I have to admit that my plan to...well, have a plan...in regard to prospective purchases took a slight knock yesterday. It was completely my fault...I should have realized that popping into Barney's sale "just to look" was probably a bad idea. Though if I'd made a bolt for the exit after drooling over the heavily reduced (though still way out of my budget) Alaia and Christopher Kane I would have been fine. But no, I had to "just look" at the Co-Op selection as well.

In rapid succession my eyes alighted on a vaguely 70's plaid smock top from APC...one of the floral skirts that Cacharel created from Liberty fabrics as part of its 50th anniversary celebration...and, most guilt-inducingly of all, a heavy cotton motorcycle jacket from APC. I say "most g-i" because the one thing that I probably don't need in my closet right now is another black jacket...even one with silver zippers and a very high cool factor.

In an attempt to rationalize this transgression I'm going to hide behind two well-used lines of defense...1) they were reduced by a rather hefty percentage...and 2) they're all, in their own way, classics that will stay in heavy outfit rotation for years to come. Actually, I'm also going to include the third, and infinitely less successful line of defense, "Your honor, I just couldn't help it..."