I have a love affair with leopard…and cheetah, ocelot, zebra, etc. Maybe I should just say I have a love affair with animal prints. I don’t know why I like them so much. In fact, there was a time, not so long ago, that I wouldn’t have been caught dead in animal prints. That all changed around the age of 40. It was practically an overnight change. I wish I could pinpoint it. If you ever go to bed hating a thing and loving it the next morning, I think that is worth of a journal entry…a mark on the calendar–don’t you?
For Fall, I have added not one, not two, but THREE new items in my wardrobe that are animal print. Of course, I started with finding a handbag. I searched Ebay and Etsy tirelessly for the perfect vintage one. I really did. I just couldn’t find it. There were some darling ones out there, mind you, but usually the ones I wanted were too expensive (for vintage). But since there are invisible little tracking people living in my computer, I was soon seeing advertisements for Coach and wouldn’t you know it? A certain ocelot* print bag kept popping up on my sidebar…teasing me constantly. I tried to resist but it was all in vain. The style of the bag had caught my eye before and I mentioned it in this previous post. It had a vintage look to it so naturally I was drawn. After engaging my supersleuthingpowershopping online powers (activate!), I found it for under $200. Still a mighty high splurge for me but I did it. And I love it!
Through the Coach Factory store I also found an ocelot silk scarf. It was less than half price. Most of my silk scarves are the 35″ square variety. This one is 27″….something new to work with. When I saw it I imagined it more tied to handbag than to my neck. Especially since the color orange should not be near my face…EVER. A big factor in why I avoid jail time.
(image via…this is “the” scarf but not “my” scarf)
Finally, a leopard print blouse was procured from NY & Company. I have never shopped there before. But I had read an article in IN STYLE magazine that mentioned Eva Mendes had a clothing line coming out with them. I like Eva. She is an hourglass gal so I thought she might actually come up with something I would like. Surprisingly, while most items featured were very cute, I didn’t find the necklines to be flattering for an hourglass. Maybe I should give her a call about this and see what we could come up with for future designs. I will let you know when that call happens. Anyhoo…I hesitantly did buy this blouse:
(via...I am not seeing it in the online store anymore)
I am not really a “blouse” person. And I wasn’t sure how a button-down would work. BUT I have a pencil skirt now and I thought perhaps venturing into the world of blouses might be a good idea. I have worn it once and I think I will keep it. It is a very feminine thing to wear. A nice change for my “style”–whatever that is.
I have joined with Adrienne and Jill today in this month’s “How I Wear My…Animal Print”. Click on over to their blogs to see more real women styling their wardrobes with animal prints.
As always, thank you for reading! I appreciate it…I really do.
~~Heather~~
*ocelot? what in the world is it? i didn’t know either. according to dictionary.com:
“a spotted leopard like cat, Felis pardalis, ranging from Texas through South America: now greatly reduced in number and endangered in the U.S.”
Sad.
