Keeping Warm in Bright Wools

Pres and I are back with our first outfit post of the year! With the super cold weather in our area, it’s been tough finding a good day to dress up in something other than a giant parka, mittens, knitted hats and my bean boots. Luckily, between the chilly days, mother nature decided to grace us with one moderately ok day, and of course we took advantage of it while we could. Keep reading to see more of this outfit, where all the pieces are from, some shopping ideas inspired by it and some new news about 2015 for Bowties & Caviar!

So, before I go spilling the beans about what’s in store for Bowties & Caviar, let’s get to the details of this post’s outfit. Anyone who’s seen my closet knows that I have a ridiculous jacket/coat collection that for whatever reason, keeps growing and despite how little space is left to fit any more, I can never pull myself to getting rid of any. (I have a jacket problem and each and every one is special to me in its own way). I don’t normally buy jackets from Forever 21, but this one caught my eye 3-4 years ago. I love quirky things with interesting shapes and as much as I try not to stand out too much, I also hate blending in with the norm. This yellow jacket has such a doll-like feel to it, is warm, bright and playful. Sometimes you just need something to add a little warmth and happiness to your winter wardrobe. This is one of those pieces for me. Paired with my bright yellow jacket, I threw on a pair of wool plaid shorts from Abercrombie & Fitch (also purchased many years ago… and to my delight, still fit me just right) over some fleece-lined tights. Under my coat is my Altuzarra for Target dotted bow blouse with the bow outside of the coat and lastly my beloved Adrienne boots by Frye. The backpack purse was a must since Pres was coming out with me and with the chilly air, wearing my bag on my back actually adds to the warmth.

I found this backpack purse at TJ Maxx while I was out and about with my mom and sister. Originally I found it in red and was going to purchase it simply because I had been carrying around my Fjallraven Kanken backpack as a purse pretty much everywhere I went and thought, something a little more dressy would probably do me some good from time to time. Of course, when I saw it in black, my mind was set and I went straight for the cash register to check out. It’s a no-named vegan leather purse and was insanely affordable ($29.99 believe it or not… such a steal!) and to my surprise has been super comfortable to carry, holds plenty of things, is secure and extremely durable. I’ve worn it running errands, in terrible weather, running around the city (both dc and nyc) and its been a trooper through all of it. I’ve actually been getting more use out of it than all of my other purses in my collection.

So here’s a rundown of everything I’m wearing in this post…

Glasses – Warby Parker / Sheer Dotted Bow Blouse – Altuzarra for Target / Yellow 3/4 Sleeved Coat – Forever 21 / Wool Plaid Shorts – Abercrombie & Fitch / Fleece-lined Tights – DKNY / Adrienne Boots – The Frye Company

Now for a quick chat about what’s to come for Bowties & Caviar for 2015. As you all know, Bowties has been a fun personal project of mine in sharing my interests. A lifestyle blog that has a heavier focus on fashion. I plan to definitely continue blogging about fashion, food, music, my travels and my beloved pug, but after plenty of thought after having gone through my most recent redesign, I want to make sure it doesn’t lose focus on what its original intended purpose was, which was to be a reflection of who I am and a way for me to share with you the things I love. With that said, I will be doing my best to post much more. Not just in fashion, but recipes I love, updates on my beloved pug, Presley, the adventures that B and I go on (because we actually do go on many, a lot of them are just not documented on here but that’ll change 😉 I’ll be creating weekly mixtapes (playlists on spotify) of what I’ve been listening to lately (and I hope you will share your current favourites with me as well), and much much more. So from here on out, I’m going to refer to Bowties & Caviar as not just a fashion blog or a lifestyle blog but simply, a happiness blog.