Over the last few months it’s fair to say I’ve been working my way through new trends, trying them out and sharing them with you, along with making quite a few new purchases. However, come this time of year my spending habits tend to shift away from fashion, for a couple of reasons. Of course, the sales are looming and unless it’s a good quality basic or essential I know I’ll get a lot of wear out of, it feels foolish to splurge with the sales around the corner. This summer has been so poor, a lot of the high summer trends just aren’t worth attempting, (tropical prints in the rain anyone?) and before we know it the Autumn/Winter’12 trends will be filling the rails. As a result, I’m doing what any normal girl does, recycling. So you’re going to be seeing a few of the items I’ve already shared in different combinations or for different occasions over the coming weeks. I hope it inspires you to reconsider your classic items alongside this seasons new pieces and extends your wardrobe that bit further into the Autumn, a little like this print clash I shared earlier in the week.
This morning’s what-to-wear is a bit of an exercise in holiday versatility. I do enjoy honing a holiday wardrobe down to the bare, hardworking essentials but honestly, it’s not because I love planning outfits, it’s altogether more mundane than that. Firstly, I HATE washing when I get back from holiday. The only think worse is washing all the items that you didn’t wear or need. Secondly, I hate taking a huge case. Its a pain to lug about and who wants to go over the luggage limit? Particularly when there’s shopping to be done when you get there. 😉

Dress (seen as skirt) Zara // Jumper – Florence and Fred // Wedges (old) – Aldo // Bag – Mulberry //
So, although you have already seen today’s main items, this amazing £12 steal of a summer jumper from Florence and Fred at Tesco, layered over this digital print bodycon dress, from Zara. I just added a pair of casual wedge heels in tan leather and a metallic bag, keeping it neutral as there was already a lot going on with the skirt. A pearlescent skinny belt picked out the lilac in the skirt and toned with the jumper to give the top half some shape and smarted up the outfit.

I wore this on the first evening we arrived in San Francisco. I was tired and it was really quite windy but we wanted to make the most of the first evening and headed out to explore the Embarcadero. I knew I wouldn’t want to change again for dinner and we wanted something quite casual, but of course, it was the first night of holiday, so I wanted to look nice. As you do 😉

A good friend of mine does this all the time and I’m always inspired by the flexibility she gets out of her wardrobe by layering, so I was pretty pleased to pull it off with this outfit. Packing wise it’s a double score. The jumper got worn again for sight-seeing the next day and the dress came out for a night out in Vegas. And I had less washing when I got home 😉
Hope you like it readers, and it inspires you to look at how you can combine and get more out of your wardrobe…
Love,
Rebecca
xo