WIW: The Great Freeze continues...

It is the end of February and I am SO ready for the spring! Unfortunately the Mother Nature does not agree with me and we had another "extreme cold" warning this morning :-(
Oh well, at least they promise some barely-above-freezing temps next week - something to look forward too I guess!

pic 1 Some orange to brighten a winter day and cashmere to feel warm in the cold. I wore this sweater before with a soft Gap white shirt and it felt too sloppy with exposed hem so I tucked it in in the end. This time I wore it with a crisper Foxcroft shirt and exposed shirt hem felt fine. What  difference a fabrication makes! It is hard to see in the picture but my trousers are navy shadow plaid from Express.
 
pic 2
Unfortunately this almost ink outfit did not photograph well indoors. This is a forum debut of my new ink blazer from Banana Republic - Tall at last! My Mom altered it and it fits perfectly now - I am happy as a clam! My 2-year search for a longer ink blazer is over! Going for a variation of the equestrian look here :-)

pic 3
Dress day! This dress brings back memories from Seattle meetup so it is a happy dress for me! This time I paired it with a coated utility vest from BR. What do you think?

pic 4 I was cold, tired and slept in so FFBO with a comfortable jeans and warm cashmere blush sweater were in order. I still don't know if these jeans are relaxed skinnies or BF? Actually they are straight leg jeans but 2 sizes too big now so I treat them as BFs. BTW Suz - this is how I wear full length BF jeans all winter long - rolled just a bit and fitted over booties. These UGG Chelsea booties really allowed me to wear more types of bottoms in winter - and they proved to be waterproof enough.

pic5 I missed my culottes which were in the laundry so I could not wait to wear them again this week. Honestly Angie's post this morning inspired me to pair them with my lemon yellow Tippi sweater...but I felt that my dark short hair is not enough to balance the black boots - the only footwear I could wear with these culottes in -26C this morning. Inge's pearl review prompted me to wear a necklace again  - I like how these separate pearls bring some lightness to the ink sweater.
Thanks for looking and as usual all comments and suggestions are very much appreciated. Have a great weekend and stay warm (for those who live through a Great Freeze)!

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WIW in extreme cold

I SO want to take outdoor pictures of my outfits! Alas, with the freeze we have right now it is not going to happen any time soon - even if I get home when it is still light :-( So sorry for the quality of the indoor evening pictures, this is all I can do for now.
pic 1
I tried Angie's light grey and white ensemble -sans the light blue as my winter wardrobe does not have any.
These are new Gap grey jeans - the same ones Suz has. Unfortunately I wore them to work that day and then noticed that there is a defect on one of the seams - the threads are pulling apart. I will try to exchange for another pair, let's see if Gap stands behind its products.
pic 2
I am so happy I got the Lands End Chalet puffer in Tall this year. It is long enough to cover the tops of my tall boots and provides enough insulation so I can wear skirts with sheer hose to work. Of course if I had to commute for 40 min in this freezing weather it would be not enough but for driving in and a short 10 min walk it is quite sufficient to keep me warm.
I usually do not wear scarves indoors for the last couple of years - they feel "too much" for me - but somehow I felt like scarf wearing here.
pic 3
I did get asked at work if I am going riding that day :-) I don't care as I really like the look. The consigned BCBG blazer is black with faux leather sleeves and Gap merino t-neck is navy. 
pic 4
Tried to pair my long grey gilet with a grey pencil skirt and quite liked the proportions here. I felt that I need to add some white into the mix but a scarf felt like too much so I went with this necklace (even though I don't wear them often now). Looking at the picture in the evening I think that this chunky necklace may have been too much and I should have worn a different one. Oh well - next time!
One observation on this week: it was a very wise move to expand my winter footwear collection last fall. Last winter I had a single pair of tall flat black boots and when it was snow and freezing for an extended time I was sick to death from wearing the same pair ALL.THE.TIME! Footwear often dictates the outfit silhouette and when you are limited to tall flat boots you are really limited in the silhouettes you can wear.  By adding an ankle booties and heeled tall dressy boots I have expanded what I can wear in such extreme weather. If not for these dressy boots I would not wear my skirts and culottes that often at all as I don't care much how they look with these flat boots.
I am still limited in that all 3 pairs of my winter worthy footwear are black so my next goal is to add other colors to my collection. It is not going to be an easy task - especially in my size - but it is worth pursuing. 
Thanks for looking and as usual all comments and suggestions are very appreciated.
Have a nice weekend everyone!

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WIW: almost ink out and others...

It feels like ages since I posted the last WIW post! Life is definitely getting in the way of my YLF quality time :-( I need to get on track with taking regular pictures and posting so here we go...

pic #1 Almost "ink out" 
I wore this a day before Angie's blog post. It is not technically speaking a complete "ink out" as my skirt and tights are grey and booties are black but is it close enough? This outfit was inspired by this pin from Banana Republic - https://www.pinterest.com/pin/..... 
I LOVE this coated utility vest more than I ever imagined. It was definitely a wild card for me which is becoming a work horse pretty fast.
My initial thought was to wear it with dark wash skinnies (which would be more "ink out" but then I tried it with a skirt on a whim and liked it a lot.
It is a pretty busy outfit my style - a lot is going on with all the layering on top - but I think that keeping it tonal helps to lower the "business" factor. What do you think?

pic #2
Twice a week I have a challenge of dressing for work and then transitioning for a dance practice or lesson. Which means I need to be warm for work but be able to remove the top layer and stay in a lightweight top for a dance. I thought this striped lurex tee should work with BF jeans but they are not high waisted enough for this length of the top. It bothered me that it kept riding up during the day. Oh well - lesson learned.

pic #3

Another work-to-dance outfit and another outing of my new workhorse vest in the same week. :-) It was a serendipity indeed that I was able to find winter worthy dressy tall boots in the same season when I went for another wildcart - culottes. I would not be able to wear and enjoy my 2 pairs of culottes as much if not for these boots - and yet I was searching for the boots BEFORE I even considering to branch into the culottes.  Now I wish I can add a second pair of winter-worthy dressy boots which are non-black - it will really increase the number of outfits I can wear in winter.

pic #4

Another outfit inspired by BR pin:
 https://www.pinterest.com/pin/401313016771303484/
These are my NYDJ ponte skinny  pants from 2013 NAS which are my version of winter leggings. The wool cobalt moto is from last year Gap.

pic #5
Culottes and dressy boots again! This time simple and tonal with ink and grey culottes fashioned from old wide leg trousers. Cozy for a cold winter day!

That was my week.Thanks for looking and have a wonderful weekend and happy Valentine day!

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