Inspired By Black and White and Gold Dots

What is my first outfit of spring? Shockingly, not an outfit with colour! 

 Instead, I was inspired by this exaggerated 80s tie to do a black and white mix, with gold accents.

• Shirt - J. Crew, thrifted; first worn here in February with floral and chains
• Skirt - Ports 1961, thrifted; first seen here in October 2018 with pink and red
• Shoes - Lola Ramona; last worn here in May 2018 with yellow and more black and white
• Coat (below) - Tangerine Jill, thrifted; purchased here for $21.50

Reader Chalotalo (hello!) asked me how my creative process works for building outfits, for a week's worth, built ahead of time. I haven't done that this week, but it's like doing one outfit...only you do 4 or 5 at a time, and then pick the one you plan to wear the next day the night before.

I generally start with something I want to wear, whether that's a new-to-me garment or accessory, or something I haven't worn for a while. So for today, this tie.

 A tie requires a collared shirt, so a quick look through my blouses revealed only two (I usually have 1-3 of them in a given season) - and I got that "Aha!" when I held the tie next to this cotton polka dot shirt.

I want to wear everything that was stashed away in the spring/summer pile as soon as possible, so that I can properly assess each piece. Although I did wear this lovely silk skirt (it's even lined in silk!) as soon as I bought it in the fall, it was too cold to be a cool-weather item, so it's in the new section at the front of my skirt rail in my closet.

 Adding a black skirt - well, now we have a black and white theme going, don't we?

I know I have a white belt - the gold hardware on it led to my choice of gold accessories.

 It was a no-brainer to wear my black and white polka dot shoes! Did you notice the bows on the backs of them?

Outerwear - I've been waiting for the wardrobe swap-over to wear this lovely cotton/linen coat.

 I love the bright pink! I think I have a pink issue...I now have 3 pink coats.

I steamed it last night to make it look nice, and give the ruffles on the labels some shape.

 It was wonderful to wear!

• Gloves - Danier Leather

The stuff:

 Note the striped soles of the shoes. I need to wear these more! That is a perfect heel for me.

Black, white and gold bling:

I really liked the necklace worn over the tie (which says, "Has a love letter won your heart") - it felt very fresh to me. Good thing I had a necklace with round elements (note that the belt also has round studs). I really went to town on the dot theme!

• Belt - Banana Republic, thrifted
• Silk tie - Escada by Margaretha Ley, vintage, thrifted
• Necklace - Givenchy, vintage fair
• Bracelet - Butler Fifth Avenue Collection, vintage, consignment - first wearing, purchased here for $15.00
• Earrings - vintage fair

I love when an inspiration works out!