Know What's the Best Thing Ever? When Moments of Desperation Yield Brilliant Purchases

We paired up with eBay to host two Lookbook events in New York and Los Angeles over the past two weeks: Racks and racks of awesome eBay finds were rolled onto the sidewalks and people passing by were invited in to style themselves from the offerings (knee-high Christian Louboutin boots, a suede parka, and a leopard trench were particularly popular)--with input from me, celebrity stylist Annabel Tollman, and reality star Whitney Port--and get their photo taken by Michael Waring. Meanwhile, in conjunction with the events, people from all over the world are posting photos of their personal style to the Lookbook, in order to enter to win a $5,000 shopping spree (so, ahem, get posting!). Anyway, it was all in good fun, except for about an hour at L.A.'s event on Wednesday, when it was so mind-blowingly hot, I actually went sprinting through The Grove looking for a more summery outfit.

See, I figured that late September in Los Angeles would absolutely justify jeans and a silky Nieves Lavi tunic, which I incidentally wear all the time, even though I figured it would be a special occasion piece considering it's cut from a green cheetah-print pattern and all (it looks a bit like this one, but the style is different). But it was about 90 degrees, and we were standing in the direct sunlight, so on a 10-minute break, I managed to land a new outfit, which I've more or less been wearing since.

First, I found this below-the-knee skirt at Anthropologie, which I'm convinced I'll wear all fall and into winter. I'm not a fan of the feather pin, which I promptly removed, but I love everything else. It's swingy, it's a bit hefty, and it has pockets, which is key. If you're worried about adding volume in the hips though, this probably isn't the skirt for you. Meanwhile, I skipped over to J.Crew for a basic striped tee, and I was redressed for the event and feeling about 15 degrees cooler.

Seriously, I'm pretty ecstatic that my frantic shopping (it was like Supermarket Sweeps) didn't yield underwhelming results. Maybe that should be my new strategy: Go with first impulse and make a break for it. If wavering takes longer than 10 minutes, move on? What's the most efficient way for you all to shop?