This quarter's Magnificent 8 theme was a tricky one for me: vests! I did have a vest once - and wore it 11 times before deciding it wasn't for me. I only share things I actually wear on the blog and because I really didn't feel like trying to borrow a vest just for a couple wears for a post to find out again that it is an item that doesn't work for me, I figured I'd share the 11 ways I did wear a vest before I admitted defeat and donated it. Pretty shameful cost per wear as I paid $29.99 for it on sale, but I really struggled to wear it so it was better to pass it on.
I don't mind the look of some of these outfits - I pulled out all my old staple formulas, like stripes with everything, and blue and pink. I just find a vest a frustrating piece to wear. It doesn't keep my arms warm so it's not a cold weather piece but it doesn't provide shoulder coverage either so it's a bad piece for summer. Vests and I just don't get along! I love the look of this vest but it just never seemed like a must-have for my outfits. And I always felt like I "should" wear it rather than wanting to wear it so it wasn't one that worked in my wardrobe.
If you're on the fence about vests, or you want some ideas for how to wear a similar waterfall vest you might already own, here's some of the ways I wore this old one I had a few years ago.
Blush Vest And Dresses
A long waterfall vest like this blush one looks great worn over a dress! Here I've tried the blue and pink combo I love so much, and for something different even tried to belt this vest in the first outfit. It's good to try little things like adding a belt to mix things up.
Blush Vest and Shorts
Seeing a vest as a warm weather piece, pairing it with shorts seemed like an obvious combo. Out of these 4 vest and shorts combos, I really liked the second and last ones the most, where I have a bit of a column of monochromatic colour under the vest that it layers so well with.
Blush Vest and Jeans
Can't go wrong with an outfit staple of jeans and a tee, and for something a little different I tried adding the blush waterfall vest on top. Again you can see the monochrome column of colour in these outfits too.
Blush Vest and Stripes
Whenever I'm not quite sure how to wear something I pull out the stripes! I find that striped tops worked well with this blush waterfall vest as it's a plain block colour and the stripe tops add a nice bit of interest to the outfit, so the vest isn't the only statement piece.
Similar Vests Under $50
The Magnificent 8
The Magnificent 8 is a collaboration of 8 stylish women, ranging in age from early 20’s to early 80’s. The mission of this collaboration is to showcase how ageless style is. There are no age restrictions on style. So wear what you want, when you want, add a smile, and strut your style with confidence. And be sure to check out all 7 of these other amazing ladies!
Every quarter, the group chooses a theme and each create an outfit that suits our own personal tastes and fashion choices. We post them on the last Wednesday of every third month. Check out everyone’s posts with the links above for style inspiration at any age as they show you their vest outfits. And get some inspiration from people who, unlike me, are big vest fans!
Sharing two things I bought in September - lucky opshop finds! No video this time, just some photos, as it was only two thrifted things.
What I Bought:
I couldn't resist picking these up at the opshop sale! We wandered in just for a little browse, with nothing in particular in mind to buy (although I was, as always, hoping to find a couple books for the kids and I). Nothing really appealed but I did see this cute little skirt hanging off the end of the rack when we passed the women's clothing section and for $1 I had to have it! I remember skirts like these being popular quite a while ago back in my uni days. Luckily, this one has a fully elasticated waist so I can wear on my hips and it doesn't feel too short. Not like the high waisted mini skirts I remember wearing when I was younger in the pre-blog days! Still just as fun to wear, just a little longer and so more practical for running around with the kids.
The necklace was another piece I just stumbled across - they have accessories right next to the registers and this designer inspired clover necklace from Mix Apparel was just $2, new with tags. I've gone to look up the website though and I can't see Mix Apparel any more or find out what happened to it (my local Coles store never sold it). For my non-Aussie followers it was a fashion brand you could buy in a supermarket here, not sure if you still can. For just $2 though it's a cute necklace!
How I've Worn It:
I really wasn't expecting to hit my "wear everything twice in the month I buy it" goal with this little ruffle skirt. But some summer like spring days after I bought this skirt gave me the opportunity to wear it almost right away! The necklace was an easy piece to hit that two wears in the month goal with too, I think it pairs nicely against plain block colour clothing pieces.
How I'm Tracking:
I was hoping as September was the last month of the Slow Fashion Season #FashionDetox to buy nothing, but didn't succeed. Although second hand shopping is allowed under the challenge I would have liked to finish with a no buy month! But couldn't pass up these two impulse buys. Not a bad track record for the 3 month challenge though, with nothing bought in July, a second hand bag in September and now these 2 thrift finds. Only 3 things total and all allowed under the rules.
With my spend for 2020 being pretty low and a lot of impulse buys (and bags!) this year, I'm surprisingly still under my 2020 spending limit at the end of September. Really hoping I can stick to that though as I'm getting close to matching what I spent last year already. I only spent $483.59 on fashion in 2020 though so I have a pretty tight budget to spend less than that this year!
It feels a little strange to be putting together a post of 30 ways I've worn a leather jacket when it's spring here in Brisbane. But I realised when I wore this beautiful blue moto jacket over winter that it had passed 30 wears, and it's definitely overdue a post! It's always fun searching back in my blog archives and stumbling across pieces I've worn more than 30 times without realising, like this jacket. It's one of the benefits of using my blog as an outfit diary - years of photos of what I've worn out each day to make putting these posts together so easy.
30 Ways To Wear: Cobalt Leather Moto Jacket
I first saw this leather jacket in a magazine I'm sure - as much as I loved Wittner shoes for leather shoes for work I wasn't a regular visitor of their website. But once I'd seen it, I could not get it out of my head. It was an online only piece so no chance of trying it on in store, and I spent weeks mulling it over before buying. Wittner is a shoe brand and only did jackets for a couple of years I think - hard to find out much info as it was so long ago I bought this. So glad I did buy it though, all the way back in 2013! I've seen it online called both Santa Fe which I label it on my blog, or Sante Fe as the email receipt says. Since it was so long ago I don't have any tags to confirm, but searching online for both names shows that at one point they made this jacket in black too. I do love the cobalt blue though!
Cost Per Wear
While winter in Brisbane doesn't last that long I like wearing my leather jackets on the super cold days. As a result this only gets worn a few times a year, so it's taken me quite a while to pass 30 wears with it! It's currently at 36 wears.
This jacket is one of my rare full price buys, and aside from my wedding dress, it's the most I've ever paid for an item of clothing. It was a huge $299.95, and never went on sale so I'm glad I splurged on it full price! At 36 wears it's $8.33 a wear currently, which is a lot higher than the 'under $1 per wear' figure most people aim for to get "value for money". But with just 36 wears in 8 years, and so few really cold winter days in Brisbane, I expect it to last so much longer in my wardrobe. It is definitely an investment piece I never see myself giving up!
Because this is a 30 ways to wear post, I narrowed it down and as usual just chose 30 of my favourite ways I've worn this, from 2013 to now.
Cobalt Leather Jacket With Neutrals
The easiest way to wear any item that's a big bold block of colour: wear it with neutrals! White, grey, black, all work so well with this jacket as it lets the jacket be the statement piece in your outfit.
Cobalt Leather Jacket With Purple
I really like blue and purple together and these 4 outfits illustrate that any shades combine well! From a lilac tee to a deep sapphire bag, or even 3 shades of purple like that last outfit there with the different accessories, it's just such a good combination.
Cobalt Leather Jacket With Red
This is another fun colour combination, that is a really bright one too. Red and blue are another power combo together, and against the cobalt jacket red really pops! Even something as small as a little red accessory like a bag or scarf looks fantastic with the bright blue.
Blue Leather Jacket With Yellow
Like red and blue above, yellow is a fun combination but surprisingly one I haven't worn all that much with this jacket! I like wearing yellow as it's such a cheerful colour and I find it looks so good with the cobalt - from a bright mustard like the clutch bag in the middle there, to a pastel yellow like the tees.
Cobalt Leather Jacket With Pink
As much as I enjoy the other colour combinations with this jacket, saving the best for last here as blue and pink together always makes me smile! As with the previous colours I shared above, again I find any shade of pink (or even multiple shades of pink) are nice against the cobalt. From magenta to hot pink to pastel pink, it all just works so well.
Blue Moto Leather Jacket With Maxis
Jeans and a leather jacket is a style staple and one I've worn quite a lot with this jacket, but it's good to try different things too and I find that maxi skirts and dresses are a nice pairing with the leather jacket. A leather jacket is a great topper with a maxi skirt or dress on a cooler day.
Cobalt Leather Jacket With Dresses
While pink and blue is my favourite colour combination, a leather jacket and dress has to be my favourite outfit pairing. Much like the maxi dresses above, you can't go wrong with a cute little dress and a leather jacket. Add some tights and boots and a scarf if it's really cold too and you're snuggly and warm for winter.
Similar Blue Moto Jackets
Normally I'd include where you could get the look under $50 but, much like this cobalt jacket of mine, the available options I could find are definitely in the splurge category! Here are some similar pieces, most at lower prices than I paid for mine, but all unfortunately above the bargain $50 price point.
