I'm back!

I was so excited to get rarin', y'all. I really was. I was plugging and chugging through my daily "Get Sh!t Done" lists like there was no tomorrow. Life was wonderful.

And then good ol' Mr. Flu decided it was time to pay a visit to me.

Now guys, I haven't had the flu since college (UNDERGRAD college) and I got it after getting a flu shot. This was over five years ago. I think it was six, because I got a free one when I worked for the university in 2008. So needless to say, despite all my bronchial infections, allergy illness, and other types of crap, I was not prepared to get the flu. I was a whiny baby, alone in my apartment, sleeping for most of the last two and a half days. Not conducive to getting shit done.

But now, I am back. I am out of the bed, still coughing, but I'm alive, eating a bagel and ready to share some fashion!

This was the last outfit I wore before the influenza struck me down. Literally, I was wearing this the day the cough started and right before I devolved into full scale body aches and fever. Perfect outfit, really, to keep me warm and cozy against my own body's rebellion.

I've never been much of a faux-fur person. I don't own much of (really, any) of it, I usually don't like it on me, and I feel uncomfortable and weird. I am probably not the girl you will see running around in a giant faux-fur coat. The most I've ever done is my faux-fur trimmed black coat that was a hand me down from my ex-roommate, and it's black-on-black so you can't really tell.

So this was my first venture into wearing faux fur as an outfit accessory. I'll tell you a little secret about this piece: it came off of a knit shrug that I bought at a thrift store a few years ago, but barely wore. Something about the two together just didn't work after that initial impulse buy. But then I had a thought: what if I took the trim off the jacket and made a collar? So last weekend, I used a pair of small scissors and cut the collar off, then sewed the ends together with embroidery floss. And I admit it-I love the result.

So what's my advice about wearing faux fur?

1) One piece at a time.

I'm sorry, but there is no natural creature on this earth that is hot pink or navy blue. And fur should look like something that's natural, not something from a factory-even if it's the fake stuff, like I wear. Go for the neutrals, brown and black families. (Besides, hot pink fur speaks more to novelty handcuffs than it does to high fashion, anyway. ;) )

3) If you're nervous, start small.






A small, short collar is manageable and still looks chic. You don't have to pull out the long, Cruella deVille fur coat in order to be stylish. If that is you, then go do it, boo. But maybe not one made from 101 dalmatians, I'm just suggesting.

4) Play with both hard and soft textures.

I like the faux fur with leather jacket look. Something about it is chic and functional. Adding a cashmere sweater brings the softness back up, then the denim brings it tough again. Play around with what you wear with it. Whether it's a silk dress, a chambray shirt, both, or somewhere in between, not limiting your fabric choices to go with the softness of fur makes the edge factor go up a bit.

5) Have fun.



Seriously, enjoy it. It's just another way of expanding yourself and your little fashion personality. There's not a damn thing wrong with being fabulous.

xoxo

Carisa