[ about town dress here; nantucket necklace here; alisma headband here; reposing cloud cardigan here; riveted skirt here. ]

After mouthing off that I hadn’t seen anything terribly inspiring from Anthropologie last week, I had to eat my words! I feel like I’m the most wishy-washy gal when it comes to fashion. lol! I spent a hour or so Saturday browsing around the site, and I found a handful of designs that I’m loving and I think are fantastic ideas for my current style conundrum. Namely that fall is approaching and it happens to be my favorite season style-wise. But, I wonder, how can I integrate some fall flair into my wardrobe with the temperatures still in the 90s outside?

[ bold boutonniere dress here; blooming bow bag here; scaffolding mary janes here.]

I have never really been able to afford Anthropologie prices, and now it’s a shop that is really out of my budget. I love to go “style hunting” though; whether walking through the store, browsing the beautiful catalogs or website, I find I can usually cull a few ideas that I can adapt for my own needs. So as I’ve been daydreaming about the perfect, cross-over fall wardrobe (one that works in the heat, but still evokes the feeling of autumn!), I’ve been gathering up ideas for things I could do myself (on a teeny budget).

Now I’m off to finish my Monday housework and then go do some sewing! I spent most of Sunday morning and afternoon working on the 1940s shirtwaist dress I’m making, and I made quite a bit of progress. Enough so that I can safely say I’m coming down the home stretch on this project! Just a few more seams, hemming and making the belt. I can’t wait to show it to you!

sources, clockwise: sleek black vintage handbag from vintagerevolver, vintage black leather barrel purse from sprinklesburton, vintage black leather clasp purse from whatsheknows, vintage black leather doctor purse from estatesale.

It finally happened: my beloved vintage, leather hand bag is starting to bite the dust. It began earlier this year: the stitching along the handle was coming undone, and for awhile I could ignore it. But now it’s gotten much worse. I need to repair it (shouldn’t be too hard), but I know that the bag probably only has so much time left in it (it’s my “workhorse” bag)! So I’ve been searching around Etsy for some options. My criteria, as with most women and their hand bags, is pretty precise: something that isn’t too big or too small, will fit my essentials (cell, slim wallet, sunglasses, keys, a couple of lipsticks and a compact), not too shiny, is a structured shape, the strap should be long enough to slip over my shoulder but not so long I can’t hold it in my hand, and has a pocket or two inside (because I hate digging around for my lipstick!).

Of course finding this “dream bag” within my criteria and price range (which admittedly, I was spoiled by the thrift shops in VA; I usually found vintage handbags for less than $5!), has proven to be difficult. But I did unearth a few beauties that are worth checking out!

And now, enough online window shopping! I really need to go do something productive with myself; like making the pretzels I promised Sailor Husband three weeks ago… lol!

* Little Black Bag