My friend and colleague, Kate, loves fashion and always puts together her work outfits to show a combination of serious professional and creative fun…She laughs at my talk of “investment pieces” and generally keeps her clothing budget reasonable…..When choosing separates, she almost always opts for a cotton cardigan, not a jacket…..while this is acceptable for ‘business casual’, a more polished and sophisticated look would be a fine wool sweater, but best yet, a jacket. “I don’t look good in a jacket,” she said. “Ridiculous! All you need is to find the style and proportion that is flattering to you – I am taking you to Revolve!” Off we went to the Belmont Center Revolve in search of basic jackets to mix/match for business – there was a great selection and she tried on about a dozen of gray, black, navy, brown – none were quite right: some too tight, some fit well in body but too big in shoulders, one was too unstructured, not flattering….well, at least we tried…….just before we were ready to call it a day, we wandered down to the clearance room in the basement – lots more good stuff at obscenely low prices!!! While she did not find a basic neutral jacket, she did find two great ‘statement’ jackets that will add instant sophistication to her wardrobe.

This red jacket will look best with a slim pencil skirt and a fitted turtleneck in a fine fabric, or a high necked blouse with slim fit trousers – Kate’s genuine smile tells me the jacket not only looks good, but it makes her feel good too…..

I love this leopard jacket on Kate – it reflects her love of fun clothes and bling while being perfectly professional and upscale….great day to evening jacket….

Last but not least, Kate went crazy for these Franco Sarto booties – ‘I have been wanting red shoes!!”…..what’s nice is that they are a brick red – ‘marsala’, the color of the year – so will not be too bright with business clothes. Definitely a successful shopping excursion, but certainly not the last – still need that basic jacket Kate! 🙂