No Shopping Challenge January 2018 - Outfit 9 Dinner with friends

It''s a super dreary day in Hong Kong and I can't get excited about my day clothes.  So for this ninth no-shopping challenge outfit I am focusing on dinner tonight.

For some reason I remembered my university days while prepping this post when my friend Pam would often tell me that she'd never seen anyone with as many new outfits as me.  The funny thing was, I didn't have a whole lot of clothes then, because I had come to America from Holland with just two suitcases.  But making do with a limited amount is great for creativity, and I used the things I did have in different combinations all the time.

In fact, I think I may have been a better dresser than I am nowadays. We have more disposable income now, as we are grownups (sort of), but I am not sure that always results in better style. 

Feeling creative after that trip down memory lane, I sat down in front of the sewing machine this morning and covered an old clutch bag with some vintage silk brocade (I used to be a handbag designer)  and I started my outfit from there.

The skirt was from H&M about six months ago and is no longer on their website, but I do like THIS and especially THIS one.

The top is a sample I made for my fledgling clothing business - it's made from a wool silk mix and I love it, but only one customer ever did (thank you Luce).  It's quite cropped and therefore perfect for high waisted skirts.

The Aquazzura shoes should have been on Ebay, but I never got around to putting them up for sale and instead moved them back to the wardrobe and now I'm kind of happy about that.  They are really beautiful shoes and still available HERE. Not at all comfortable though, so make sure it's a sit-down dinner!

I kept the bag very plain as the fabric is already stunning on its own.

But it's easy to make any clutch more special by sticking on a ribbon or a pin.  This double sided velvet is from V V Rouleaux, one of my favorite stores in the world.

The plastic cherry pin is entirely opposite to the victorian style fabric but I think that makes it work.

Or a sequin camellia from the Gap.  I have no clothes whatsoever left from the Gap since I stopped shopping there years ago, but I still have this pin from the nineties, which is also the most unlikely Gap product ever.  And one of my favorite accessories of all time as it reminds me of Chanel.

I hope you are all having a great weekend!  Lots of love,

xx Dianne