Eclectic Joy

Today, Monday is starting out cold with some snow and ice on the ground but sunny skies. It is supposed to reach about 47 F this afternoon then go below freezing tonight.
I am a retired elementary school teacher and DH is retired, so casual.
DH likes for us to go someplace each day. Often watching the grandchildren who are toddlers is another daily activity. This all means I need to be ready to go at a moments notice and be ready and able to crawl on the floor. Today we will probably go to a medical lecture on heart valve replacement.
Despite a casual life, I like a dressy style.
Other clothing rules are no sandals or heels and easy, quick access to my stomach for insulin injections 4 times a day. I also need a bag big enough to tote medical supplies and emergency food, a shopping bag ( area stores expect you to bring your own), and the usual purse stuff. I try to be minimal but usually need at least a satchel.
I am 72 years old, grey hair, and 5’3” tall,
small boned, a rectangle with definite apple tendencies.
Today’s outfit is quite “me” because I like to mix in thrift, consignment, and low end with pricier items. Here the jacket and trousers are thrifted, the tee is Ted Baker and I used my red Kate Spade bag. The trousers are probably the only pair I have, are wool, lined, and side zip Dana Bucanan... a brand from the past. I wore red coral dangly earrings Do you have any ideas for improving the outfit? Your thoughts and comments are welcomed. I will add outfits to this thread this week.

This outfit does not strictly follow Angie’s blog #5. I used tall boots .
The first 3 photos show ways I could wear the scarf to keep the sweater from being scratchy on my neck. It is a cold day with snow coming down. I have a ladies meeting to attend where they dress up some and notice what I wear. I wanted to use these EF wide pants in a winter way.
#4/5: textured vest over sweater
#6: new puffer coat over everything
#7: leather moto jacket
#8: leather blazer
I also have a black trench that could work with the sweater without the vest.
I was trying for some texture variation.
What do you like best or other suggestions? I have black dressy booties that could be used instead of the tall boots, also charcoal grey sneaker hiking boots more like Angie’s photo with scrunched socks but felt that may be better for another occasion. Please help me with this outfit.
ETA: Please overlook the wild hair. Nothing had been done with it yet after my shower.

Still doing Angie’s October wardrobe edit and need help. Please look at these OTK suede boots in photos 1-7. They are flat, comfortable with tights, and can be worn several ways. 1/2 OTK.
3/4 tops folded down. 5/6 one scrunched, one folded down inside. 7: both folded down inside. Please overlook bruised knee from a fall. The skin is healed but still looks discolored.
The other photos are of some possible toppers for the sweater dress and dress alone. What looks best? Should I even be wearing the dress? Boots in these photos are shown folded down inside.
I am eager to read your thoughts.

Sarah sent me this gorgeous silk dragon top. It was warm enough Sunday to wear it. Here it is styled 3 ways from my closet. I wore it with the cropped wide pants and it was much admired, even by strangers.
I think photos 1&5 are with the cropped pants, 2/3 are pattern mixing with a plaid skirt, and 4 is with a black pants suit. I have on the wrong jacket with the suit pants. But it is similar. Thank you, Sarah.

Thank you, Jenn, for the September wardrobe tracking challenge and your suggestions as we went along. I did not make a capsule as I knew the weather would be a factor and wanted my whole wardrobe at my disposal. This turned out to be a good idea.
Musings:
1. I found that I like to mix things up..old stuff with new; maximal one day or two, minimal the next; wild colors and brights followed by neutral, soothing outfits; casual followed by dressy or a mix of the two.
2. I tried on and wore some older items and identified several pieces that will be donated...low rise jeans, a pair of utility pants that refuse to stay snapped, an uncomfortable pair of shoes.
3. Although I have more clothes than I can wear during a summer season, I really felt a need to update for fall..
4. No buying polyester for summer. It just feels too hot. It is ok for cooler weather.
5. Some items I planned to get rid of came in handy to use on days that could be rough on my clothes or accessories. An old metallic silver bag that had been replaced with a better one will stay around a while longer. It is a tote that. An be loaded with books and be set on the floor without worry of ruining it. Same with some old clothes. They are still needed for messy days. Maybe I will even try to wear a Hard Rock Cafe' Maui sweatshirt with a skirt, as Angie suggested.
6. I found that I really don't have any major wardrobe holes at present except maybe too much neutral and lack of pattern for fall/winter. Next year I will probably need to do some major replacing.
I plan to continue tracking in October. I stopped recording jewelry. socks and scarves as it was just too hard to keep those records. Maybe I will try again, especially noting if I want more color and pattern. A few things have been added.
Numbers:
Tops: Total worn for September was 28. Of those 7 were worn twice, 3X3, 1X4. That was a summer hot weather Joie silk sleeveless top in an Art Deco design in black, cream and greys with a bit of tan. I wore it with a tube skirt, black jeans, black silk pants, and cream jeans.
Toppers: I wore 30 including 2coats. The rest were cardigans of different lengths, light jackets, and a poncho and a long duster vest. Most worn was and old thrifted cotton olive EF jacket. It is an old piece that fits in well with my fall things. I wore it with a mustard floral blouse, a dirty mustard linen knit tank and a deep plum silk top.
Pants (including jeans): 21. Of those, 3 were worn three times and 4 were worn twice. MVPs were new EF russet pants, old Paige jeans, and EF black silk pants.
Shoes: 27. 5X2, 2X3, 1X4 and 2X5 ( Coach blue sequined flats and gold metallic loafers. If I counted the times I wore a silver shoe, it would be 9. I am definitely on team sparkly feet. Some sort of gold metallic shoe was worn 7 times.
Bags: 16 total. Of those 8 were used multiple times. A silver metallic bag came in on top with 13 wears.
Dresses: 5 with EF sleeveless sapphire blue and an orange EF long sleeved coming in with multiple wears.

Skirts: 2 with one wear each. An EF grey linen and EF black tube in a ponte knit.

I feel like I have enough dresses and skirts for my lifestyle and try to wear at least 2 a week. I can change the look of most with toppers and accessories. I have at least one topper for every summer dress.

I do not anticipate adding more summer or even hot fall clothes next year. There were several pieces that went unworn or under used because hot weather here is not as hot or as many weeks as in Kansas. I do not wear shorts or sandals and do not need them. What I do need are more pairs of sun glasses and sun hats.

I love fit-n-flare dresses but they tend to make my legs look too skinny. Ones with narrow skirts look best...sort of a sheath with waist definition.
Here are some I wear in summer. All are knee length on me. In finds I also included my mules that go with everything and a silver bag, although I have a better matched bag now that needs a Find. I wore the white dress this week with white D'Orsay flats and a long white vest. Items are shown in finds.

Loving black in summer, I want to thank Angie for 4 black summer outfit ideas. After playing in my closet, here is what I came up with:
1: tunic, crops, metallic: EFblack silk pants, rolled; black EF assymetrical tunic, metallic shoes and bag
Photo1
2: Black Lite: Black pleated top and dark blue denim pencil skirt, white loafers. Photo 2.
3: Casual dress and white flats and bag.
EF shift dress with KS shoulder bag and AGL sneakers. Photos 3/4
4: Shorts, Silk, Straw: I don’t wear shorts so used these Citron of Santa Monica black silk crops, old black silk shirt, Pikolinos old leather straw-like peep-toes and vintage straw bag. Photo 5-7. I’d appreciate your comments and suggestions. Do I dare wear any of these outfits?

In Angie’s ways to wear pastels post, I said that I was having problems styling a lilac blazer similar to one in Finds from Net-A-Porter. Mine is not double breasted but is otherwise similar in length ( not cropped), white buttons, and color. Angie asked to see it on the forum, so I snapped some photos wearing it with blush and with white jeans. I need styling help. I think it is too long for me to wear with a skirt. Thoughts? Suggestions?
The color is most accurate in the first photos.

Doing the 30x30 challenge, I could put together a tonal olive outfit, but jeans and sweater are in the laundry. I could do the Dre dark olive jeans with the more light olive EF sweater ( last find) and maybe the Bobeau topper for another shade. The Bobeau topper is sort of an olive-tinged taupe, so I included it, but really not an olive. I love the idea of metallic footwear and would add gold metallic loafers and tote bag, olive and cream scarf ( 9th find below) and SE olive coat. I wonder if pearls come in olive? My lucite link necklace and specs frames seem to take on the colors they are with. I will try to link to Angie's blog post. Ihttps://youlookfab.com/
I welcome your suggestions for outfits or additions to this capsule.

Below are the key pieces from my winter holiday capsule. I would mix these in with neutral essentials and jewelry. I forgot to include pearls...necklaces, earrings and a ring.
Do you have any suggestions? I know that I could use some sparkly booties but don't think I would get enough wear out of them. I would like to add just a few pieces of green but have not found the right ones.