my new vintage inspired outfit

so very excited, i got a new dress today! it doesn't happen very often that i get new clothes lately but it seemed to have my name written all over it at the store. plus, i just began volunteering each week at the library/archives at Dumbarton Oaks and it's very nice to have a new work appropriate outfit that fits right and is not a sweater with holes in the elbows or pants that somehow became a bit too short since last winter...

it's one of those dresses that, on the rack, i would not expect to like. i can't quite pin down what color it is and i'm always afraid a dress will make me look like i'm expecting. how nice to find something that is ladylike and comfortable with a bit of vintage charm that seems to say, "hi i work with dusty books and old photographs all day and when i grow up i'm going to be a female indiana jones!" ooo i love it! i'll just need to add some warm leggings so i do not freeze while walking to work.


for now, i've paired it with an old cable-knit black sweater i have with large buttons and my favorite pair of black dress shoes...these also look a bit vintage but are actually only a few years old. i imagine they are the kind of shoes i would wear if i were walking over a bridge in paris (luckily blisters don't exist in my dreams).