City chic

Following up my maiden appearance in my birthday post, here's my first outfit post, in part to celebrate my latest purchase and gift.

This is my look on Wednesday.

 

Some of you may recognise the dress from an earlier post.  My brother chose the Jeanie Geo from the Ruby by Leona Edmiston collection as my birthday present.

As I expected the dress is very comfy.  The cut of the dress suits my body shape, and I think the print is a lot of fun.  Here's a close up.

When the weather gets colder I'll pair the dress up with patterned pins and black kitten heels.

And yes, I'm carrying my brand new bag in the first photo!  After returning the Z Spoke by Zac Posen bag I'm been on the lookout for a replacement.

A tweet from Net-A-Porter about free international postage was enough to win me over and I bought the Michael Kors Gia shoulder bag in burnt orange (£379).

At 22cm x 18cm the Gia is a bit smaller than most of my other bags, but the shape and the colour won me over.

The tiny pouch on the right holds a small key, it can be used to lock the bag, but it's largely for aesthetics.

The shape and cut of the bag are absolutely spot on for me.  The lines are simple and elegant, the design is feminine without being girly, and what a perfect colour for autumn!

If I can make one change to the bag I'll pick smoother leather over grained leather (like this Marc Jacobs bag, which is very cute by-the-by?). But it's a minor point.

The bag can be carried two way, either with the strap doubled up and carried by hand like this.

Or with the strap fully extended and carried on the shoulder like me in the first photo. I thought the fully extended strap would be a bit awkward in length but it was actually quite comfortable! I ended up carrying the bag that way all the time.

The bag may be small but it fits my belongings neatly.

It is actually quite handy to have a bag with no spare room, because it is easy to tell when something's missing.  When I was at waiting for the lift this afternoon I looked inside the bag and saw immediately that the "iphone slot" was empty, so I went back to my desk to pick it up before I left the building.

So here's my first outfit post!  May it be the first of many :-D