort for dinner later. now i've added another dress to the roster. i know all 3 dresses are appropriate but they are all so different. i knew i'd complicate things! between now and saturday, i'll have to pick one or i may do something else too! oh dear.

how do you plan your "special occasion" outfits - or do you just go with the flow?

this is the diane von furstbenberg "zalda" dress. i bought the zalda dress from the hautelook sale at the prompting of my friend I and am so happy i listened to her. i was worried that the length was going to be too much considering the models are so tall, but the size P is proportionately cut for petites. this dress was also a pin from 14 weeks ago. it is really fun how i'm finding these on pinterest!

outfit - dress: diane von furstenberg zalda dress; bracelet: hermes clic H; black curb link bracelet (here) c/o christina M boutique; purse: chanel vintage; shoes: louboutin black glitter numero prive; necklace: j crew

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