Boutique Bouclé

Bouclé is spun yarn that combines strands formed into smaller, or anchor, loops, with strands formed into larger loops and tied to the anchor strands, creating a "messy" knitted finish composed of varying loop sizes and, sometimes, colors. My choice for today’s outfit was a fabulous bouclé-knit sweater by Pretty Angel in a combination of brown and burgundy yarns that I found in a lovely little boutique called Destiny (www.destinyparkcity.com), along historic Main Street in Park City, Utah, while on a ski holiday with my best friend, Kari, and her parents a couple of months ago (Ski Holiday 2013).

Kari was actually the one who first spied the adorable wrap. We were on a hunt for a top to go with a pair of amazing embellished jeans by BrazilRoxx Luxury Couture (www.brazilroxx.com) that I had just purchased down the street at Park City Clothing Company (www.parkcityclothingcompany.com). An odd combination of coppery burgundy-brown, the denim was not going to be easy to coordinate with other clothes in my closet. So I was elated when Kari pointed the shawl out to me, its eccentric wooden fastener (a hair-bun holder repurposed as a "sweater guard") making this modern stole all the more charming.

Today I paired the bouclé cloak with a pair of vintage bell-bottomed, high-waisted sailor jeans by Levi-Strauss, a prize possession I managed to save from my youth in the early 1970s. I layered a simple long-sleeved cotton T-shirt beneath the cape and added a necklace of wooden beads, earrings fashioned out of wood disks, and a carved zebra-wood bracelet to round out my ensemble.

The rain came in torrents as I made my way south from Baltimore County to Washington D.C. for a day of research at the Library of Congress on behalf of my employer. But I was snug and stylish in my blue jeans and bouclé bolero.
Cheers,
Lynell