black bootie

Yes my friends, this is for real.  I alluded to it before, and it's been a long time in the works, but The Great Black Boot Experiment of 2012 is finally finished, and the results are in.  I researched hundreds (pretty sure I'm not exaggerating here) of black ankle boots, narrowed it down to 8 candidates, and after careful scientific analysis, have made my decision.

I'm sure you're dying to know all the gory details...

mad hatter

I've been wishing for a new hat for a while now, and while I was lusting after this one from Madewell, I missed out, leaving the country before I could convince myself it was a reasonable expense (it totally would have been).  It actually worked out for the best because I found me a hat that went beyond all my expectations for what a hat can do.  This guy can sit low on your forehead, or high and back, it will handle hair sticking out from under it or tucked away underneath.  It's part fedora, part grandpa's fishing hat, part Pete Doherty rocker hat.  I don't usually post too many self-portraits here but I figured, what's a hat without a head to put it on?  So here it is in action:

There you go, I've outed myself for the love of a hat.  It's by Italian brand Forte Forte (creators of a lightweight jacket which totally bewitched me this summer), which sadly is extremely hard to find online, but it has made me really really excited about hats in general for fall.  Here's a few other options worth considering...