It is not very often – in fact quite seldom –  that I go ahead and splurge on designer items. So the times it actually happens are when I know I will love the piece forever. That was the case with this Alexander McQueen skirt. It is already two years old but feels exactly as much on trend, and flattering as then. I can dress it up with a small top and strappy heels for a black tie event, and down with knits and boots for a day in the park. Like here.

The top cost nothing, but is comfortable and has the right length for this skirt. Yes, it is a crop top and I am well over fourty (gasp!). But the point is NOT to bare my midriff (even though you have the very slightest glimpse here),  it is simply because I avoid that uncomfortable tuck-in feeling of a longer top that also needs perpetual adjusting. At the same time it is more flattering because it avoids that bulk on the hips that so very few of us need. Genius!

You’ve heard it before: mix designer items with high street finds for a personal look. Yes that works, but can of course be very expensive for a mere mortal. But think of this: If you keep an item for, say five-ten years (and even pass it on to your daughters), how many inexpensive items will you have bought – and thrown – in the mean time…?

And that is food for an entire other entry!