Filling in the Gaps
About a month ago I realized that I had a gap in my winter wardrobe: a black purse.
I did use to have a vintage black purse, but I sold it a few years ago, since it wasn’t very large and couldn’t hold both my wallet and phone. I hadn’t replaced it, though, because over the past few years I’ve been working to curate my closet to have brown as my neutral instead of black. When I purchased a new everyday purse a few years ago, I chose one that was cognac.
However, since then, I have also realized that I have a cool undertone, and have started to seek out more cool coloured items of clothing, which don’t always pair well with warm browns.
This outfit came together kind of like “if you give a mouse a cookie”, starting with the plaid skirt. This skirt is actually a perfect example of the colours that work best for me: a dark sage green, taupe and merlot plaid.
Which meant that this top was the perfect colour to match. Depending on the light and what it is paired with, it sometimes looks brown, sometimes plum and sometimes wine.
And then as I was going along with these purple undertones, my oxblood coloured riding boots were the obvious choice, paired with hint-o-black hosiery. And the colour scheme worked so perfectly with my taupe-pink beret and a dark purple hatpin.
Everything was working so well together, but then it came to the final detail: my purse. What purse would I pair with this colour scheme? My green purse was the wrong shade and all of my brown ones clashed with the boots. Cognac leather would look terrible paired with oxblood leather, so obviously I needed to get a new purse!
In all seriousness, I have been thinking of getting another black purse for the past few years, I just haven’t earnestly looked for one. I’ve only worn these oxblood boots a few times since I bought them in 2019, all because I didn’t have a bag to carry with them. I also have a lot of black shoes, so having a black bag to create a “set” wasn’t a bad idea.
So about a month ago, I turned to Poshmark and found the perfect one. A leather bag with a suede flap, gold clasp and top handle which can also be turned into a shoulder bag or a backpack with the additional straps! It’s also not too big to carry as an “everyday” bag, but it’s still big enough to hold all of my essentials.
And you know what? I have already worn this bag four times; I guess there was more of a gap in my wardrobe than I first realized!
As for this outfit, I was going to mention which items were new and which were secondhand, but then I realized that the only things “new” were the tights. One day I should figure out how much of my wardrobe is second hand and how much is new; that would be interesting. I think the secondhand would win the majority….how about in your closet? And are you on the hunt for any “wardrobe gaps”?
