JCrew Perfect Pencil Skirt in Dusty Blossom (and the Silk Brulee Tank)

Dear readers, I apologize if it took me a few days to post again. I still have to comment back but I'm getting there, please be patient and keep commenting. Each time that I come back from Europe I have a hard time finding my words in English (it takes me a few days to "think in English" again) and I become lazy, especially if I don't HAVE to speak/write.
The other raison why I have procrastinated this post is that I wanted to take more pictures of the two items that I have received from Jcrew while I was on vacation and with the fatigue from all the travelling, the laundry, the apartment that needed serious cleaning and the fact that my husband came back only yesterday (meaning that I was the only one to get up in the middle of the night with a jet-lagged toddler) it has been difficult to properly trying clothes on. But this morning I finally got around to it (the rain helped) and I could take the pics.
As a reward for the wait, it is going to be a quite long post, hope that you enjoy it!

So the other two items that I had ordered before leaving are the Perfect pencil skirt (aka Mia) in dusty blossom and the Silk brulee tank in dark charcoal.
I didn't consider the Silk brulee tank until reading this post on Gigi's blog and clicking on the link that lead me to this page on the website:



They totally got me with this picture. As soon as I saw it, I HAD to order the tank. This is one of the rare items that comes in XXS so, because the XS was a little bit big on Gigi, I sized down. I was so enamored with the styling in this pic that I almost paid the overnight shipping (and I NEVER pay shipping, I always wait for a code) in order to have it before leaving and take it with me to Paris.
Well, luckily I decided against it because the tank is not as I had imagined it, or at least it doesn't look as good on me.
The XXS i very fitted and it succeeds in giving my body a pear shape by adding volume on the bottom. In fact if you go to the item page, you'll see what I mean because the model seems to suffer from the same effect:


The funny thing is that on the plastic bag the name of the top is "slub cupcake tank" (btw, I think that we JCAS should compile a list of "alternative names" of the Jcrew items like the Frances that is a Tegan ect.). And when I tried it on the thing that came to my mind was exactly a cupcake. This is on me, with skinny jeans:



and trying to reproduce the look of the JCrew styling:



OK, I know what you're thinking, it doesn't look THAT bad in these pictures but I swear that I feel more like a cupcake than like the sexy model in the budoir pose. And, besides, this comes a little bit late because it looks like fall is here early this year, so I'm not going to pay full price from something that has ruffles placed in odd spots and that I'm not going to wear until next spring.

In the last pic I'm wearing it with the perfect pencil skirt. I ordered this skirt as a ride-along to get the free shipping, more out of curiosity and in order to try a petite in case I (as I don't own last year's double serge pencil skirt as I don't usually wear pencil skirts) than with the real intention of keeping it at FP. I have seen the other colors in store but not the dusty blossom. The fresh plum has many fans and is beautiful IRL but I have a very few things in my closet in that color palette, while I can easily see how to pair the dusty blossom.
So I went ahead with the dusty blossom in a 2P (I applied the rule to size one up in petites).
The dusty blossom IRL is a beige with a hint of pink, more of a neutral than a pink. In fact it's almost a perfect match of my Michelle cardi in "putty":



Under the cardi I'm wearing the Victoria long-sleeved shirt from last year. I'm sure that I have other options in my closet (the Victoria can be a little bit overwhelming) but the Victoria was on hand and I wanted to show you the fit of the skirt with a shirt tucked in. As you see the 2P fits me perfectly. It's still a little bit roomy and on the long side, but I think that the 0 would be too snug, especially worn like that or with a heavier top tucked in:



Side view:



and back view (sorry for the pose, I don't have the hang of it):



In all the pictures I'm wearing my new Juliet in driftwood, bought during one of the last 20% off promo, when they finally dropped under $100. I'm completely in love with the Juliet and I'm planning to buy more colors (actually they are currently sold-out in my size but one girl can always hope in a popback, right?).
I have a cashmere turtleneck from last yeat that is the same exact color (although I'm not sure that it was called driftwook, maybe dark caramel?) and it's also a good pairing with the dusty blossom.
Please pardon the wrinkled appearance of the turtleneck, it was under a mountain of laundry, waiting (since spring!) to be hand-washed ( know, I know, cashmere deserves better):



Bottom line, I think that I'm going to keep the skirt. I really like it and I don't have anything quite similar in my closet. I feel like a lady in a positive way (the negative way being feeling like a little girl dressed up like a lady, which is the way I usually feel when I try pencil skirts) and it's something that I'm going to wear more likely in the fall than in the winter, meaning that is not worth it to wait for it to go on sale (if it doesn't sell out before). As a plus, my husband, who saw it laying on the chair in our bedroom after the try-ons and thought that I had already worn it to go a workshop at my future daughter's nursery school, made a positive comment (he said "Class!"), so it's definitively a keeper (I love when he makes spontaneous positive comments, as opposed to me asking insistently "Don't you like it?").

Now, I wanted to show you THE one thing that I bought while I was in Europe (actually it's my birthday present from my mom but I bought it with her). The fact is that I needed a new wallet and I had been needing it for a long time (to the point that lately I was quite ashamed of taking it out of my bag, especially at the Madison Avenue Collection store) but I seemed never found one that I really liked for the money, so I kept procrastinating. I knew that I wanted one from a high-end brand because I don't change my wallet every season so it is worth it to buy something meant to last but the prices here in the USA turned me off (plus as I said I didn't find something that I immediately loved).
While I was in Italy I only had the time to go to the Louis Vuitton and Prada stores but I was quite sure that I would find something at either one. The Louis Vuitton wallets were as you can expect them, beautiful and expensive, even if quite boring, so I went to Prada. And I found it. I falled immediately in love with it and the evidence is that I didn't listen to the voice of raison (and my mom's) that was telling me "Black, black, black". In fact it also came in black, but the one that I fell in love with was the beige:





I swear that I didn't buy the beige (dusty blossom?) thinking of the skirt because I hadn't even seen the skirt yet. But they make a nice couple, don't they? My new dusty blossom skirt and wallet together:



What do you think of the silk brulee tank? Do you own the perfect pencil skirt in one of this year's color?

Have a nice weekend everyone!