Bonjour Winter

Figured I'd go with a non-standard Paris photo.

     I was in Paris earlier this month and enjoyed the opportunity to wear some winter outfits as well as do some secondhand shopping. I actually have winter clothes with me in Dubai but I think I underestimated what it feels like to be in 35 degree weather (Fahrenheit, 2 degrees Celsius), seeing as how it has been a minute. For example, I brought a headband beanie, but it was not enough and I ended up buying this cute beanie from the boys section of a Monoprix. I also ended up wearing my Uniqlo jacket as an extra layer under all outwear. (As an aside, I've had that jacket for about 2.5 years and I still like it so much, especially that it has deep inner pockets and outside zip pockets, both of which are nice when traveling.) 

Jacket | BlankNYC Suede Moto Jacket
Long Sleeve Shirt | Amour Vert
Dress| Proenza Schouler
Leggings | Zella
Boots | Blondo Liam

     The leather jacket was not warm enough so every other day I wore this blue coat with the Uniqlo one underneath. I got this jacket during peak Marie-Kondo-ing from a consignment store. That was such a great moment, when every visit to a thrift/vintage/ consignment store felt like it resulted in true fashion treasures. I used some store credit and ended up paying $33 for it, plus another $25 to shorten it (it is quite a long coat and with a little hem helped me avoid looking like I was swimming in it).

Jacket | Ted Baker
Sweater | Rebecca Taylor

     Moving onto the shopping, I found two really nice pieces. The first was a Bally leather purse from the strangely titled, Thanx God I'm a VIP. This store had a lot of amazing brands and some real vintage works of art, although most of it was winter clothing (lots of coats and sweaters and wool) which wasn't really what I was looking for and the prices were expensive. Additionally, the sales people weren't very friendly and a sales associates camped outside my dressing room while I was in there and watched me like a hawk when I came out to use the mirror. Although I was the only customer in there so maybe he was bored. Whatever. This leather purse is very cute, in excellent condition and the perfect size for a day-to-day bag.  

     The second find was this blazer, which caught my eye thanks to the brightly colored cuff lining. It was from La Marelle which was a really cute store and the woman working there was incredibly chill. I think the whole sleeve detail is amazing. There are two buttons made of the same fabric as the blazer and then the third buttoned is mirrored! It is the, new to me, French brand DMN and fits like a hybrid blazer/coat, as it is a little longer. It had matching suit pants but unfortunately they did not fit. It looked very sharp as a suit and now I'm keeping an eye out for a new pair of dress pants to match it with.      

Top | Madewell
Jeans | Joe's Jeans
Shoes | Paul Green

     If you haven't heard me mention it before, I secondhand shop as a way to find souvenirs whenever I'm in a new city. I love doing research into what stores I should go to and then seeing what sort of brands are featured and what the vibe is. I'll think of this trip every time I use these new additions to my closet. Also, as a random aside I highly recommend the Rick Steves Walking Tour podcast when traveling. I've done it a few places and this time we did a Paris city center one. They are interesting and easy to do with a companion, especially if you have bluetooth earbuds (each of you take one) and they always take me to parts of a city that I probably wouldn't have otherwise visited.

Like here!

Thanks for stopping by!