Holiday parties are in abundance right now, Christmas is less than a week away, and New year’s eve is right around the corner, so your LBD is probably getting a lot of play right now. Whether you’ve already been putting yours through its paces or have yet to pick out the perfect one for NYE, you’re likely wishing that your special occasion LBD could come out of hiding more than a handful of times a year. Well we’ve certainly thought about it, so we decided to get down to business and feature the little black dress as our December Style It. It really is a versatile little thing to have in your closet, so don’t be afraid to have some fun and bust it out all year!

shop the story here.

So as you can see from the title, I just met my father’s new girlfriend*. My mother passed away a year and a half ago and she and my dad were blissfully married for 53 years. When she died, his whole world stopped. He was all alone and so so sad. We all were. My mom was just one of those people that don’t come along that often and we all — my brother, my dad, me — miss her soooo much.

Well Dad started dating. And now he’s found this very nice and lovely woman with whom he’s been spending alllotttt of time. This past Monday he was being honored by the Metro Atlanta YMCA and I, of course, wanted to be there. Well, of course, so did his girlfriend. And her 31-yr old daughter. Awk. Ward. I could talk for hours about this, but I’m going to try and focus on the fashion aspect. I was going to be in Atlanta for 3 nights and the only consistent between the 3 nights were Dad and the girlfriend. What. to. Wear!

{Saturday night.}

Meet the girlfriend for the first time. Wine at girlfriend’s house. Dinner at the City Club. Just the 3 of us

My Gary Graham pintuck dress and SFRD leather shirt

Worn with my Humanoid leggings and fabulous Rachel Comey Guises. The only problem with my only nighttime shoe option was that the girlfriend is approximately 4′ tall. So in these shoes I was like a full foot and half taller than her! Again, awkward!

{Sunday night.}

Meet the girlfriend’s 2 kids for the 1st time. A 3 hour dinner at the Country Club. Me, my brother, my brother-in-law, Dad, the girlfriend, the girlfriend’s daughter, and the girlfriend’s son.

wore this awesome fringe dress with burgundy tights and my giant-ess Guise platforms.

{Monday night.}

YMCA dinner honoring my dad. Lots of people and good friends from my parents’ past, bro, bro-in-law, girlfriend, girlfriend’s daughter.

You just cannot do better than a good black jumpsuit. In my book, it's even better than the little black dress. Love my Mason onesie!

And since it was a western theme (and my feet hurt and I was tired of feeling like a giant), I wore my Memos. Rachel Comey, in case you don’t know, I love you.

Comfiest. Shoes. Ever.

*The “girlfriend” is very, very nice. She’s interesting, and accomplished and makes my father very happy and I mean no disrespect by referring to her as “girlfriend.” I just, at this moment, don’t exactly know how to refer to her in a blog.

Well here in the studio, at least. New fall merchandise has been arriving at a rapid pace for the last month. We’ve been styling and snapping and cropping like crazy to get it all up on the site, which means that we’ve been staring at all our new goodies for hours on end. It’s truly not glamorous, but it sure is fun to play with a bunch of amazing clothes every day!!! Some of my favorites so far…

First, 3 of my favorites all in 1 outfit! The dress makes me feel… well, ethereal is the word that comes to mind. And the booties are so light that I’ve even been wearing them during our incredibly humid weather. But the leather shirt. The leather shirt just makes me crazy. So soft, so versatile and just so freaking cool. LOVE it.

SFRD leather shirt vest, Gary Graham pintuck dress, Rachel Comey Memo booties

The Ruse dress from Rachel Comey. I ordered this, but it doesn’t fit SOOO disappointed.

I am always on the lookout for a great pair of pants, and these Vanessa Bruno Athe pants are just the best pair EVER. I wasn’t supposed to own these, but fate — and my dog, Kuma — lent a hand. Arlene and I were trying them on when they first landed and were in the process of telling ourselves and each other that they weren’t for us and that we needed to save them for our customers when over walks Kuma (he doesn’t like to be left out). He looks up at me and then gives me a giant lick on the leg (he’s a black lab, so his licks are pretty big), leaving a giant stain on the — now mine — pants. BAD dog.

Vanessa Bruno Athe soft trouser, Gar-de leather jacket, Sophomore tee, Loeffler Randall pumps

And the coup de grace, the Navy faux fur from SONIA by Sonia Rykiel. Knocks me out, it’s so good. Arlene and I actually both bought this, which might be a problem since we do everything and go everywhere together. We’ve had matching outerwear before, but nothing like this. But how could we resist? It feels so delicious when you’re all wrapped up (and you don’t even have to worry about those pesky animal activists!) And it’s navy. I mean, come on. How many times in your life do you come across a great navy fur???

SONIA by Sonia Rykiel faux fur, stripe tee and zipper leggings, Prairies de Paris pumps

So many other amazing things, but if I list them all here I won’t have time to actually do my work! We’ll be back, I promise.