Wardrobe is my life and my passion, and I can't leave my house daily without dressing especially for the purpose, the season, the formality, and the occasion that day presents. Wardrobe to suit the weather is a foremost consideration and supersedes all other categories.

Jewelry
Surviving remains of my sister and my mother, each of whom is deceased before her time and out of the natural order of life events. Mother was the doctor's wife in suburban Atlanta of the 1970's--Regenstein's and Regency Shop in Rich's. Sister designed for the team Carolyn Tanner for Regency Shops and I am the sole heir of these estates. I have no daughters. My niece thinks all of it is rather much.

And I wear it. Now that the eighties are de riguer, the belts are back and the earrings are getting bigger, also the necklaces. The buckles and the vests are back and mine date back to the seventies; this has been an impetus for me to avoid too much weight gain over the years and incredibly has worked for me.

I am enjoying the revival and renaissance of eras that I lived and loved, the sixties--seventies--eighties. I say, holding on to all of this extraneous stuff-- the belts, the pins, the scarves, the photos, has given me lots of pleasure in the wearing of it all. I have a concentrated sense of style that supersedes any particular fashion trend, and this is what guides my dress every day of my life. I have a lot of accessories to wear, and I do my best to wear them, all the time, everyday.

Sometimes I discover some item and am pleasantly surprised, having forgotten that I owned it, or the finding of it is especially serendipitous...

And all of these accessories remind me of my mom and my sister. So I wear the jewelry for them, in order to remember each of them.

Shoes
Shoes are as the elixir of life for me; without shoes I would be without the breath of life. Shoes are the reason for loving living. Shoes provide impetus to work. Shoes are the underlying, literally and figuratively, purpose of every outfit. Shoes can make or break an outfit in a single finish, patent leather for example. Shoes say so much about you, personally, a fact my husband pointed out to me (he was the son and grandson of a shoe salesman).

Jacket
The jacket is the ultimate clothing item of flexibility, high fashion, color contrast, weather protection, attitude, and overall appearance. It provides the first impression. It comes in all colors and styles and is a delight to collect and enjoy wearing day in and day out in all weathers, and I do work all of those scarves and oversized pins onto the jacket's exterior. Now I can add a big necklace and big shoulders.
The jacket ties the look together.
The jacket can coordinate or contrast. The jacket is the finishing touch. The jacket, in my case, can be a leather Dana Buchman bargain (both hot and loud), or a hand-knit shawl of Mom's, or a wool wrap I bought one year for my sister's birthday present.
The jacket gives the desired warmth and protection from Nature's elements, and then provides that sense of style that is transmitted with the first glimpse of a person and must not be underestimated; it is true that a first impression is important.