Thus, I have been haunting my usual spots downtown in a quest to freshen up the fall wardrobe.

Here’s what I found.

Crushed on wine

It began in late summer, when I had my toes done in a plummy shade of mauve. Since then, I have been craving wine – and not rosé. Burgundy, bordeaux, claret, wine, call it what you will, are my colours, along with red, pink, coral and all those other shades that I don’t often wear. But wine is dark, nearly black, so it’s easy, flattering, and slimming. And pairs perfectly with your glass of red wine.

Aritzia has a great crop of burgundies – from sheltering scarves to lace and silk to that  sleek poly it does so well. Even a great cami in a Japanese cupro (that’s a silk facsimile). I went in again today to hunt for a silk T that is sold out in my size, as well as a cropped lace top that is also sold out.

I go in so often that the sales staff seems a bit confused. Today, one insisted that I had already tried a silk T-neck dress that I had just spotted. It was okay, but then I realized I had a silk kimono dress in the exact same shade by my friends from Martin Lim – Danielle Martin and Pao Lim – who have since gone into children’s wear. And okay is not good enough, is it?

I might have bought the silk T, cami or lace top – but they were out in my size.

Aritzia’s lace top in burgundy.

A plummy option from Montreal’s UNTTLD.

Enchanted florals

The influence of Valentino and Gucci has led to a garden of florals for fall, particularly at Zara. They’re enchanting on the rack, probably not so on me. At Zara, I tried a black velvet cami with green and red sprouts and wondered where the heck I would wear such a thing. Off the garden path, I strayed and found a silver-flecked hi-low party top. It would have been great under a black blazer, but on second thought I declared it tawdry.

Still on the floral focus, H&M is doing folkloric prints of embroidered red roses in its new Studio collection. Sorry, been there, done that. Pretty, though.

A lavishly floral vest from H&M’s Studio collection.

Minimal me

Let’s face it, at a certain age, pristine, architectural, minimal fashion is a best bet. Enter COS. Again and again and again. A few days ago, I finally caved in after weeks of pent-up desire for new fashion. In my bag: a summer dress (going back), a swingy cardigan (love it, will keep it), a silk scarf in a print that’s a cross between plaid and ikat; and pastel pink suede shoes. I love those shoes – loved them in dove grey last season, and black leather before that. But I never could find my size. The pastel flatters everything. With black jeans, check! With black dress, great! Blue jeans, also good. Trouble is: pink suede for fall – how impractical can you get? But also, they pinch a bit on the toe, so with regret and relief I will have to bring them back.

Pink pastel pumps from COS. Love em or leave em?

The Frank + Oak cocoon coat in the first women’s collection, out this week.

Here I am in Judith & Charles’s boiled wool cocoon coat. Will tell the story of why I am wearing it in a later post.

On the minimal front, everybody has a version of the cocoon coat, most agreeably in grey. There’s the Judith & Charles version, which is very well done, indeed, and others at Aritzia, Frank + Oak, Zara and COS. To be considered – in short or in long. It’s very confusing when the weather is still balmy and your battalion of coats is still in storage.

The bag quest continues

Latest chapter in the long-running saga is here. Today, I found a Longchamp that fits the bill – zipper, roomy, outside pocket – at Winners. But its stitching didn’t seem perfect – factory reject, perhaps? There was also a quilted Lanvin I loved – at close to $2,000.

Embracing lace and velvet

I used to feel that lace made me look like ma vieille tante. Well, maybe my old aunt knew something about fashion. I am recycling all my lace and getting into it. Also crochet.

Finally, fashion is crushing on velvet – and so am I. Preferably in wine.

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