Posh Elephants

When my colleague, S, came into the office the other day, I was immediately drawn to her light, breezy blouse. It was tailored enough with roll-tab sleeves to look put together, and the round neckline was more feminine and comfortable than a collared button down. My kinda work blouse. And it didn't hurt that it was covered in elephant print. While I've been on a critter-print kick in general, elephants are near and dear to my heart.

So starting with an "I love your blouse!", we proceeded with 10 minutes if casual work convo, and then looped back to "but seriously, where did you get your top?"

Learning that the blouse was from Stitch Fix a few years back, I had enough info to start a search, and later that day had tracked down one in my own size for $18 (including shipping) on Poshmark. Compare at ~$40 new at StitchFix.

Poshmark is a great place to locate gently used, previous season branded clothes. It seems the crowd it caters to (for sellers) are those who want to rotate their closets and recoup some of the funds, so the clothes are often in better condition than those that are donated. The top is more white/cream than the color seen here - the orangey hue is just the evening glow from our deck firepit. Look at those cute elephants...

The dots in this pattern are just begging to be paired with more patterned accessories, so I added these Marquise earrings from Wenwen Designs.

Wenwen Designs is Frances Chang, a local artist from the San Francisco area, whose work I discovered on vacation. She "strives to make pieces... with the lowest carbon footprint possible". The wood surfaces are "sealed with organic beeswax" and "sustainably made... through material choices and studio practices". And don't forget, buying local is a great way to both support the local economy as well as save on fuel for transporting goods. I love how intricate the designs are, and at $70 they are a great deal for this level of handicraft and compared to semiprecious jewelry.

Overall, putting together this look, we saved $20 buying second hand and also supported a local artisan.