The First Time

     Today I'd like to talk about my first time. No, not that first time. I'm talking about the first time, with my first own money, that I bought a piece of truly expensive (aka totally impractical) clothing. I think we all remember our first...that gorgeous, luxurious item that made us turn our heads and enticed us to step into one of those shops, the ones that with elegant, minimal displays, lush dressing rooms, and, say, one or two customers at most.
     For me, those items have always been sweaters and dresses. Dresses, however, I usually have to pass on, simply because Japanese women and therefore Japanese labels favor a billowy, tent-like cut, while I definitely prefer a more solid, form-fitting (at least at the waist), and architectural style. So for me, the purchase that opened Pandora's box was a sweater.
     Not just any sweater...it was the sweater, the sweater of my dreams. It's a soft true grey, fitted in the torso but with voluminous dramatic sleeves. And the pièce de résistance? The lovely satin faux-collar at the neck, bordered and dotted with delicate little pearls. It's by my favorite Japanese label, anatelier (no real website, but this page has a decent sampling of items). The price points usually hover around $100-150 for sweaters and $200-300 for dresses so I don't torture myself by going there too often, and I usually only buy something when they're having a sale.
     But of course, for my first, I paid full price. And it was worth every penny, or yen, in my case. The only downside is that the super soft wool pills like crazy under the arms, but it's nothing a sweater shaver or deft fingers can't take care of. It's super warm so I only wear it when the weather turns frosty, and with snow on the horizon, yesterday was the perfect opportunity.

Wool sweater (anatelier Japan), grey turtleneck top (Lowry's Farm Japan), faux-tiered skirt (Soup Japan), accessories (Tiffany&Co. and anemone Japan)

     Usually I like to pair the sweater with dark skinny jeans and tall brown boots on my off days, but I add a long white ruffled-hem chemise over the underlying turtleneck. But yesterday I felt like wearing it to work, and when I discovered that the satin of the collar just happened to match the fabric of one of my work skirts, all I had to do was to pull on my sheer stockings and slip into my nude pumps and I was good to go.
     It is, however, a little challenging to squeeze the sweater's billowy sleeves into those of a coat, so I've been on the hunt for a warm grey capelet with swing sleeves.  And I just happened to see one on sale at anatelier a few weeks ago...fate, perhaps?