The Fashionista Next Door: Over The Knee Socks, Part II (and my new winter hat!)

It rained the last couple days here in ATL and I thought there was no better time to break out my new hat! It's technically a fedora, but I push it down so far on my head that you can't even see the crease in the top of the hat anymore. Lol! what can I say, I guess I have a big head (no jokes, Fabrice! Lol).Whatever it is, I love it. You all know that I am pretty much obsessed with leopard print so I couldn't resist this hat when I saw the little leopard print trim and it was only $19.99 at TJ Maxx! Sold! I used to have a lot more hats and I don't know where most of them have gone. I think its time to shore up my collection again!

Okay, the my confession is I just put that hat on specifically to take the pictures in the slide show. I was just so excited about it, but I did actually wear the hat yesterday.

So, who reads Where Did You Get That? Am I not not totally channeling my inner Karen in this next picture? She's always got on something that blows in the wind like a cape, and you know she loves her black brimmed hat!

I've had this sweater a while and Fabrice will tell you that I wore it EVERY DAY last winter. It was literally my uniform for the holidays when we traveled to the Bay Area to visit my family. I layered it over EVERY outfit I wore. I am a naturally hot person (hot as in body temperate, as opposed to hot as in hottie!). I am usually on the brink of a heat stroke in the colder months because everyone else is freezing and of course they feel the need to crank the heat, meanwhile my eyelashes feel like they are going to burst into flames, pools of sweat are starting to form under my arms (gross, I know!). For this reason, I rarely wear a heavy winter coat unless I am going to be outside for long periods of time. If it's just a matter of making it from the car to some one's HOT house, a heavy sweater will do the trick just fine.

Anyway, I've had these boots since 2007 I believe I think they are pretty beat up looking these days and I've contemplated buying a new pair of black riding boots, but I am telling you I get so many compliments on these old things. So if ain't broke, don't fix it, right? I guess they are still doing their job -- keeping me warm and fashionable! so I guess they'll be sticking around for another winter. One thing that I do love about them is the roomy shaft. It's really easy to slide them over the thickest socks, legwarmers, and even non-skinny jeans. Lord knows we've all bought those boots that were great in theory, but you couldn't stuff a pair of jeggings into them if your life depended on it.

As you can see I decided to give over-the-knee socks another go. I loved them much more this time, or I guess I should say I felt much more comfortable in them this time. You may recall that last time I wore them I listed a couple things I'd change next time I broke them out. Well, I took my own advice (lol) and paired them with tights instead of leggings this time -- sheer polka dot tights to be exact and I am so glad I did! The peek of sheer thigh added a little bit of understated sexiness, don't you think? In contrast with the the flat boots and cable-knit socks , the tights made this look a little more ladylike.

Now, I know I've said this a million times before, but I'll say it again. We all know that black is an easy go-to for classic and polished dressing, and obviously for easy sexy dressing (hello LBD!). But playing with textures and proportions like I've done here also makes dressing in black FUN! In fact, because black is what it is, you can afford to be a little more risky and play with trends like over the knee socks and patterned tights even if these trends are a little bit outside of your normal comfort zone.