Winter Fashion- Shoes Jackets and Some of the Best Accessories

Second hand and faux fashion

Hello Fashionistas,

Brrrr….it is cold single digits this long holiday weekend here in the NY metro area which is pretty much keeping us home-bound and stocked up on food, Netflix, a good streaming channel to stay up to date on the NYFW runway shows, and plenty of good red wine.

This is the kind of frigid weather that reminds me I should have done what I set out to do earlier this fall before the weather turned on us……get “Project Fur Coat Update” going……

About a year ago, my mother–in-law gave me 2 beautiful gifts of her mother’s when she passed away. They were very sentimental items to her, but she wanted to pass them on to me. One was a gorgeous, classic Hermes black clutch that was in pristine condition and I have been able to use exactly in its original condition because it is just timeless.

The other item was a gorgeous long length mink coat which is also so beautifully taken care of, but as fashion changes over time—it feels a bit outdated and is also a bit large on me. It’s also a very LONG length coat which is not something I can comfortably wear on most cold days as a regular coat.

Now I am not a big believer in buying new fur as there are so many beautifully curated pieces available at consignment shops and estate sales, etc., but I am a believer in making the most out of existing pieces. I’m just as much a fan of beautiful faux furs too.

I recently got some advice from a couple of friends who had their older fur pieces re-done in newer styling. So I think that I will do homage to this beautiful family mink coat and have it turned into something I am more likely to wear.

As I continued to do more research on how to go about doing this, it seems like this is a major trending idea these days. Women are wearing fur and not taking it so seriously. It used to be a high end luxury item that only came out for special occasions.

I love the outlook of some of these images—young women rocking their fur coats with beanie caps, tees, and jeans. Some of these jackets are real and some are faux, but it’s the way they wear them that is what is important. They keep the look casual.

My coat is the long length dark brown one in the middle and I’m hoping to give it new life as a shorter easy to wear “jacket” as pictured here on these models. I love the girl in the red cap’s look.

My fur coat is also long enough that I may be able to also get a vest out of it and even a cute accessory or two! There are so many cool fun unusual fur accessories out there that can be purchased or even created with just a little imagination. Here are some of the best ideas…..

On some of my business shopping trips overseas I have purchased some smaller fur items that I’ve slightly transformed and used this winter to stay on trend with all things fashionably fur.

A couple of my favorite places to purchase older fur pieces in good shape are the Portabello market  in London and the store “Second Hand” in the old town area of Dusseldorf. These are some of the best haunts for vintage finds. They do an incredible job of seeing what hot trends are coming right off the runways and finding the vintage pieces that can imitate these looks.

Second Hand in Dusseldorf is a fashionista’s dream!  I was given access to the “private” section of fur pieces. There’s my “vanilla” colored fox stole just waiting for me in the top center photo. She is just gorgeous! Oh—and I also purchased the retro ‘70s orange fur and brown leather jacket top right to go with all my skinny rib knits and mini skirts that are so on track this fall.

One of my best fur finds this fall was a gorgeous vanilla/cream colored fox stole that I just added a medium size covered hook to keep it closed. It works just like a scarf and I can layer it on top of any of my coats. It is super warm and supremely stylish for either a casual or dressed up look.

Another great way to use fur is to accessorize shoes. I have made good use of fur poms to give some of my shoes a fun and whimsical twist. That’s my buddy Maxwell doing a drive-by my red shoes with pom poms in my closet. The red plaid ones are also mine—just dolled up with fun pom pom clips

Next- Some of the best accessories