This week’s Top Three Tuesday features items of clothing I actually own. I can vouch for the quality and wearability.

This is not a jacket. This is a blazer. A classic. I stopped dead when I saw the beautiful lines of this blazer on the computer screen – you know a piece of clothing has something when its oomph breaks through the pixel barrier. The heft of this blazer denotes the quality of the fabric. The tailoring is excellent, the fit sublime. And the color is not so much “maroon” as a rich burgundy/claret blend. At $99, this is a bit of an investment item but I guarantee you will be slipping this blazer on for years to come.

Yeah, Victoria’s Secret. My fashion secret for a decade has been VS. Quietly. Covertly even. I swear that practically every time I wear my VS clothing items someone compliments what I am wearing. But then I can’t tell them where it is from because they will think I am whackadoo. But I am not. Now, not every piece of clothing is worth the shipping cost but occasionally you find a gem. Like this pencil skirt. The knee length is a refreshing break from the mini overkill that populates most stores. The fit is flattering for the curves ahead in all of us – this is Victoria’s Secret after all! The real beauty of this skirt is the color. A lush, jewel-toned purple. Kind of like that sold out skirt from J. Crew and at $49.50 about half the price.

As a working mom, Fridays are busy days for me. At the end of the week the last thing I feel like doing is look presentable from my 8:30am meeting to 8pm carrying home my happily worn out daughter from kiddy happy hour. The jersey dress is a comfortable, office worthy ensemble for the day that you wake up and want to crawl back under the covers. The beauty of this dress is the neutral palette; the forgiving pucker over the tummy that is just subtle enough (but the tie back self-belt provides a fitted countermeasure to the pucker); and the fact that you can toss this little number in the wash, hang dry and wear again – so no sweat in case you have to wear that 8am coffee stain for the next 10 hours!