OOTD: All-black & Red Lizard lips

Jacket, vintage from my mom's closet; Lace top, Forever 21 circa 2003;
Leggings, Modcloth.com; Boots, Nine West; Clutch, found; Lipstick, NARS Red Lizard

Over the Christmas holiday, my mom insisted I have her old black wool jacket (and this Colombian cape, too). The jacket has a flouncy silk organza collar and oversized matching flower that SJP would die for, a petticoat waist, and a "strong shoulder." By that I mean not the slight shoulder pads that are "in" these days, but the really thick pads of the 80s.

I had brought the jacket back to Chicago, seeing the styling potential in this well-tailored vintage piece, but haven't had a chance to take it in for alterations until two weeks ago when I stopped into De Louice, a custom tailor in Wicker Park. I thought all I wanted was to have the shoulder pads taken out, but as expert tailor Adrian advised, I should instead keep the "power shoulder" look intact, however, take in the overly baggy sleeves and taper the waist. Turns out this creates a very fashion-forward, structured silhouette with dramatically contrasting proportions!

Even cooler, I just discovered the story behind the jacket: it was gifted to my mom when my dad's second cousin visited them in the States over 30 years ago. Apparently his cousin owns and operates designer clothing operations in Hong Kong and China, and this was a sample piece! (Um, why have we never met before???)