Some of the New Arrival (and Some Not So New)

I apologize for disappearing for three days but it wasn't my intention. In fact this post was ready on Tuesday afternoon (really, I was spell-checking it) when my daughter, who is becoming more and more jealous of the computer, DELETED all the text in the post leaving just the first paragraph (I still can't understand how she managed to do that in two clicks, I tried to do a paste hoping that the text had been copied in the notepad but it didn't work), and the Blogger autosave function kicked in just when I was about to close the window without saving HER work, so that was the end of it. You should have seen my face. Or maybe not.
Anyway, that left me a little bit dumb for the rest of the day and then yesterday was one of the busiest days ever (I had barely the time to check my emails and I couldn't even checkout what I had patiently put in my cart in the three days of the 20% promo, meaning that I didn't take advantage of it after all that work).
Only today I could face the task of writing it again (it's going to be less detailed than the first time but better than nothing, or so I hope).

So I checked out the new arrivals on Saturday at both the Rockfeller Center and Madison Avenue stores and I was really underwhelmed. More ruffles, more deja-crew embellished tees, more unseasonal sleeveless tops (I get the layering thing but all these really low necklines for winter?) and expensive items that look nice only in the catalog. But as someone mentioned on the JCA blog today, this rollout was much bigger on the website than in the stores, at least as per last Saturday, so there is hope that some gem wasn't out on the selling floor yet.
And WHERE ARE THEY HIDING THE COATS? It's getting REALLY cold here and I'm still waiting to see many of the coats IRL.
I warn you Jcrew: some other retailer (probably Zara) is going to get my coat budget if you don't pull out the coats ASAP.

Sorry for the ranting but I still had the $25 off $125 card (I was one of the lucky few to get it in the last catalog) to spend ((it was the last day before expiration date) and I didn't know what to spend it on. Crazy! I got a pair of ankle toothpick jeans in black wash (on sale for $69.99) and I really had a hard time to find something to reach the $125. I ended up buying the calf-hair belt that I had been eyeing for a while but didn't want to spend $68 on.
Anyway, I took some pics of what I tried on (but not everything because the battery of my camera was almost dead) to show you.

Let's start with the winner of the "it looks good only in the catalog" prize: the Pleated Paulette top, that retails for $168. This is how it looks unbottoned (the button holes are hidden under the placket, which makes it very difficult to actually button it):



By the way, this top, DOESN'T LOOK GOOD worn alone (it's very boxy and I think that it's supposed to be worn more like a vest than a top, or at least it was styled like that in the store). After 10 minutes I gave up on finding a way to place the fabric belt without cutting through the pleats, as you can see (the SAs have probably been given an instruction manual, but I didn't feel like calling someone for this).


The next one is the Classic-stripe tissue tee, that many JCAs including HeidiG, Dinagedeon and Summerilla have loved. Personally I didn't like it, I think that is one of those item that looks much better on taller gals. Plus it's super-thin and I think that season for this is already over here in NYC (unless you want to wear it under a sweater, but again being that long is not the ideal layering tee IMO):



Next, a in-store only new arrival, the woman's version of the Men's secret wash lightweight point-collar shirt that made an appereance under the Downtown field jacket and the Minnie pants in the September catalog (page 64). This one is cute (for $64), and has a holiday feeling to it (although I only saw the navy, no red for the time being). Is not as fitted as the perfect shirts IMO (I'm trying a 0) and the actual color is a little bit lighter than in the pic:



The only tee that I hadn't seen before was this one:

And you thought that neon was a summer thing! I don't remember at all the price of this tee but I remember it being very thin. The color of the sequined flower is much more like a punch in the eye than the pic shows. What were they thinking?

Anyway, it would look good with the Ruffled Celosia (?) cardigan in bright coral.
I wanted to show you this pic because the S was enormous on me, so size down in case you want to order this cardigan:



I have to say that the description "extrafine merino wool in a 14-gauge knit, so soft it feels like cashmere" is perfectly true (is thick merino and soft as cashmere at the touch). It's truly a beautiful cardigan and it's almost sold-out in the stores, so I'm happy that is now being offered on the website. I wouldn't wait too much on this one if you want to get it.

Because it's getting chilly here, I tried a cashmere turtleneck to get an idea of the fit for a future purchase (I never buy cashmere FP because sooner or later there will be a promo and even if I miss the sales is not like they are going to stop producing cashmere turtlenecks anyway). I had read some JCAs report that this year's version was big in the body and snug elsewhere, but I didn't get the same impression, unless you want your turtlenecks really fitted. Here is in the Jalapeno color that is part of the colors offered in the new rollout (beautiful if you love green):



I also tried the Cashmere boatneck popover. This one is pure perfection: perfect fit, perfect lenght, perfect color (the beautiful CSP - Cinnamon Spice - that I don't see on the website).



It's going to be hard to resist this one, especially if the temperatures continue to drop. In the last three years I didn't get much wear out of my cashmeres because the winters have been pretty mild here but it looks like this year we are going to have one of those winters with freezing temperatures, so it might be a better investment than yet another sleveless top.

And now the item that I liked over everything else. This isn't new but it was the first time that I saw it IRL. You maybe remember that in my last "new arrivals" post I had tried on the Olive dress and I wasn't carried away; this time around I tried the Olive flannel top and I LOVED it. This is the 0 in heather carbon (currently waitlisted on the website):



It's perfectly fitted and the cowl neck is not as low as in the dress. It can look very sophisticated but it can also be "dressed down" with jeans and a belt:



I almost pulled the trigger during the 20% off promo but the fact that it was waitlisted until basically Thanksgiving turned me off. I will probably wait for it to go on sale now but if your lifestyle allows you to get a lot of wear out of this kind of pieces (it's perfect for the workplace), I have only one advice: GET IT NOW!

That's it until next Sunday, when I will visit the Time Warner store for the first JCA event in the city ever, thank you so much Summerilla for organizing it! I'm so excited to meet some other JCAs who live in the city!

As usual, any question let me know!