is it okay to wear black and brown together?

I used to be fiercely against wearing black and brown together, especially when it came to leathers. I think I read that rule somewhere in a fashion magazine when I was in my early teens, and I took it as the gospel. You know, along with other silly rules like no white after labor day and vertical stripes are the most flattering stripes.

Clearly, I no longer abide by the black and brown rule when it comes to clothing, but I still get a little weird about it when it comes to leather. I don't think I could ever wear a brown belt with black shoes!  Or maybe even a black watch band with tan shoes. Is that silly? 

Who knows, here I am, breaking all my own rules with a cognac tote and black boots. It doesn't feel as wrong, for some reason!

(horizonal, for shame!) striped tee: Loft [exact on sale]

Cardigan: J.Crew Factory [same style]

Pants: Gap [similar]

Scarf: H&M [similar]

Boots: Vince Camuto [exact]

Tote: Madewell [save | exact]

Watch: c/o Daniel Wellington [exact]

besides these deep philosophical style conversations, here are a few current MLK Day sales: 

• Ann Taylor: 
• 40% off full price items (like this perfect blouse, seriously!) 
• 70% (!!!) off sale items (go for a fun sweater dress)
• Anthropologie: code EXTRAEXTRA
• 40% off sale items: I'd go for this beautiful scarf -it'll go with everything!
• Banana Republic: code BRWEEKEND, ends 1/19
• 40% off everything (time to finally try a midi skirt because this one is perfect)
• Gap: code DEALS
• 40% off everything: I wish I knew how to wear moto jackets, because this one (that comes in 2 different greys) is so cute
• Lands' End: 
• 20% off everything: I ordered this tote for CR's sister for Christmas, and it's gorgeous in real life (go for the monogram!)
• Shopbop:
• Tons of new things added to the sale section, including beautiful Equipment tops, Marc Jacobs watches (I really love the Baker watch!), and Tory Burch shoes.

wearing rain boots to work

I really love my Hunter rain boots - I wear them at some point almost every single day between the months of September through May. Several people have asked me to talk about more how I wear them with professional attire and my answer is...

I don't....really.

Rain boots are meant to kept your feet dry when it is wet outside, so once you get inside, there's no real reason for them (plus my feet and legs get a bit sweaty after wearing them for more than an hour anyway). But I still want to wear my rain boots on rainy days, so I always wear a skirt or dress on those days. I think it's much cuter that way, instead of awkwardly tucking dress pants into boots. Then you just change into flats when you get to work. So...not the world's most innovative tip, but that's how I do it :)

My other tip if you don't want to bring a pair of shoes to change into, and if you have a slightly more casual work environment, is to buy waterproof boots like this classic style of boot. I wear ponte black pants and boots on slightly rainy days, or when it's snowing. No silly tucked in dress pants, but my feet are dry and I don't even have to change.

Skirt: Banana Republic [similar]

Tee: Everlane [exact]

Cardigan: thrifted [similar]

Scarf: Target [exact - back in stock!]

Shoes: Banana Republic [exact]

Rain Boots: Hunter [exact]

Watch: Michael Kors [save a ton | exact]

Bracelet: C. Wonder [exact]

via instagram

And while I really love my Hunter rain boots, there are some really great cheaper options out there. Below are 6 that are under $75. I would go with the first one if I were you - how cute are they?!

one | two | three

four | five | six