black cats

It's the time of year to start pulling winter coats out of the back of the closet!  This bad boy is my absolute favorite winter coat.  It's a few years old and I've been trying to find another coat that I like as much so I don't wear this one 24/7 like I did last year.  Not that I don't love wearing this coat 24/7, but I would like something to rotate it with to keep the wear and tear down, since it's already been through two winters.  Last year I found a coat in the kids section of Target that I really liked and wore quite frequently, but it ended up kind of falling apart by the end of the season, and it wasn't very fitted to an hourglass frame.  All of this makes sense since kids grow out of clothes in a season, so their clothes are probably not made to last like adult clothing, and well, obviously kids don't have hourglass figures that need fitting to.  So this year I think I'm going to invest in a higher quality coat that is well made and classic, like this red plaid one.
Dan & I have both been thinking more about investment pieces lately.  We're both pretty frugal, so we tend to get cheaper things, but sometimes that means getting a lower quality product, which in turn means buying replacements when cheaper things break or wear out.  We'd like to transition to getting higher quality things that might have a higher price, but are going to last longer.  Now that I've got a pretty good base in my closet, I'm starting to want more statement pieces, or special pieces.  I still like those things to be remixable, but it's nice to have a few fun, special pieces in my wardrobe.  In the last year, those special pieces have been Dear Creatures dresses.  I got this dress last fall, and when I saw their fall '12 collection, I knew that I had to snag something from that collection as well!
dress/dear creatures courtesy of modcloth :: tights + shoes/courtesy of modcloth  jacket/tulle via lulu e. bebe :: bag/courtesy of handbag heaven :: photos by Dan
I'm not a big fan of cats... okay well I'm not a fan of cats at all (but really, they aren't a fan of me, so I say they started it), but this dress with the black cat print was too cute.  While I don't like the animal, I did spend countless hours practicing and performing the musical "CATS" in our basement, and this dress totally reminds me of singing "Jellical Cats"!  I can totally still sing all the lyrics to probably every song from CATS.  And if I was ever given the opportunity to actually sing and dance in a real production of CATS, you can bet your ass I'd take it in a heartbeat.  #nerdalert But anyway, lets forget that totally dorky revelation and get back to this dress.  I love the pretty details that Dear Creatures put into their garments, and the little pleated touches along the collar and sleeves is one of those great little details.  I can pretty much guarantee that I'll want something from every collection Dear Creatures puts out (if not everything).  I love that I've found a designer that I feel like makes clothes for me.  And their prices aren't so expensive that it would be ridiculous to buy something from them, they're just spendy enough that a DC dress feels like a little treat.  I'm already looking forward to their next collection!