For every good, there is an evil...every yin has its yang...and, in my mind, every outfit has to have its dichotomy…the elements that add a twist to the look. So, today’s vaguely secretary/librarian ensemble gets the addition of a small Chloe skull necklace...just a little “off” and yet strangely on theme at the same time (if you’re a secretary from a James Bond movie that is).

I’ve never been able to decide if my inability to let an outfit remain pure and unadulterated is a positive or negative character aspect. While I admire people who can wear restrained clothes with the confidence to let the purity of the design speak for itself I know I will never join their ranks. Quite frankly, it makes me feel like a nun...I need my embellishments and fripperies.

And I’m not alone...apparently Phillip Lim enjoys a little contradiction himself. This dress is half tomboy/half girly frills but the whole is perfection. The utilitarian aspects tone down any feeling of drowning in saccharine, while the ruffles make sure that everyone knows that you’re still a girl (of course the vast expanse of leg probably adds to that message as well but that’s another issue).