Which winter jacket did I buy? Plus, workout outfit of the day

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I was really hoping I could post some of my Cyber Monday purchases in an outfit, but the postal strike seems to have delayed my purchases. Aside from the things I bought from Reitman’s that I talked about in my last post, I did end up ordering a jacket. I ran through the jackets I loved in this post. *Drumroll*.. I ended up buying the Babaton Pearce Wool Coat in Tailor Tan!

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The Charcoal was completely sold out except for XXS (not happening) so I took that as a sign to get the Tailor Tan. I can’t wait for it to arrive.

In the mean time, I’ve been watching a lot of videos on YouTube about winter fashion, dressing for cold weather, etc. One of my favourites is this one from Toni Sevdalis – How to Look Cute in the Cold. (She lives in Montreal, so I will trust her recommendations)

Here is my realistic outfit of the day. I wore it to a barre class this morning and then to run a few errands after.

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Close-ups

Outfit details:

Tank Top – Under Armour, purchased at SportChek last year
Sports bra – You can’t see it obviously, but it is this Under Armour one, from SportChek. It is amazing!
Leggings – Wunder Under Crop High-Rise from Lululemon (Link to exact leggings)
Barre socks – Adidas, purchased on Amazon earlier this year

I know some people don’t love Lululemon, and their stuff is pricey, but all of the leggings I have bought from Lululemon have lasted for years. And I work out a decent amount, and wear them as part of my regular day-to-day outfits. I also have a hoodie and a sports bra that I’ve had for years.

Where is your go-to place for workout clothes? Mine is clearly SportChek and Lululemon!

Work wardrobe overhaul

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I’ve been feeling very uninspired with my work clothes/work wardrobe lately. I found a few items I wanted to buy but I decided to wait until Black Friday/Cyber Monday (today).

I went to Reitman’s yesterday, and out of the five items I was looking for they only had three. And I only ended up buying one. Keep reading to see what I ended up buying there! There is a dress and a striped top I’m going to order today.

I love Miss Louie’s channel on YouTube, she always has workwear videos with a ton of different outfit ideas. She also has outfits of the week videos, clothing hauls, capsule wardrobes, etc. She also includes links to where she bought everything! Here is one of my recent favourites:

Now, let’s get to my outfit:

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Close-ups:

Outfit details:

Shirt – Michael Kors, purchased at Marbella Clothing a few years ago
Skirt – Reitman’s (link to exact skirt)
Tights – HeatHolders, purchased on Amazon (link to exact tights)
Shoes – J Crew Factory , purchased a month or two ago

I bought this skirt yesterday–my only successful Reitman’s purchase! It was 60% off so it was under $20. Score! I tried on a jumpsuit which I loved, but I decided I wouldn’t wear it enough. I plan on ordering a dress and black and white striped shirt from there later today.

I’d also like to talk about these tights. They are so thick and warm and have been a life saver this winter so far! The only bad thing is they seem to be a magnet for dog fur, which there is a lot of at my house!

What sort of Black Friday/Cyber Monday purchases did you make?

My favourite winter jackets

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This post is going to be a little different from others.. there’s no weekly outfit however I am going to be talking about my favourite winter jackets. Black Friday (November 23) and Cyber Monday (November 26) are coming up and I’ve got my eye on a few!

Here are my favourites:

Babaton Pearce Wool Coat

I have been admiring Aritzia’s Babaton Pearce Wool Coat for probably two years now. What I’m not crazy about is the $350 price tag. Tailor Tan and Charcoal are my favourite colours. I feel like charcoal might go with more of my clothes, however.

Chateau Parka in Italian stadium-wool cloth

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If you thought $350 was steep for a jacket, you haven’t met J. Crew’s Chateau parka in stadium-wool cloth. At $467, it better be the best fitting, warmest, best coat I have ever owned. However, the reviews aren’t that great. J. Crew does have really good sales (this jacket was recently 35% off). Even if it’s 40% off for Black Friday/Cyber Monday, the reviews have really changed my thoughts on this jacket. It’s so nice though…

Alpine Meadows

I discovered Ellabee International on Instagram. They are based in Montreal! I loved the look of their jackets, and when I looked on their website I discovered the Alpine Meadows jacket. It has a slight resemblance to the Pearce Wool Coat from Aritzia, but it’s much lower prices at $169.99. The downside? There’s only three colours and I don’t love any of them.

Zara Overcoat with Faux Fur Hood

The toggles. The cognac. The square front pockets. The faux fur. There isn’t one thing I don’t like about this jacket. This Zara Overcoat with Faux Fur Hood checks off all the boxes as well as boxes I didn’t know I had until now. It’s $269, so it’s in the middle of the pack, price-wise.

Shawl Collar Wrap Coat

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This Anne Taylor Shawl Collar Wrap Coat gets an honourable mention. I won’t be buying it because it doesn’t have a hood and I don’t think it would be warm enough for a Saskatchewan winter. Also, it’s around $273 and I remember putting it in my shopping cart last year to see how much it would be total, and duties, taxes, and shipping were a LOT.

As you can see, I tend to stick to neutral colours that will go with everything. I have the same strategy when I buy purses.

Do you have a favourite? What items do you have your eye on for Black Friday sales?

Winter is Here

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I named this blog A Weekly Look, and that couldn’t be more accurate for today’s post. It’s focused mainly on outerwear and it’s what I’ve been wearing every day, of every week, for a while now…

I live in Regina, SK, and winter is HERE. Since the first day of November it has been around -20 degrees Celsius, -25 or colder with the windchill. It has also snowed, a lot. So, I’m posting what I wear on a typical day to survive the cold and the snow. I work downtown and have to park on a different block (because #downtownparkingproblems) so I need to dress appropriately, and I also try to get outside every day at lunch. Otherwise I’m inside in a windowless office for 8.5 hours–not ideal!

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Close-ups:

Outfit details:

Parka – Volcom Walk on By parka, purchased online last winter (link to exact parka)
Infinity scarf – H&M, purchased a couple of years ago
Mitts – Chapters, purchased last winter
My favourite leather leggings (also can be found in this blog post) – Spanx, purchased at The Bay (link to actual leggings)
Socks – Roots (link to exact socks)
Mukluks – Manitoba Gatherer mukluk (link to exact pair, except mine have a different, discontinued sole)

I need a new, dressier jacket for winter. I currently have my eye on the J. Crew Chateau Parka in Hthr Dusk and the Babaton Pearce wool coat in Tailor Tan. I’m waiting until Black Friday/Cyber Monday to choose one. Even though the Babaton coat is currently cheaper than the J. Crew one, J. Crew seems to have better sales than Aritzia. J. Crew recently had the parka for 35% off. I was tempted to order, but I held off. I have a feeling I will end up ordering the J. Crew parka, because I’ve never seen the Babaton coat go below $300.

I’ve had the Manitobah mukluks in this post for six years now. When you consider the fact that sometimes I literally wear them for six months of the year (thank you, prairie winters), this is amazing. The warmth and quality has been so impressive. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to spend almost $300 on a pair of boots when I originally thought about buying them. I didn’t exactly have a high-paying job at the time, and that is a lot to spend no matter what your current financial situation is. Then one day I walked to work (about a 20-minute walk) when my car was literally stuck in my parking spot. After sliding around, actually falling down once, and my feet becoming soaked on the walk in my cheap ankle booties, I got to work and ordered them that same morning, ha! I think they might be the best clothing purchase I have ever made.

What are your must-haves for winter? These mukluks are definitely mine!

Let’s Talk About These Boots

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The outfit in this post is fairly plain/simple, I admit. However, the boots are the clear focus of the outfit. I’ll talk about the boots more later in the post.

I wore this outfit to work on a Friday (the majority of the outfits I post on here seem to be, ha!). The boots were a bit uncomfortable, I’ll admit. I wasn’t wearing socks, and I did a lot of walking the day I wore this outfit. Hopefully I just need to break them in!

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Close-ups:

Outfit details:

Shirt – RW&Co, purchased last year
Jeans – Hudson, purchased at Marbella Clothing a few years ago
Booties – Steve Madden, purchased from Nordstrom (link to exact boots)

I had been stalking these boots for months. It seems like they are only available at Nordstrom? They were originally ~$177 CDN, plus taxes, duties, and shipping. Um, no thank you. When I saw they were 30% off AND had the size and colour I wanted, I decided to bite the bullet and order them. They are as beautiful in person as I thought they would be. The only downside, like I said earlier in the post, is the first couple of wears have bee pretty uncomfortable. Hopefully it will get better after I wear them a couple more times.

Are there any items on your fall shopping list? Perhaps something you’ve had your eye on for months? Ha!

Casual Saturday

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This outfit is more casual than the others I have posted so far. The nice weather continued on Saturday and I didn’t even need to wear a jacket! I wore this outfit to go to a nail appointment and do a couple of errands.

My favourite thing about this outfit is that it is super comfortable, but I still felt put together when I was wearing it. I can’t tell you how many times I throw on leggings and a sweater (usually a hoodie) to run out and do a couple of things and think to myself ‘I hope I don’t see anyone I know…’. I’ll talk about why I love these leggings so much after the outfit photos.

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Close-ups:

Outfit details:

Sweater – RW&Co (link to exact sweater)
Leggings – Spanx, purchased at The Bay (link to actual leggings)
Shoes – Sperry (link to exact shoes)
Obligatory nail photo, gel manicure from Zazu salon

Here’s a tip for shopping at RW&Co.–never pay full price for anything. Seriously. Don’t do it. They have sales all the time. Just keep watching their website, and the item you want to buy will probably go on sale within a week. They always have 30% and 40% off everything sales, and sales on specific items (e.g., outerwear, blazers, pants). This sweater is regularly $89.95, and I bought it on a day where all sweaters were on sale for $49.95.

The Spanx faux leather leggings are my absolute favourite leggings I own. The material is really thick, and I find the leather look to be pretty subtle. I’ve looked at so many leather leggings that are really shiny, which I think makes them look cheap and fairly tacky. These have more of a matte finish and the leather has a cobbled look to it. I would say they fit on the smaller side–I have a medium.

Are you a fan of faux leather leggings? Which ones are your favourite?

This outfit brought to you by nice weather

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So, I live in Regina, SK, and up until this past week fall was basically non-existent. It was warm up until the beginning of September; most of September was cold, windy, and rainy; and it rained and snowed (multiple times) the first two weeks of October. I was actually wearing my winter jacket up until the beginning of last week.

It warmed up last week (it was 21 degrees Celsius last Thursday!) and I don’t think I could have shoved my winter jacket back in the closet quicker. I was able to get a couple more wears out of my favourite leather jacket from Zara. Keep reading for my full outfit details and why I love this jacket so much!

I wore this outfit this past Friday. Once again it was casual Friday at work, which is why I am wearing jeans. (I’m going to have to post a work outfit where I’m not wearing jeans.. oops!)

I also purchased the grey sweater at H&M last week, so it was my first time wearing it. I love H&M for seasonal pieces and accessories. I bought this sweater, a scarf, and some earrings and it was just over $60.

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Close-ups:

Outfit details:

Jacket – Zara
Sweater – H&M (link to exact sweater)
Polka-dot blouse – Part Two brand, purchased at Stella & Sway (store is no longer open)
Jeans – 7 for all mankind, purchased at Marbella Clothing last year
Shoes – Tory Burch, which I purchased in like-new condition on Varage Sale last year (I don’t think I could justify buying these at full price) (link to exact flats)

Alright, let’s talk about this jacket. I actually bought this jacket around 2 1/2 years ago, and I feel like it’s still in style and I still love it. Classic styles and colours are big selling points for me. I had been looking for a leather jacket like this one for a while, but I had a hard time finding exactly what I wanted. A lot of the ones I looked at weren’t quite the right style, or they didn’t fit right. I found this one on Zara’s website and it was everything I was looking for. I ordered it online and it actually ended up fitting pretty perfectly. It’s probably one of the best purchases I’ve ever made. The only downside is that because of it’s style, I don’t get to wear it as much as I would like. There’s no hood, it’s not warm enough to wear when it’s below 0, and I also don’t wear it is it’s raining.

What are your favourite clothing purchases?

Hello, and Welcome to A Weekly Look

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It’s finally here! My very first blog post for A Weekly Look.

I created this blog for the Foundations of Digital Communications Strategy & Social Media class I’m taking through the University of Toronto. I plan on sharing outfit of the day photos, outfit details, reviews of new clothing and accessory purchases, and anything else that I think would be worth sharing.

Here’s my first outfit. I wore it to work on Friday, hence the jeans. However, I was doing a presentation to all staff, so I didn’t want to look too casual.

I have already learned one lesson–take photos during the day! I took these later in the evening and had a lot of issues with getting the proper lighting. I’m going to work on getting better photos for the next outfit I post.

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Close-ups:

Outfit details:

White and black lace top – Purchased at Queen V last year
Blazer – RW&Co (link to exact blazer)
Jeans – 7 for all mankind, purchased at Marbella Clothing last year
Earrings – Also purchased at Queen V, possibly at the same time I bought the top, ha!
Ankle booties – Vince Camuto, purchased from Nordstrom earlier this year

Any tips for taking outfit photos? (When you’re taking the photo yourself) I’ll have to experiment and hopefully I step up my photo game for next week!