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Luxuriously Frugal

Where saving and spending live together in peace and harmony, hopefully…

Author Archives: Luxuriously Frugal

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Designer Series: Marissa Webb – “I’m a tomboy in a tutu.”

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As I have mentioned before, I don’t buy a designer item if I don’t like the designer.  So yes, I do research every designer before I spend my hard-earned money on their designs. Instead of just letting the information fade in my memory, I think it might be a good idea to log it here.

The first post of Luxuriously Frugal’s Designer Series is about a designer I absolutely love: Marissa Webb, the designer behind her eponymous label and the creative director at Banana Republic.

Marissa Webb

I came to know Marissa Webb when I first saw the following white jacket on Wendy in September 2013. At that time, I was looking for a white jacket.  Without any hesitation, I clicked on the link on Wendy’s site which sent me to Marissa Webb’s official site.  And wow, I was falling………. in love!

Victorian Weekend-10

On the website then was Marissa’s first Collection – Spring 2013 (Debuted on September 8th 2012 at the New York Fashion Week (NYFW)).  What I saw on the website were not some ordinary clothes! Below are some items from her first collection.
(Please note that my picks are biased as I am only showing the ones that I will wear. Many beautiful items are not shown because they do not suit my lifestyle.  To see the full collection, click here.)

Marissa Webb – Spring 2013 (A staged presentation):

The leather/linen, leather/silk, and black/white contrasts are just amazing! The white jacket (official name: Genevieve Blazer) is my favorite item from this whole collection. As I will show with more pictures below, this jacket is so versatile.

Tweed and Leather (the green trims are in leather),  the perfect sequins and silk combo, and the sophisticated color!  When fun marries elegance, the world smiles!

Structured shapes with soft and feminine details.  The black and white color combo is again hard to beat!

This silk shirt is amazing. The double scarves around the neck make the shirt very special and easy to wear (it is interesting how her designs can accommodate the often conflicting descriptions).  The shirt comes in many colors, like red, blue, green, white, and the prints! The prints in the right picture was Marissa’s signature prints for this collection, very rich and whimsical with an oil painting deepness!

Marissa’s comments on her first collection: “High and low, black and white, soft and hard, accessible but also inspiring”.  Yes, yes, I am in total agreement! She definitely delivered what she intended to deliver!

Needless to say, I was hooked after seeing her first collection.  Before buying her clothes, I researched a bit more:

Marissa Webb

Birth Place: Korea
Nationality: United States (adopted at the age of 4, along with her 3 biological siblings, and was raised in Pennsylvania, then Vermont and South Orange)
Home: N.Y.C. near Union Square
Education: Started at Rutgers University as a psychology major and later transferred to FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology)
Family: fiance: Guillaume Sivadier (works in finance, likely JP Morgan); puppies: Molly and Troy;
Employment History (the years are just my informed guesses, so they may be off a bit):
        Polo Ralph Lauren (1997-2000): Initial Position: a freelance designer. Last Position: a full time designer for jeans
        Club Monaco (2001) and a few other places
        J. Crew (2002 – 2011):  Initial Position: a designer for cut and sew knits. Last Position: VP of Women’s Apparel and                                                                  Accessories Design
        Marissa Webb (2012 – present): Founder and Designer
Banana Republic (2014- present): Creative Director

What best defines her design style: “I’m a tomboy in a tutu”. She is known for combining masculine and feminine elements in her collections.

Where are her clothes made: N.Y.C.

More about her:
She did not come from a rich family. She worked in a grocery store in middle school and paid for her own college. She lived on Dunkin’ Donuts coffee and ramen noodles during college years, because she did not have much money.  After knowing her a bit more, I sensed that her collaboration with Wendy was a natural and perfect choice. Both of them are amazing women that have overcome adversity. If you follow her on Instagram, you will get the feeling that she works very hard and is very grateful for what she has achieved.  Among the 100+ designers I am following on Instagram, she is the one that posts inspiring quotes the most often. Below are some quotes she posted:

“Always remember to fall asleep with a dream and wake up with a purpose”.

“Great things never came from comfort zones”.

“Decide what it is you want. Write that shit down. Make a fucking plan. And… Work on it. Every. Single. Day.”

“Wake up, Kick ass, be kind, and Repeat.”

“There is no elevator to success. You have to take the stairs.”

“I’m not interested in competing with anyone. I hope we all make it”.

And the most recent one:

“If they don’t like what you’re bringing to the table, let them eat alone. Simple as that.”

…

How can you not like a person that is serious, kind, upbeat, hard-working, and doesn’t take things for granted? I already fell in love with her designs, and it was an easy fall for her as well!

Want to know her more, read this and this or browse the reference list at the end of this post.

I have been following her since that fabulous first collection. Below are my picks from each of her ready-to-wear collections. I should admit that between her tomboy and tutu sides, I am biased toward the tutu side of her. But the tutu side would not be so attractive without the tomboy touches.

Marissa Webb – Fall 2013 (A staged presentation):

See the whole collection here:
Style.com’s comment for this collection: “”I don’t ever want to be just one thing,” she (Marissa) said. Still, our money is on the masculine, tougher side of her Fall story.”
My favorite piece in this collection is the blazer on the left in the third row.  Wendy featured this jacket on her blog.

Marissa Webb – Spring 2014 (Her first runway show):

See the whole collection here.
Wendy featured the last dress here. 

Marissa Webb – Fall 2014

See the whole collection here.
Marissa’s comment on this collection: “”Everything’s hectic, chaotic, fast-paced. The collection is about feeling polished, feeling like you have a little edge, but at the same time not being constricted or confined, and not having to think a lot about it,”

Marissa Webb – Spring 2015

See the whole collection here.

Marissa’s comment on this collection: “”Hard and soft, masculine and feminine, East and West kept coming to mind,” Webb said backstage. “Not just East Coast-West Coast, but the volume and sweep of the dresses and tops.”

This is a nice summary for all of Marissa’s designs! I guess this is why girls from everywhere (East or West, Far East or Far West), from different fashion tastes (masculine or feminine), and with different personalities (hard or soft) can all find at least one piece in her collection that speaks to them.

But honestly, even though I still love her designs, there are fewer and fewer pieces that I would like to buy/wear in her more recent collections. My favorite collection of hers is still the first one. I feel she was more conservative in that collection and the J. Crew influence on what sells was still strong.  So her collection had the perfect mix of wearability and designer edge, and the right amount of the tomboy and tutu fantasy. For her later collections, she has become more adventurous and start to show more of her own personality. While there is nothing wrong with that, actually this might be what a designer should do, the clothes become harder for women who are not tomboy-chic type. This trend is very apparent in her spring 2015 collection (I was only able to pick out four designs as shown above that I may possible wear). I wonder whether becoming the creative director of Banana Republic has pushed her to take on more risk with her own label as she might be playing more safely with the collections she is over-sighting at BR.

What have I bought?

Everything I bought was from her first collection, that tells you how much I love it.

First piece: Mika Lace Blouse 

Marissa wears it in the right photo. Mine is shown in the left.  I have had it for a year and half now. It is definitely a work horse in my wardrobe. It can be dressed up or down. I have worn it to dinner dates (with black pants) and on tourist strolls (with jeans or shorts).  The lace is of good quality and the lining is 100% silk.

WhiteBlouse

Second piece: Grey tweed jacket with green leather trim

Anna Kendrick wears it in the right photo and mine is featured in the left photo. I have wear this jacket mostly to work with a tank underneath. The jacket is well made and hugs my waist beautifully.  The green leather trim adds fun elements to the jacket and also makes it look more expensive. My only complaint is that the edges of the jacket fringe a bit.

GreenJacket

Third piece: Silk shirt with double scarves

This is the same shirt that is shown in red and the prints above.  The silk is of good quality, heavy but not dull. I played safe on the color by picking the royal blue. While I love the color, I wish I have got the prints one instead.

BlueShirt_All

Fourth piece: The White Jacket

Oh, my! I cannot say enough good things about this jacket. It is well made and well cut. The material is a good cotton and linen blend with 100% silk lining.  It is a heavy fabric that breathes. The heaviness of the fabric not only enhances the structure of the jacket, but also makes it much more expensive.  This can be worn on a chilly summer day, in the spring or early fall. As talented Wendy shows below, you can pair this baby with many things. It is the perfect case of casual-cool and effortless chic! A classic white jacket.

WhiteJacket_Wendy

Marissa successfully added some fun elements to this jacket as well.  Look at the shoulders. As shown in the right picture, you can let them stick out as shoulder shields (a more crisp and masculine look) or you can hide them by folding them in ( a more traditional look). Please pardon the wrinkles that showed my love for the jacket. I should have ironed them before taking the photos. But you get the idea, right?

WhiteJacket

Fifth piece: The White Dress

My dress is on its way to the dry cleaners. So I used some photo from Barneys.com.  The beautiful barefootblond has some nice photos of this dress as well.

Where to buy Marissa Webb? 

Marissawebb.com, Barneys, Intermix, Shopbop, and ScoopNYC.

Marissawebb.com is currently running sales on its Fall 2014 collection. There are some great deals.  Check them out!

If I am in a colder climate, I would be very tempted to buy this jacket at 40% off.

enchanted

These shoes are very beautiful, the right pair is now 60% off and the left pair is 40% off.  Wish I could handle heels this high.

newport-tweed-combo

 

An interesting story from nymag.com about the shoes in her collection and summarizes Marissa’s plan for her label.

“In terms of success, where do you see the label in five years?

I hope we have a healthy growth, but I do think one of the biggest mistakes that any new brand can make is trying to get into too many categories at once. So, for instance, we’re not into accessories right now. The reason we did get into shoes is because one night I woke up before our first presentation, and I was like, Oh my gosh! What are these models going to stand in? We have no shoes! That’s the only other accessory category besides apparel that we are getting into right now; it’s not going gung ho into every single category possible”.

Look forward to seeing how her label evolves over the next five years!

Do you like Marissa Webb? Thank you so much for reading!

 

 

Reference List:

http://www.beautifulstranger.tv/snaps/marissa-webb
http://www.elle.com/fashion/a13805/marissa-webb-fashion-tips-on-how-to-wear-sparkles-at-the-office/
Marissa Webb’s Instagram
http://marissa-webb.com/about-designer-marissa-webb/
http://www.style.com
http://www.thefashionspot.com/runway-news/358581-designer-to-watch-marissa-webb/
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/16/realestate/banana-republic-executive-decorates-her-home.html?_r=0
http://digital.turn-page.com/i/298368/30
http://marissa-webb.com/about-designer-marissa-webb/
http://www.wendyslookbook.com/ (search for Marissa Webb to find Wendy’s looks in Marissa Webb)
http://www.fashiontrendsdaily.com/fashion-2/marissa-webb-appointed-creative-director-of-banana-republic
http://nymag.com/thecut/2013/01/marissa-webb-dreams-of-a-mad-hatter-wedding.html

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Free Money

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Nothing is free in this world, even not fresh air.  Then why do I have a post called Free Money?

When I first found this source of free money, I did not believe it either. There must be a catch! I told myself. So I signed up and have been cautiously waiting for the catch. However, six months later, the free money is indeed coming in every month with a catch that has not showed up yet. Well, not totally free, you need to spend some time to set it up initially (about 30 minutes) and then maybe, if you are anxious like me, you will spend three minutes each month to monitor the process. What is the return for your three minutes? $20 dollars, which is $400 per hour. If you are not anxious, then you can set it up and forget about it, which will make an infinitely high hourly rate (because the denominator is zero).

What? You don’t have 30 minutes to setup a money printing machine that prints you money every month? Come on, you spent two hours surfing on the web without a purpose, you binge watching a TV series for hours, and you snooze your alarm for 30 minutes every morning.  There is time. It all depends on how much you want to do it.

I happen to love money a lot (who doesn’t? If you don’t, please dump your hated money here!), no matter big or small! So it does not take too much effort to lure me into a deal like the Santander Extra 20 checking account. What I was skeptical of is the process. Will the process be smooth or full of hiccups? Will they delay the payment? Are there a lot of restrictions to get the $20?

Without further ado, let me reveal the details:

What is the deal?

Santander will pay you $20 every month if you complete the following two actions every month:

a. $10 for having Direct Deposits of $1500 or more
b. $10 for paying 2 bills with BillPay through Online Banking

Too much hustle? No! You can setup automatic actions for both items and then the money will flow in automatically forever (well, at least till they cancel the policy).

What do you need to do initially?

Step 1: Open extra20® Checking and extra20SM Savings accounts.
They will ask for your social security number. But this is a soft pull, which means it will not affect your credit score.

Step 2: Deposits a minimum of $25 dollars to the checking and $10 to the saving.
It seems that they have changed the rule a bit. When I opened my account last fall, there was no deposit requirement for the savings account.  But the good news is that you can use a credit card to make the deposit. And yes, you do earn points on your credit card (you may want to google to see if you can earn points for your credit card when you use it to fund a bank account.  I knew Citibank is pretty sensitive and may classify this as a cash advance instead of a purchase). I used my Barclay 2% credit card to make a $500 deposit (maximum allowed on a credit card funding) and did earn 2% on the $500 deposit.

Step 3: Setup an automatic transfer to Santander from your main bank account.
In my case, Chase hosts my main checking account. From Chase’s online banking website, I setup an automatic online transfer of $1500 to Santander on the 3rd day of each month. Yes! You don’t have to have a direct deposit from your paycheck. An ACH debt push like this is also counted as direct deposit for Santander.

Step 4: Setup two automatic billpays on Santander’s online banking website.
I use the $1500 I transferred to Santander in Step 3 to pay my main credit card. I have setup two billpays, one $1000 bill pay and the other $500 bill pay, to the same card.

Step 5: Receive $20 in your extra20SM Savings account at the statement close date for that month.
The table below presents my statement of cash earnings in the past six month.

What do you need to do every month?

Nothing. Just watch your money grow!

As shown below, I got $110 for free! It is not $120, because I turned off the billpays in December as I lost the credit card.  For all the other months, I am getting $20.

Santander

Worth doing?

Depends. For me, I will totally do it because $240 ($173 after tax assuming a 28% marginal tax rate) a year is enough to cover the annual registration fee of my son’s soccer club or his aftercare fees for one semester.

Why you may not want to do it?

a. You are already making >$400 an hour and you feel this is a waste of your time.
b. You spend less than $1500 a month.
c. You don’t use credit card.
d. You don’t like anything that is automatic.

Would you take advantage of this deal? If not, why not? Love to hear your opinion.

Thank you so much for reading!

Disclaimer: I do not receive any commission from Santander by posting this. What I shared here is my honest opinion. This post is provided for informational purposes only and is not intended to substitute for obtaining professional financial advice. Please thoroughly research everything you read here before acting on any information you may have found in this blog.

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Monthly Expenses – January, 2015

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Dear husband’s comments on the last post:”It is a joke to write about Hermes on a frugal website.” I kindly reminded him, it is not a frugal website, it is a Luxuriously Frugal website.  But I do admit that sometimes I feel like a person with double personalities. On one day, I am in total love for luxury items and would not mind spending big $ on them. On the other day, I am carefully planning my route to work so that  I can save $2 on gas.  However, I really don’t mind which personality is in control, as I am equally happy either way.

Our expenses in January are high because of family visits and prepayments for kids’ school and travel.

In addition to the four of us, my in-laws are with us for the entire January.  So the expenses are really for a family of six.

MonthlyExpenses

(1). Total non-discretionary expenses:  $2,222.82 (the first blue block in the table)

These are the expenses that we don’t have much control of. Either because we are pre-committed to the payment (like Internet, cell phone plans, etc.) or we have to spend on them (like grocery, fitness, gas or utilities).
For a family of six, I feel we are doing okay. Per person cost is comparable to the Frugalwoods household and lower than the gocurrycraker household. However, I must note that this is not a fair comparison, as we do have a large chunk of discretionary expenses. And also, using six in the denominator is not really justifiable,  because the marginal cost per person is not the same. For example, even without my in-laws and kids living with us, we will still incur the gas, utilities, service, and fitness bills. But nevertheless, this number helps me to see what would be the minimum amount that we would need if we choose to retire early.

Room for improvement:

a. Cancel the dish subscription at the end of February.  We don’t watch much TV at all. If we need to, we can watch on the internet. There is really no reason for having a subscription when we don’t use it. We have decided to cancel our subscription at the end of February.
b. Car maintenance should be lower: We did a maintenance service for one of our cars in January, that explains the higher expenses. In February, our car maintenance costs should be < $20, primarily for cash wash.

(2). Total non-discretionary expenses:  $3,182.31 (the second blue block in the table)

Dine-out: $407.21. We eat out five times in January. The first two were due to a friend’s visit. The last two were due to little D’s birthday. The other one was going to a seafood buffet, which is a cheap place to have a lot of seafood. If we cook the same amount of seafood at home, we would end up paying more. So whenever, we want be stuffed with seafood, we go to this place.

Clothing items: $1,377.60. This is not our norm because I picked up a Hermes shawl for our anniversary. Without the shawl, our expenses are <$200.

Gifts: $217.72. We bought several clothing items for parents.  It also included three birthday gifts for Little D and M’s friends.

Travel: $1,179.78. This included prepayments for lodging for our Disney trip in February and Utah trip in April.  This also includes $200 ticket change fees for our parents.

(3). Kids’ expenses: $1,340.28.  (the lightest blue block in the table)

Kids entertainment: $297.28.  Mostly due to little D’s birthday party. Little M had a playdate in the zoo, which cost about $25.

Kids’ after-school activities: $1,043. Prepayment for little D’s soccer club and aftercare programs in the spring semester.  $172 monthly piano lessons for D, $50 monthly dancing lessons for M, $75 monthly swimming club fee for D.

Summary:

Our total expense is $6745.41 in January with $2,848.49 likely recurring in February and $3896.92 one-time expenses.  This list does not include the following items that are automatically deducted from my pay check each month:

a. Monthly mortgage and escrow payments: $3,439.01
b. Monthly health and dental insurance payment for the whole family (pre-tax dollars): $814.67.
c. Monthly parking fees (pre-tax dollars): $70

For February, our expenses will be high again due to a planned trip to Disney and the visit of my sister-in-law’s family.  We often spend more in the first half of the year because this is when we travel more and have more family visits.

Any suggestions on how to cut our expenses? Thank you so much for reading!

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Hermès Cashmere and Silk Shawl – Brides et Gris Gris

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For our anniversary in January, my husband got me a Hermès shawl. Well, actually I picked the gift, drafted the anniversary card, and swiped the credit card. All he did was acknowledging the purchase.  Not romantic, but works beautifully. I love the efficiency that comes from this kind of gift giving. He is not stressed about whether he is getting the right thing for me. I am not stressed about whether he is wasting money on some nonsense. Yet, we can still attach a lasting tangible item to this anniversary.

As I have confessed, I love luxury items and saving money. These two passions, needless to say, conflict each other big time. What I have settled now is that I will only buy luxury items for special moments and on things I can use for at least 10 years.  While Hermès shawl was an easy pick that fits the requirement, picking the right design was much harder.  There are so many beautiful designs out there.  Below is a recap of my thinking process:

a. Past seasons vs. current seasons

Choice: Shawls from current seasons that are available on Hermes.com or in store, or shawls from past seasons on ebay or other online stores.
Decision: I decide to go with current seasons for two reasons. First, I don’t want to risk buying a fake one. Second, since I am buying it for our anniversary, I want it to be brand new and with a traceable birth.

This decision narrowed down my selections to what is available on Hermes.com.

b. Which design to choose?

Choice: Over 70+ beautiful designs online.

Decision:

b.1 Color

I went to a Hermes store to try out different shawls.  The stores normally would not have all the designs available. So the key was to try out which colors fit my skin tone. I always loved blue and have many clothing items with blue hue. I thought a blue shawl would be perfect. But surprisingly, a heavily blue shawl does not cheer my face up and made me look sad/old. After trying about 20 shawls in store, I find that red/green/yellow fit me nicely. If you are thinking about buying a Hermes shawl, please go to a store to try the colors out. You may be surprised at your findings.

b.2 Pattern

In mind mind, Hermes shawls should be bold and colorful, making a statement. So I was not interested in subtle designs. I want bold and colorful patterns in red, green or yellow. Maybe still a hue of blue just because I love blue.

b.3 Versatility

The diagonals of a shawl are very important. This is something I learnt from Maitai’s Picturebook. The more colorways the diagonals have, the more colors you can match to your wardrobe items. I crossed out a few choices because there is only one color along the two diagonal lines.  As you will see from the picture below, the diagonal colors can totally make a difference.

b.4 Designer

The last step is to research the designers on my final choices. Before I buy a luxury item, I always want to know who is the designer (didn’t I mention that I want a traceable birth for my babies?)  I have turned down items I love because the designer is not my cup of tea.  So after I narrowed down my selection of shawls to a few with red, green or yellow color patterns, I started researching the designers one by one. Google is fantastic. Don’t you agree search engines are one of the best inventions of internet?

The winner goes to:

Name: Brides et Gris Gris
Color: Red/Green/Yellow, and YES! some blue too.
Pattern: Very Hermes in my opinion. Bold and cheerful!
Versatility: Four colors along the diagonal lines!
Designer: Virginie Jamin, a children’s book illustrator and you can see her picture in this WSJ article. Her background explains why the shawl looks so cheerful!

C. Where to buy?

Choice: Online vs. In store
Decision: This was an easy decision for me. There is no Hermes store at where I live and I don’t pay taxes if I buy online.  The only additional cost is a $35 shipping charge. I used my 2% cashback card to pay for it, which helps to cover the shipping charge. 

Now the baby has arrived, shall we have a baby shower?

Arrived in an orange receiving blanket:
9

Birth Certificate:

4

Biological Mother:

Designer

Some birthmarks:

Details

 

Coming out in red and green:

redandgreen

 

Coming out in Fuchsia and Blue:

BlueandRed

See how folding along the diagonals changes the color of the shawl:

Fourways

Colors, colors and the hand-rolled edges….

1

Allthecolors

I am in love with this shawl! Cannot wait to take the baby out to get some healthy vitamin D fortified sunshine!

Thanks, my love, for a memorable anniversary!

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Restocking Beauty Essentials

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One good thing about getting old is that I know more about what suits me, which implies better budgeting and spending efficiency.

Budgeting becomes easier because I know exactly how much I need.

Spending also becomes more efficient for at least two reasons:
a. I can stock up when there are promotions.
b. I don’t need to waste time, money, and energy trying new things

Enough preface for this round of beauty restocking.  Below are the things I bought during the January Neiman Marcus gift card event:

NMF15_C009ANMF15_C0B9C

La Prairie Extrait Of Skin Caviar            Sisley-paris Eye Contour Mask

NMF15_C0J07NMF15_C0JQ6

Giorgio Armani Lasting Silk Uv Foundation (color: 5)  Cle De Peau Beaute Concealers S (color: Ocher)

NMF15_C1M1V

Glamglow Thirstymud Hydrating Treatme

Total Cost: $501  ($100 gift card for $500+ spending)

In addition to this, I made the purchase via MrRebates, which will give me 7% cash back. I will receive another 2% cashback from the priceline visa card I used to pay for the order. The total cashback is 9%. Except the moisturizer, these products will likely last me six months. The concealer, it is a 12-month supply!

Do you stock up on beauty products? What are your favorite items?

Thank you so much for reading!

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Lust for Animal Prints

I never liked animal prints.  I thought they looked old, tacky, busy and trying too hard. Last January, I went to Anne Fontaine, one of my favorite stores, to check out their winter sales.  There was a dress in a silhouette I like. The discount was hard to resist(from about 400+ to 100+).  The only downside is that it is in a kinda of animal printish pattern.  I decided to give it a try.

Oh, my! How glad I did! It went home with me and I have been wearing it whenever possible.  It can be paired with flats, boots, or pumps. I have worn it to work, to dinner dates, to shopping, to cocktail parties, or just to wander around. With its bold prints, I pretty much don’t need much accessories. A statement dress that received a lot of compliments! (The photo below does not do the justice. I am still a photographer in training. With my lack of basic photographing sense, I am counting on my husband to be the photographer-in-residence for this blog. This may take a while to happen as he currently is not very interested in reading this blog. Personal finance is not something that fancies him. Fashion puts him to sleep. Personal Finance + Fashion, the main themes of this blog, is like a maximum strength sleeping pill for him. :))

AnneFontainePatternDress0

This dress is a revolutionary item in my wardrobe.  From this dress onward, I started paying attention to animal prints.  The result? Four items in animal prints in 2014.

Item No. 2: Michael Kors Animal Prints Slim Leg Jumpsuit. (The photo is from macys.com, but it is already sold out there. I bough it at about $120. LordandTaylor.com currently sells it at $75.37).

MICHAEL Michael Kors Cheetah-Print Belted Jumpsuit

Item No 3: Michael Kors Animal Prints Sweater Dress  (I bought it at $80 and it is now only $65.9 at Nordstrom).

'Fremont' Leopard Print Fit & Flare Dress (Regular & Petite)

Item No 4: Halogen Marlie Pointy Toe Pump (Bought it during Nordstrom’s anniversary sale. The brown leopard version is sold out. The grey leopard version is still available.) The following photo is from Mint Arrow and the darling detail also has a beautiful post about this pair of shoes).

These purchases have totally changed my view toward animal prints. When done right, clothing items in animal prints can be so classy yet fun, elegant but also with a touch of sexiness!

My lust for animal prints, continues…

Do you like animal prints? Love to hear your thoughts. Thank you so much for reading!

Disclaimer:  I don’t get any commission from the items recommended above. Sharing items I love is rewarding on its own!