This season has brought with it a surprising addition to my shopping agenda: animal prints. Previously associated with too tight polyester, I feel it has slowly taken a turn into the edgy/respectful domain… In fact, it might even be elegant as we see it interpreted using sumptuous silks, beautiful wool, and (currently very popular) calf hair.

Last year, I took the plunge for the first time with my Alice by Temperley Panthera scarf and a leopard print scarf from Zara. Over the holidays, thanks to some amazing sales and promo codes, my collection grew with two items that I featured on my Boxing Day list: Nicole calf hair gloves from Club Monaco & the J Crew wild side wide bangle.

These items are gorgeous. The leather on the gloves is soft and high quality, and the wool and cashmere interior mean that they can easily tackle our Canadian winters (though, because they are so perfect, I am very careful about getting snow on them until the calf hair and leather are treated!). I also love the detailing with the button on the wrist. The bracelet is also real calf hair (I admit to feeling some measure of guilt – it is much harder to disassociate hair from an animal than dyed and treated leathers), shiny, and has a great weight to it that means it can stand alone or be stacked with other bangles.

As you can see, I have kept my collection confined to accessories – happily making small statements and scared of the bold move. However, over the past week or two, I have slowly been warming to animal print coats. First, was this lovely example posted on instagram by Emily Schuman of Cupcakes & Cashmere:

Then, the other night on one of my favourite shows, Vegas, one of the main characters also looked gorgeous in her ensemble depicting a 50s approach:

Needless to say, I am in love though still unsure if I will take the plunge into larger scale animal print items. How do you feel about animal print? Please share some of your items and thoughts!

Wishing you the best of everything,
Champagne Moods