The question of whether you have a shopping issue can probably be safely answered if you go to an unveiling for an installation and, instead of looking at the art (which wasn’t that great), you end up shopping. Alright I should probably have known what was going to happen, especially as the event was happening at one of my favorite stores. I am exceedingly happy with my purchases though...

1) A tie neck plaid shirt by Karen Walker. I’ve been a fan of the New Zealander’s designs for years but have had problems finding anyone who stocked her clothes in the U.S. Now that she has started showing at New York fashion week I’m hoping that her clothes will be more available. This shirt wasn’t from the current collection, which means the additional bonus of it being about 30% of the regular price, but it has (to me at least) a timeless quality. As I’ve previously only viewed them from afar this is my first Karen Walker piece and I am very impressed by the quality and details. The high, stand-up collar is kept that way by three tabs sewn to the underside, through which the tie passes...another nice detail is that the buttons are stamped “k.”...and the fabric is incredibly soft.

2) A shawl/scarf by Harald. Once again, this is a first for me from this specific designer. I liked Robert Geller’s work for Cloak menswear. Cloak was one of those designers where I liked pieces of the collections but not necessarily the whole and Harald seems to be the same...though with Harald a higher percentage fall into the like column. On a whole, I preferred the Spring/Summer collection but the scarf is one of the Fall/Winter items that I really like (some would I argue that I never met a scarf I didn’t like but I would like to think that I am slightly more choosy). As it appears to be based on a kahfiyah scarf I am slightly curious how it will be received in the current political climate...we shall see.