Favorites of 2012

Hello and I hope you all had a beautiful holiday! I’ve been spending my holidays on the East Coast here with my husband’s lovely family before a short break in Spain for the new year. I’ve been really enjoying all of the food though it’s definitely colder here!

At the beginning of this year I made a resolution to try and track my shopping purchases to get an idea of what I was buying and shame myself with all my bad decisions. Now that it’s December, I’m quite happy to report that I more or less achieved my  my goal of buying significantly less than in years past…though there were still some mistakes…! On a positive note though, I wanted to share some (five, to be exact) of my favorite buys of 2012 – the ones that I’ve used over and over again, adore, and am happy that I added.

The Bright Scarf: I was really determined this year to add a big cozy colored scarf to my wardrobe – since I tend to gravitate so much towards neutrals in my shoes, bags and clothes, I really wanted to find a warm shawl that would help me add some color. I have always loved the Hermes GM shawls but they are too expensive for me to just buy them at every whim, so I’m very careful with purchasing. When I saw the Ex Libris Kimonos pattern come out and especially in this color way, I had to have it. It’s one of my favorites scarves in my wardrobe and I wear it all the time. Wearing it here.

Another absolutely gorgeous shawl I’ve been eyeing (it’d be so easy to match with black too!) is here.

The Black Pant: The perfect black pant is very subjective depending on who you are and what you like (low vs. high rise, wide leg, skinny leg, cropped, bell bottom, etc). I have been searching for the perfect black pant for more than a year and was so thrilled to finally find a pair from Ann Taylor that not only satisfied my requirements, but were also super comfortable and under $50 (with frequent coupon codes) to boot. Hooray! Wearing the pants, here.

The Clarisonic. Yup, I’ve discovered a hot new skincare tool! Oh wait –  you all found it five years ago…? Well anyway, I just discovered and purchased mine in November, and it’s fabulous. I adore it and use it every day and feel like it really has made an improvement to my skin. That being said, I’m a little annoyed to add another thing (that needs to be charged, to boot) on longer trips (over 2 weeks). But it’s worth it! My green color, available here.

The Kelly. You know as much as I love the Birkin, this year I discovered that I am much more a Kelly and Bolide girl. I receive emails quite often from readers asking about what Hermes bag they should buy – and my advice would always be to go to the boutique, look around, try on styles, and see how they would fit into your life. For me a shoulder strap is super important and convenient and I’ve also found the color of my first Kelly (Vert de Gris) incredibly versatile.

The Lace Dress. I’ve already squawked enough about the DVF Zarita dress on the site enough (see here and wearing it here), but I just have to say that I still love this dress and have gotten tons of wear out of both of mine (gray and black). It is such a universally flattering style and so comfortable. The only slight downside to how great this dress is, is the fact that now there is a much higher chance that you might see someone wearing the same dress at a wedding or formal event. But that doesn’t stop me from wanting some of the new gorgeous colors out here (the coral!)

So those were some of my favorite additions in 2012- now what were some of yours? Please share!