30 Days, 30 Ways! Day 15!!!!!! Yeah!!! Down hill...

Remember when wearing a black shoe with a brown outfit or vise versa was a fashion faux pas.

In a former life, I was a visual merchandiser. When my compatriots and I would change the window displays, we made a game of watching & critiquing the passersby. I'll never forget working in a location in the Chelsea neighborhood of NYC . Our mouths dropped as this man walked past. My friend turned to me and in a dead-panned manner with an exaggerated Southern drawl: "Somebody needs to be told Spandex is a privilege, NOT A RIGHT!"

Needless to say, I didn't get much work done the remainder of the day from giggling so much.

I also remember seeing a well dressed woman all in black with brown boots. The consensus was: "She'd be perfect if only her boots were black!"

Fortunately some rules were meant to just go away; like wearing white after labor day and opened toed shoes in the winter. Black & Brown are neutrals and if done right, they look fabulous together.

What's so ingenious about the Llynda More boots is you pick your ankle boot and choose as many BootTops as you'd like.

I look best in Earth Tones and if I had a black boot, it would sit in my closet lonely most of the time, but I did choose some toppers that have the black "leather" (no animals are harmed in making these boots) on the reversible side so when I do wear the occasional black item in my wardrobe, I can make it work. Since my vest is black & brown mixed, I decided to accentuate the colors in the boot. I'm wearing the Distressed Faux Leather BootTop in the Band & Ruffle Style (my new favorite way to wear the boots). If I wanted to, I could have worn black tights.

I'm wearing one of my many Waterfall Vests (as you know by now, I like to layer since I have a boyish figure) over the KOKOON Chocolate Farrah Wrap dress in a nontraditional way. Rather then wearing it as a vest with the opening in the back, I slung it over one shoulder and used one of my "stay-put" pins (see how to make your own pins in Day 12) on the side with the opening. The overall look is a cross between Great Gatsby & Pocahontas. It may not be for everyone, but I like it and it suits me. After all, it's OK to dress to please ourselves!