November Shopping Reflections

I know it totally doesn't look it, but I'm getting over that shopping frenzy phase of the last few months... I think. Only time will really tell, but November's shopping was all things that were already on my radar in October. One promising sign is that I made very few fashion-related Black Friday sale orders this year. Last year I was ordering like a fiend , but didn't end up keeping much. This year, I ordered mostly some clearance section home goods K and I needed, and also several loose leaf teas for the office.

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Most of my Black Friday fashion orders were leggings, part of my search for a replacement to my beloved American Apparel Winter Leggings, which I wore a hole through last year, after about five years of heavy wear. (They got considerably less use after I graduated, naturally.) I may be too picky about wanting any replacement to be identical to the Winter Leggings, which were very thick and mostly cotton (~90%, I think). That doesn't seem to be common . I haven't seen anything that completely fits the bill in the last year and a half. (Nor do leggings need to be mostly cotton to be comfortable in winter, I'm sure.) I'm trying the J.Crew Signature Leggings and Old Navy Heavy-Knit Jersey Leggings, which may come close to meeting the criteria. Perhaps because cotton isn't actually the most suitable fabric for leggings, I haven't found many mostly-cotton ones at higher price points. 

Fashion - (TOTAL: $345.86) 

• Longchamp Neo Large Tote, black - $206.86* - As I mentioned last month, my old one was showing too much wear for me to bring it on business trips, and well, I'm a creature of habit. I should be more open-minded to other options that have more internal organization and a built in laptop sleeve, at least for business travel. (I carry my laptop in an old Caselogic sleeve when taking it around in my Longchamp. That particular sleeve is a little bigger than necessary for my 13-inch Macbook Pro, so there must be better laptop sleeves out there.) 
• Wolford Pure 50 Signature Tights, black, 2 pairs - $76.00 - I got these at ASOS on sale, but they're likely sold out. I'd have been perfectly happy to stick with Uniqlo for my semi-opaque tights for before real winter sets in. I used to buy both Heattech and non-Heattech, and found that both held up well to frequent wear. Alas, Uniqlo seems to have discontinued their non-Heattech tights. Also, last year's Heattech tights were strangely tight and more difficult to put on than previous pairs, though still comfortable in my usual size after I got them on. I'd tried out some Hanes last year, but they didn't hold up, so I leapt upwards in price to Wolford. I can definitely feel the difference from Uniqlo and Hanes, as the waistbands stay perfectly in place throughout the day, and they're more comfortable as a result. These 50 denier tights are only a bit translucent/still close to opaque, which is what I prefer. 
• Grana - $63.00 -  ($243.00 - $180.00 referral credit = $63.00) - Now that Grana's become a more popular brand, I don't think anyone needs my referral code anymore! I wanted to use up the last of my credit in one go, so I may not have been as picky as I might normally be. Thank you to everyone who has signed up through my link in the past!
• Cashmere Blanket Scarf, gray - I've wanted a cashmere blanket scarf for a while and probably would have been inclined to the H&M Premium Quality one, if this year's colors weren't so blah. I'd been taken with the idea of the White & Warren Travel Wrap for years, though the price was always unrealistic for me. The White & Warren one is wider by 10 inches, and also a bit longer. I've been pleased with Grana's cashmere sweaters before, and am similarly satisfied with this scarf, though keep in mind that I don't have much to compare it to, besides Uniqlo cashmere, as my White & Warren sweaters are intentionally thin knits with pointelle details (i.e. intentional small holes).
• Drop Shoulder Silk Contrast Tee, dark teal - I picked this out because it has a similar shape to the MM. LaFleur Didion, which I love. Do note that the neck hole on this top is oddly small, so it feels like a slight squeeze to get it over my head. It's not so much an issue that I can't wear it (because that would be really weird), but it's not a problem I've ever had with any other shirt. Temporary Housewifey has a review with photos, if you're curious. 
• Silk V-Neck Slip Dress, black - It probably comes as no surprise that this shape is challenging for people on the much bustier side of average, such as myself. I probably would never consider this dress if I didn't have referral credit, as the shape is quite outside of my comfort zone. Worst case scenario, I thought I'd just wear it at home as lounging clothes/pajamas, though I think I could come around to wearing this out in the summer. 

Any cold weather leggings recommendations? Did you shop any Black Friday or Cyber Monday sales this year? Did you find anything good? I felt like there were more sales this year than usual, and that they generally started very early. By the time the actual day after Thanksgiving rolled around, I had serious sale fatigue, and could barely look at any more online shops or promotional emails. I was trying to do Christmas shopping for others by that point, but didn't have any good ideas.