My new winter look for under $250

When we moved from the city to the country a few years ago I found it really hard to step back and fit “my style” into the community. Out here the uniform for a stay a home mum is pretty casual, you slap on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt {stains and bits of food are totally acceptable} with a pair of thongs and your done.

Going to town meant that you might spice up your outfit a bit with some closed in shoes and a nice necklace but it doesn’t really go much further then that.

In the early days if I rocked up to playgroup in a dress people were like wow, you look nice where are you off to? I felt like I was stuck in this huge fashion whirlpool, I needed to step back but I just wasn’t sure how far back I wanted to step. It always made leaving the house so much harder then it needed to be.

This time around I have found it a lot easier to make the transition from the city to small town life. I know this probably sounds silly but I feel like I’m a little older and wiser since we first started this journey and I’ve found my own unique style that is comfortable and practical but also something that lets me express who I am and tells people that I care about what I wear out of the house each day.

Now march to my own drum and I feel positive about my style.I’m not afraid to wear a dress to school drop off  or put some make up on in the middle of the day {you know, to take photos for my blog}, I wear pretty necklaces to playgroup and sometimes I even wear fancy shoes.

One of the things that has helped me to do this is re-arranging my perspective. I now buy over quantity and choose a few favourite pieces each season that I can work in different ways.

One of the stores I have really been drawn to the last twelve months is Sussan. When I was younger Sussan was never a store I would walk into but last winter I noticed a shift in their range and the thing that really drew me in was the beautiful accessories range in all different colours and this season they have won me over again with their gorgeous knits and their handbags, how great are the handbags. I’m thinking about putting this baby on lay-by for my birthday.

This season I really want to invest in a few core pieces that I could re-work and see me through until the end of winter. On my list I have a new coat, a new pair of jeans, a good quality jumper and a new handbag. That’s not asking much is it?

Last week the Sussan catalogue arrived in my mailbox and I spotted this gorgeous piece I knew I had to find a way to get to town and try it on before they all sold out. So yesterday when my husband walked in the door super, super early  I hatched an evil plan and before he sat down on the couch I begged him to let me run away to town {100km away} and go shopping.

Thanks to Susan’s I had $250 to spend on my new winter look and I wanted to get as much time in the change room as possible. I usually go shopping withViolet and she is at the age where she just isn’t very good at sitting still and she drives me insane so I really wanted to indulge in a little bit of “me time” so I could truly spoil myself. Effie came along for the ride to be my style consultant and my official photographer.

I walked into the store and left in love with all the new colours that were popping up this season. The store had such a warm cozy feel to it I just wanted to wrap myself up in knits and sit by the fire with my favourite book. Sadly that wasn’t going to happen any time soon and I knew I had to be practical. Winter time up here barely gets below 25 so there wasn’t really any need for me to invest in a lot of the huge chunky knits that were lying around the store..even if I really, really wanted them.

After we informed the staff of what we were doing and got to official ok to go a little wild in the change rooms Effie and I started pulling clothes off the racks like we had just won the lottery. Once we were inside the change room we spread everything out on the floor and worked out a few key outfits to try on and then it was time to start trying them on.

The first outfit I tried on was a total winner and it was one of the outfits I walked out of the store with. I had originally planned to wear this outfit with a different pair of pants but the shop assistant was wearing a pair and I think she saw me eyeing these off and rushed over with a pair for me to try on and I just fell in love.

I can definitely see myself getting a lot of use out of this cardigan this winter as it’s a classic piece that can easily be dressed up or down and the jeans are just the most perfect colour. I’ve been thinking about investing in a pair for well over six months and just never took the plunge, I think I am now officially addicted.

1. Salt + Pepper Cardigan $99.95 2. White Singlet from the sales rack $10 3. Slim Jean in Apple $79.95 Also worn in the photo is the Multi Texture Necklace $14.95 Total outfit cost: $204.85

I had so much fun shopping in Sussan, we played around with a lot of really fun combinations and colours and I got some really great, solid pieces that I can work into a lot of different combinations throughout the season.

In fact I had so much fun and took so many photos that I’ll be back sometime next week to show you a few more outfits that worked and didn’t work for me so stay tuned.. I didn’t walk out with a new handbag but I did walk out with the salt  + pepper cardigan and three pairs of pants for $269. I personally think that is an excellent investment and one that I will not regret.

I wasn’t paid to write this post but I was gifted with a $250 voucher from Sussan. I regularly shop in Sussan and genuinely love their products, especially the handbags. Shopping at Sussan is available in store and online, all orders over $150 include free postage and if your order is below that it’s $10. If you go to your local store right now…they have 50% off all of their sale items and there is some seriously good bargains to be found, I’m not kidding I almost walked out with a new wallet and I didn’t even need one. 

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Tags: fashion, susan fashion