Not a dress I know, but it has been cold and/or rainy around these parts, so I am unapologetic in my need for warmth. The sweater I found while looking for things to get rid of. The end of the year is fast approaching and since I haven't really gotten rid of quite as much of my wardrobe as I had hoped, I've been doing a bit of last minute deletions this month. I think this particular sweater belonged to my late maternal grandmother. It's 100% cashmere and has a nice WASPy blue colour, so I spared it the chop, but I do have plans to add a bit of ribbon trim around the neck. It is rather plain as is. The scarf is from H&M, but there is a bit more to it than that which you can read about below as it is one I wear quite a lot in cold weather. The hat I knit last week from some leftover chunky yarn I was trying to use up. The pattern for it is from one of the Twinkle knitting books.

Doesn't this scarf look nice with the intarsia sweater? It is one my favorites for Winter wear. It was given to me about 7 years ago by an ex-boyfriend after I had expressed a desire to go to Paris and go scarf shopping (the idea here is that the scarf says "Trés Cool" on it - French, get it). Upon presentation of this gift I, who like nothing better than a good opportunity to stick my foot in my mouth, said the first thing that popped into my head which was something to the effect of "Oh, isn't one of the members of Green Day called Tre Cool?" (??????!!!!!!!!!) thus making my ex feel rather stupid about what is easily one of the more charming and witty gifts I have ever received. It's sort of appalling how much of an ingrate I can sometimes come across as.

This is the last piece of my McQ for Target shopping spree from back in March, and just in time to go crazy at the bullseyed retailer next week when the Rodarte collection drops. Even though I basically threw my project rules out the window three months in, I'm actually pretty proud of myself for otherwise giving up Target designer collections. I passed up Tracy Feith (not really a difficult thing to do), didn't even look at what was on offer from Loomstate and most impressively I passed on Anna Sui even after trying on an absolutely gorgeous tunic blouse. This project and blog will be ending in a few short weeks, but I'm going to try even harder in 2010 to curb my shopping and enjoy the all the possibilities my current wardrobe contains (the upcoming Gaultier collection might be too much for me to help myself though). These paisley lace tights are from Dunnes which is probably one of the least fashionable stores I can think of. Still, I have picked up a small number of surprise pieces there over the years.