Weekday update #34: She Hit Me With A Flower

Finally, a bolero I love! Today's look is inspired by Lucy Maud Montgomery's, "Anne of Green Gables." I have loved her stories for as long as I can remember. I used to have the leather bound books, but as the years went by, they fell apart. In the film version, the costumes are just to die for. Quite simple, yet very, very elegant. "Puffed sleeves are so fashionable now. It would give me such a thrill, Marilla, just to wear a dress with puffed sleeves." --Anne Shirley, with an "e!"

(Trina Turk wool bolero; Newport News dress; Issac Mizrahi boots)

Ten years ago, I spent a few summer weeks with an ex-boyfriend's mother, a very classy lady, who always seemed impossibly put together. She took a liking to the awkwardly dressed collegiate me and gave me a style lesson. She said "always buy quality pieces in simple cuts and colors" but "make them your own with one or two favorite accessories." For her, that meant a signature sundress, a simple yet brightly colored piece, a black cashmere cardigan, classic Ferragamo low heels with the gold bow detail, and a small strand of pearls just long enough to circle her elegant long neck. I thought of her this morning when I put this outfit together, mostly because she had given me the delicate necklace of floating semiprecious stones, which she claimed to remind her of me. Although I was far from being that elegant back in the day. I also thought of her because I am hopefully practicing what she taught me. The shirt, skirt, and shoes are all rather classic, but the belt and flower brooch combo is what speaks of me and my mood today, that of hopefulness for spring.