Style Spy Stakeout, January 7

From time to time I hope to bring you examples of real life style I encounter while I'm out & about, and to talk about why they work. So here it is -- my first get!



This is Margaret. I met her Saturday night at an Austin restaurant called Bess. Included in the picture is her fella, Frank. Frank also looked nice (love the peacoat), but it's most important that you meet him because he, lovely man, picked out, purchased, and gifted Margaret with her fabulous shoes. (Yes, I asked if he had a brother. They didn't seem to think I was serious. Hah!)

At any rate, many thanks to Margaret for being such a good sport. Actually, she was better than a good sport, she was a stitch. Margaret, if you ever need someone to have a glass of wine or go shoe shopping with, I'm your gal!

Now -- let's talk about her fab outfit & why it works.

I probably don't have to comment on that jacket, but I'm going to anyway. Holy cow, that is gorgeous. Margaret tells me it's Valentino Red, scored at The Shak.



Margaret has a fair amount of bling going on, but the lines of the jacket are simple almost to the point of severity, so it evens things out & keeps it from being too busy. That seaming is killer -- it would make anyone look longer and leaner. I tooled around the web and found a few alternatives, for those of you who can't make it to Dallas -- a nice Calvin Klein (a little more coat than jacket), a gorgeous camel number (that's on sale!), a Kenneth Cole I'm completely in love with, a lighter-weight version in case you don't need something too warm, and a fantastic evening version that made me swoon.

(Note the comfort in front of the camera and the professional stance. Margaret, is there a little modeling in your background?)

Look at her in her skinny jeans!! Lucky for her, she has the pins to pull them off. She also has the sense to wear flats with her skinny jeans, because let's face it -- wearing stilettos with pants like this can look a bit... tarty. I don't know whose wonderful leopard-print flats those are, but they sure look Beverly Feldman to me. Anyone else? I'm sorry that the floor at Bess is so busy, because you can't see the shoes as well as I'd like.

The other thing that really caught my eye here was this beautiful neckpiece. I'm a sucker for pearls, and this is very Queen Alexandra (lovely, wasn't she?).


The other nice thing about a piece like this is that if you, like Nora Ephron & myself, are beginning to have some doubts about some of your bits (my nice long neck, that was swanlike and Audrey Hepburn-esque when I was 20 is now becoming, well... worrisome), a collar or choker can make you feel a little less doubtful.

Okay, then! That's Margaret in her fabulous ensemble, my very first Style Spy Stakeout. I'm off to surf the web for cunning little leopard-print flats now...