So, this is the first April that I really haven’t been much excited about getting a cute spring birthday outfit (I’m an income tax baby, birthday is April 15), because it’s still just about 50 degrees in New York!

This is really messing up business. According to the Labor Department, accessories and apparel stores cut 15,300 seasonally adjusted jobs last month and according to Women’s Wear Daily, retail employment fell by 24,000. This isn’t just messing up Spring/Summer Fashion 2013 business but it’s disheartening Northeast spring fashion lovers too. Yesterday, I went to a Guess event in midtown and they had some beautiful, lightweight pastel skirts, pants and jackets for Spring but with the wind blowing outside, there didn’t seem to be too much impetus to buy. I did pick up this cute neon ring and can’t wait until it gets a little warmer.

Cold Weather really is messing up things but I have some ideas to share while we wait on Spring Summer that have been keeping me feeling “winter-springy” up to this point.

Get yourself some nice leather pants and maybe some with pops of color. Yellow, magenta, and black of course will definitely be in for the Fall so not only can you wear them while we wait for warmer times, but you can wear them for Fall Winter 2013-2014 too. Check out a few below from J. Brand, Balenciaga, Marc by Marc Jacobs and Acne. For a lower price point, Nasty Gal has plenty of vegan leather leggings to choose from.

Yours,

“Fashionably-Late”

Malinda Knowles