Sweaters are a cold weather essential, but boosting your sweater assortment can be costly. Sweaters are (usually) higher quality than your basic tee, and more work and expensive fabrics go into making them. Hence the hefty price tag. So, what to do when the temperatures drop? Here's a laundry list of options for you to break into, without breaking the bank. Take a cue from the oh-so-chic Lauren Conrad. Her asymmetrical, open front cardy, in a neutral green is a great transitional piece. As the fall progresses into winter, you'll need something with a little more coverage like a shawl collar or tweedy knit. My suggestion: embrace the chic and comfy nature of sweater dressing. Whether paired with leather leggings, or boyfriend jeans, a great sweater can totally elevate your look.
Love her, hate her, or have no clue who she is, one thing is for sure. Olivia Palermo has great style. MTV's The City, brought her on as the token mean girl who torments Californian, and token naive girl, Whitney Port. After a stint at DVF, Palermo went on to Elle where she abuses her boss and does whatever she can to stunt the growth of Port's emerging clothing line, Whitney Eve. Her snarky comments and inability to work well with others (unless they're Joe Zee, or someone else of equal stature) has not exactly made her America's Sweetheart. Clearly, it's not the intense "story line," that's keeping viewing rates high. I would argue that it's the clothes - and I'm not that far-fetched.
Palermo flips back and forth between boho-chic and edgy urbanite, but her signature style has a few common threads. Whether layering a bunch of pieces into one cohesive look, or just wearing one signature piece, she always looks perfectly polished and her outfits are seriously statement making. Achieving her look is easy, and thanks to thrifty designers like 213 Industry and MK2K, it can even be budget friendly.
Meet Katie - my faux fashionista friend. By "faux fashionista" I mean shopper turned lawyer, to fund her expensive tastes. Katie has been in the sartorial know since middle school. A voracious reader, Katie adds Vogue and W to her reading queue on a monthly basis. When Poisonwood Bible and Everything is Illuminated are among your favorite books, the eloquent prose of those two leaders in the publication industry, serves as a light read. Katie's style mantra is easy dressing and exquisite taste. She always looks impeccably put together, but never over done. Whether it's a simple tee, perfect fitting jeans, flats, and a silk scarf to tie the look together, or a graphic sundress and strappy shoes, her look is unfailingly complete. Shoes are her weakness, so she tends to let them take outfit center stage. By 10th grade Katie had accumulated enough designer footwear to take up an entire 4x6 foot wall of her closet. No style slouch, Katie has always been my go to shopping partner. That's no small feat; in case you haven't noticed, when it comes to shopping I don't mess around!
I rescued/kidnapped Katie from the monotony of studying for the bar exam for a much needed day or rest and relaxation. R&R by our definition was brunch at The Place in the West Village, followed by shopping in SoHo and a drink to take the edge off at NoLiTa's Cafe Noir. Here we are outside of Chanel, where I almost convinced myself I did need one of their classic cocktail rings, and did not need any money in my savings account. Fortunately, I came to my senses. To distract myself from my latest loss, I caught Katie candid-style for a blogpost. Katie was looking easy-chic and mixing high street/high fashion and wearing Forever21 denim leggings, a TOPSHOP tunic in lavender plaid, matching Tom Ford sunglasses, Pour la Victoire wedges, a Botkier bag, and a Michael Kors menswear inspired watch.
It's impossible to open up a magazine this season without seeing at least one spread devoted to the trench. With the borrowed from the boys look at an all time high, the trench coat is a natural "it" item for the fashion moment. The thing I love the most about trenches, however, is whether they're trendy or not, they are always in style. So put some of that hard earned cash towards a timeless staple ladies, and pick up a trench coat. Bonus, they're coming to the end of their selling season so the chances of finding a chic sale option are pretty good.
Every woman would love to have a Burberry trench. They have great lines, perfected details, and exquisite quality. On top of that, Burberry has done a great job reinventing the trench coat wheel season after season. For those of you who prefer putting their hard earned cash in the bank instead of the closet, below are a few great options with reasonable price tags.
Meet Katie - my faux fashionista friend. By "faux fashionista" I mean shopper turned lawyer, to fund her expensive tastes. Katie has been in the sartorial know since middle school. A voracious reader, Katie adds 
