My spending project has changed me in many ways, but none I appreciate as much as this. It got me to say "yes" to seeing Prince in his surprise Piano and a Microphone tour stop in Toronto, even though the tickets were $225 each. I knew it was the best money ever spent about three minutes into Prince's transcendent performance, which stretched to five encores. As I told my classical music-fan father afterwards, it was like seeing Mozart. Prince in concert was that exceptional, that masterful, that much of a channel for the otherworldly power of music itself. 

The jury is still out on this $200 consignment shop find – it's just been too chilly to wear it. Also, I need to read an article like "how to wear a duster," because I'm not quite sure what the deal is. Is it like a fancy trench coat? Do you wear it indoors? Also, does my lifestyle (bike to work, rarely go out at night) justify a duster? This may end up being one of those false economies I was known for before Shopping for Happiness, where I was just too keen to get a designer label for a good price. Or not! I'll wear it soon and find out. 

Update: Wore it. Husband asked which John Hughes movie he'd seen me in – big compliment, right? It's a keeper. 

My threshold for scarf-spending has gone way, way up since I realized how much the right one can elevate any outfit. This vintage Christian Lacroix silk scarf is just beyond gorgeous. I love the print and the fabric itself has a subtle pattern printed on it. Really, it's gorgeous. 

Look, I know I have to stop buying used clothes. I really tried to buy a new suit from a new-suit store, but I have had no luck. The mall suits looked ill-fitting and a bit cheap but even the new designer suits that would have blown out my budget never looked "just right." Then I found this used trouser suit. Perfect colour, perfect fit, perfect weight, beautiful cut. It's so comfortable and so "me" that I would wear it every day if I could, then throw the jacket on over a dress at night. I guess my next step will be to buy a new Hugo Boss suit, but until then, this was a real bargain at $200. 

If you've read my blog you know I bought a makeup lesson recently. Naturally I wore my Hugo Boss suit to the lesson, because I wear it everywhere all the time. So, this picture serves two purposes: showing a little of the suit, and preserving the results of the makeup lesson, which I will not be able to replicate on my own. 

I didn't set out to spend most of this month's budget at Reiss but hey, it's not a cheap store. Actually, it's generally too expensive for me even with my temporarily inflated budget, but it does have great sales. I've been trying to break my old habit of shopping the sales rack, but before Shopping for Happiness, even most of the sale prices at Reiss would have felt too expensive for me. Therefore I think it's well within the spirit of my project to shop from the sale rack at this one store. (The bargain-hunter in me lives despite all efforts to subdue her.)

Maybe it's "vanity sizing" but this neat knit is allegedly a small. It's the bulkiest sweater I own -- and so comfortable. I live in it on the weekends and probably will until June. 

This short-sleeved shirt has a silky, shiny fabric on the front and more of a comfy t-shirt feel on the back. It looks great on its own or under a blazer. 

Moonlighting's Maddie Hayes would probably have liked this Reiss jumpsuit. It's my first jumpsuit since the garbageman-like zip-up one I wore in high school, and it's pretty great. The back is open (with buttons at the neck that are pretty much impossible to do up on your own) and the neckline and sleeves are asymmetrical. 

It's very memorable and very impractical -- not the kind of thing I EVER would have purchased before Shopping for Happiness. 

I thought this colour was called "shell pink" but apparently that's a different shade entirely. Whatever the colour is called, I really like this warm piece. Length-wise, it hits below hip level, so it looks great with the slim leggings in the same colour. (Well, they used to be the same colour. Now they are pink mottled with blue.) 

ANYWAY the effect, however briefly achieved, was a neck-to-foot monochromatic look. I've aspired to monochromatic outfits ever since I was a kid watching Moonlighting. 

I don't need an excuse to watch Moonlighting again but if I did, it would be for Cybill Shepherd's clothes. Maddie Hayes –an ex-model-turned-detective – had a pretty fantastic wardrobe and she made me a lifelong fan of monochromatic looks with her single-tone outfits. 

That's what I was going for when I bought the dusty pink turtleneck and matching trousers from Reiss this month, with a pink t-shirt thrown in for good measure. 

I love these slim-legged trousers, or I should say I loved them until I accidentally maybe-wrecked them this week by staining them to death. (The French's mustard stain came out in the wash -- but while they were drying, some dye from a scarf drying on the same rack transferred on to the trousers in about four places!)

Stay tuned for new pictures after my cleaning efforts. 

Also, see the wrinkles in this picture? Photographing clothes for this blog caused me to notice how wrinkled many of my outfits become once they've been worn, washed or just folded the wrong way. That's what led me to buy my main non-Reiss purchase this month: a clothing steamer. 

How does something as prosaic as a wrinkle-removing device qualify as a Shopping for Happiness-worthy treat? Well, I could have bought a serviceable iron or hand-held steamer for a fraction of the price, but instead I sprang for a top-of-the-line Rowenta Roll and Press that actually makes it easy, fast and fun to get the wrinkles out of all my nice new clothes. I hate, hate, hate ironing and I'm terrible at it, but you can't create new wrinkles with a steamer and you can't scorch your clothes. You barely even have to pay attention to what you're doing, which is perfect for me because I have never felt the "Zen" that others claim to find in household chores. I used this steamer on a batch of items for the first time while glued to an episode of "The People v. O.J. Simpson" and they look like they just came from the cleaners. Progress!

Fabric transfer stain! The culprit: my favourite Tilo Golden Gate Bridge scarf. Well, I can't blame the scarf; it was my fault for laying the scarf out to dry so close to the trousers. My wire drying rack has some latches, etc. that pushed parts of the trousers into the scarf. These little blue mementoes were the unhappy result. A re-wash failed; I'll try the dry cleaners next.

This has got to be one of my favourite purchases to date – five private dance lessons for my husband and I. (It had been about eight years since our last lesson.) We're in the process of buffing up our Hustle and Foxtrot skills and it has been SO fun. I wrote a post about this choice ("Me" spending versus "we" spending) – but now that we've actually started the lessons, I feel like the timing of this choice was especially fortuitous. Last week our wonderful instructor told us she's closing her studio and moving out of town. This is sad news – but I would have felt much worse about it if I'd just driven by the studio one day and noticed it was closed, with no chance to say goodbye, much less take lessons. It's amazing to me that we squeaked in right before the opportunity disappeared forever.

Okay, these Supadance beauties aren't actually new, but I thought they deserved a photo to celebrate their liberation after so many years of hibernation. 

I feel like my move into expensive scarves has been nothing short of life-changing. (I am not even exaggerating.) The first Tilo scarf I bought has a print of the Golden Gate bridge; sometimes I think it's the most gorgeous thing I own. I definitely wear it more than anything else in my closet. It makes every outfit look complete and it washes well too. So, when I saw this summery beauty with a beach print at Any Direct Flight, I figured it could be the cornerstone of my spring wardrobe.

I wonder where in the world this was taken. Anyone know? 

In my "past life" of shopping on the cheap, I developed a definite shortage of nice basics. If I was going to spend money on something, it certainly wasn't going to be, say, a tank top that no one would see anyway. I'm taking a different approach now. Like, even if I'm the only one who knows I'm wearing a layer that feels like the softest cashmere sweater, that's fine!

P.S. I need a clothing steamer. Any recommendations?

Woo hoo, my first fancy bag. See me talk about it in my first vlog post. 

This is really simple – a light knit black v-neck with a white fake t-shirt collar – but it's incredibly soft and silky. It was on sale for $140. Maybe I bought it because I felt like I was getting two shirts in one.