The Bitch Cakes Style Philosophy, Part III - Where I shop

Regarding my own personal style, another question I get asked very often is either where I bought a specific item or where I shop in general. I think there is a misconception on some people's parts that I wear vintage clothes. But the truth is that I own very few vintage pieces. I do not have the patience for vintage shopping- so unless the vintage clothes come to me, I avoid it completely.

If I had to break down my entire wardrobe, nearly every item would come from one of these three stores:

• Banana Republic You have no idea how much I love this store. Some would say I'm obsessed. (I even have a flickr set for them). But easily 80% of my clothes (work, play, day, night) comes from this store. They are my go-to place for silk blouses and pencil skirts, but I get other items there too.
  
• Target Surprised? Don't be- they have some great clothes! The Merona line has been very good to me. Probably 10% of my daily wear, and nearly all of my pajamas and workout clothes from here.
  
• Ann Taylor/Ann Taylor Loft This used to be my main store until I discovered the amazing clothes at Banana Republic. But currently probably 5% of my daily wear is from AT or ATLoft, and I still visit them when at the mall.
  

The other 5% is either vintage, Mode Merr, Filene's, Daffy's or Macy's.

Here are some examples of my favorite clothes from said stores:

This dress is from Target, and was only 19.99. (Note: the 19.99 was a promotional rate a few weeks ago, it is back up to 24.99. You can buy it here) I bought 3 in the gray plaid shown here, and 3 in black. (I buy multiples when I love something!) It's a chic 1960's cut reminiscent of a sexy 60's office worker, and I call it my "Mad Men Dress". They are simple classic and gorgeous and can easily be worn to work, to do errands, on dates, or out to the bar. Here I paired it with a silver pin (from Target- free, since it came on a sweater I bought), turquoise shrug (from Ann Taylor, 25.00) and turquoise open toe wedges from Payless (18.00):

This dress is also from Target, I paid 25 dollars for it (and bought 2 because I love it so much) This is one of my all time favorite photos of me- from last June in front of the Chrysler Building. Here I am wearing black back seam stockings from Nordstrom (10.00), my favorite black shoes from Payless (17.00), vintage gloves and a vintage hat (probably 5 -10 dollars each). I wear this dress to work, to the bar, to funerals, to do laundry, to do errands, to brunch - everywhere and anywhere. It's so versatile- I've paired it with various different scarves/belts to introduce color if I don't want it to be all black. I love this dress!

My absolute favorite silk blouse from Banana Republic. I loved it so much I bought it at full price (something I never do, but I had a 20% coupon that day, so it was 55.00 - down from 69). I wear this blouse once a week (to work and/or hanging out) and even bought another, once it went on sale (for 45.00), which is in reserve. I love it that much! The skirt is also from Banana and I bought it on sale for about 40.00:

Here is that exact same outfit worn at a vineyard on my trip to Portland Oregon. I love that outfit! I think I'll wear it tomorrow, in fact!

Every time I wear this outfit, people ask me if it's vintage. It's not. It's Banana! I own 3 or 4 of these gray pencil skirts and purchased them at various prices - somewhere between 35 and 79 dollars each. The jacket is also Banana (sold separately, which is good since I'm often different sizes) and I bought it for about 55 after it went on sale. The pin was 'free' since it came with a suit I bought in 2001. And the blue silk button up blouse is from Ann Taylor, bought on sale for about 35 dollars. I wear this outfit to work:

And to hang out at the bar:

This is that blouse on its own:

Here is an example of the other 5%- this button up blouse has 1940's written all over it, so I had to have it. It's from Filene's Basement, of all places and cost 16.99! It's paired with my absolute favorite black pencil skirt from Banana (you can't see it that well, but it's high waisted, very tight, just past my knees and has a slit at each calf in the back. I have 3 or 4 of these skirts and paid everywhere from 25 to 79 dollars for them)

This is the same as that black high waisted skirt from Banana, but in a really nice gray plaid. I also have 3 of these, and paid between 29 and 79 dollars for them. Here, it is paired with a black button up top from Target that was under 20 dollars:

And this is the back view of that same outfit- except the shirt is tucked in. I must admit, I love my ass:

So that about covers where I shop, but I'll take questions if there are any.