Hosted by Angie, Petite Fashion Challenge #19: Trend Benders has us picking a Summer or Fall 2012 trend and making it work for us, whether it's going all-out, incorporating it into a professional outfit or using it in moderation.

Like many, burgundy/oxblood/maroon is at the top of my must-wear list for Fall 2012. I've already been getting wears out of this sweater (with many more to come), so I didn't feel I'd be challenging myself if I put together another regular ol' outfit.

My eyes have been focused on burgundy lately, so I turned to Google thinking it'd be fun if I could somehow mix another trend with burgundy. I saw brocade as another and knew I had an item from my closet to experiment with.

The dress is an old one that was already a bit tight when I bought from Elle awhile back, and even more so now that I've gained some weight. The skirt portion poofed out much more than I remembered, so I ended up channeling Blair, the queen of full skirts. The burgundy sweater served two purposes: 1) complements the patterned gold brocade fabric and 2) hides the strained back zipper that I came this close to giving up on. To top it off, I added simple and neutral accessories.

Be sure to check out outfits from other participants!

Raise your hand if you're like me and hate doing taxes. I'm such a goody-two shoes when it comes to doing everything else early... except this. Tax season is the worst. I always wait until the last possible minute. My excuse? I end up paying the government every. single. year. Not chump change either, so no extra shopping cash for me. Time to get married? Buy a house? Have kids? Take a pay cut? All of the above?! But now I can happily say... this year's are finally DONE. I can now enjoy an entire year full of tax-free thoughts. Yay!

PS - I added a FAQs section above. What else do you want to know? Ask away and I'll try to answer.

I'm always late to designer collaboration parties. Well, no more! I bought this Zac Posen for Target Brocade Tie Dress in floral print, size 1 from Elle's blog sale (check it out if you haven't yet) because I fell in l-o-v-e. I know I was supposed to stop buying useless dresses this year, but if I was to make an exception, this dress is it. And I will be making up occasions to wear this dress, whether boyfriend likes it or not :)

What drew my eye was the print. It is absolutely gorgeous. It's made of a pretty brocade material that I can see being worn all year round. Because I couldn't wait to show off this dress, do excuse my navy blazer with black tights/shoes pairing -- I had to make do with what I had in my closet. Though would this be the perfect excuse to go shopping for a black blazer? I digress.

The fit did worry me, but after asking for measurements, I was pretty sure I'll be ok. The bust area wasn't a problem for me; in fact there's plenty of room. What ended up being an issue is my ribcage. That area was kind of tight! Now I find myself touching my ribs periodically -- to do what, I have no idea because I can't make them magically shrink. I think I'll be able to live (and breathe) alright for a few hours in this dress. Anything more then we might have problems.

I did have a wtf moment when putting on the dress. I couldn't zip up the back by myself, so I twisted the dress around until I could reach the zipper. Then, not realizing there is a small zipper in the chest area, I forced my arms through the straps. I was ready to take pictures until I looked down and saw that the top half of the bow had flopped over. Eep! Luckily, it'll be an easy fix with some thread and a needle. Even a newbie like me should be able to "sew"... right? I ended up sticking a piece of tape on to keep the bow up for these photos. All in all, I happy with the dress. Thank you Elle!

Next up on my list? Perhaps getting my hands on something from Lanvin hearts H&M... and not just in my dreams.

*Zac Posen for Target stock image courtesy of College Fashion