OOTD: an Arty Blouse for an Arty Afternoon

First of all, I'm extending the deadline to enter the Jcrew canvas tote giveaway until Sunday Feb 28th at midnight. If you haven't entered the giveaway yet and you would like to, please leave a comment in my post here (and not in this post).

Second, I apologize for not posting since Tuesday. I'm trying to have a post a day (as the only negative thing that many of you had to say about the blog is that I don't post often enough, which I find truly amazing), but sometimes there isn't enough time in my day.

I wore this outfit on Wednesday and it feels like ages ago as we are under the snow since yesterday. One of my best friends invited me to a member's preview of the Whitney Museum Art Biennal on Wednesday afternoon. It wasn't something that we had planned, I called her around lunch time to see if she wanted to do something in the afternoon and she told me that she had an invitation and that if I wanted we could go together. I should add that this friend of mine has a toddler too (actually he's my daughter's "boyfriend") so the idea was to go with them and see what happened.
In deciding what to wear I had a precise goal in mind: I wanted to look like someone interested in art who happens to be a mother and not a mommy who happens to be in a museum. You get the difference. In fact, I WAS a person interested in the art world a not-so-long time ago. Then, for some strange law of motherhood, you become less and less interested in things like the latest tendencies in art and architecture and more and more interested in things like your daughter's poop.
Anyway, I always liked to dress up a little bit to go to a museum. We could say that people interested in art aren't interested in clothes, but that's the artists. The museum-goers are a totally different crowd, especially in NY. I could have gone all intellectual-black but then I thought that my friend would be a little bit surprised to see me wearing black in the afternoon and we were with toddlers anyway, so I decided to grab my favorite artsy blouse instead.
It happens to be an old H&M blouse, so it makes for an "all H&M blog week" (I will be back to Jcrew right after this post!) and it's one of those rare cases when something that is meant to be disposable makes its way into one's closet's "permanent collection". I always reach for this blouse when I feel "artistic" because the pattern reminds me of a painter's palette (the cardigan is the Zara cashmere cardi that I had bought to wear with the Jcrew beaded ribbon top from the fall):




OK, so maybe I still looked like a mommy with toddler in toe who was at the Biennal preview by mistake but at least I felt like I made an effort.
My daughter stole the scene because she was rocking a skinny-jeans-with-long-sweater look that got many compliments (and I, as the mommy, got the compliments). Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me but she was wearing the Stella McCartney leopard minidress that I got for a real steal during the crazy sales at the Gap:



It's fascinating to go to a museum with a toddler because they go to the basics of painting, like colors and shapes. The highlight for my daughter was a big painting with a little Santa upside down. That one got many giggles. The exhibition is spreaded through four floors and by the time we got to the 4th floor my daughter and my friend's son were running around and trying to climb up many of the pieces (is not their fault if many of the "sculptures" looked like toys for toddlers) so we had to cut it short. Personally I didn't like much of what I saw but I was a little bit distracted and I can't say that I really took the time to enjoy any of the video installations. I guess that I should go alone if I really wanted to understand what I saw.

Next up, a few Jcrew new arrivals. And I know, I still owe you the Tory Burch shoes review (it's coming, it's coming).

A Fabulous H&M Find (and a pair of Minnies look-alike)

In my previous post I was saying that I try to stay away from H&M because I find that in general what looks great for the price in the store, doesn't look so good once I arrive home and I end up regretting most of my purchases there (which leads to shopping exhaution). But there are (rare) exceptions.

While I was there to checkout the Sonia Rykiel collection last Saturday, I couldn't help browsing the other racks (even if it was 4 pm on a Saturday afternoon and the music was pumping like crazy). And I found something that I think is REALLY fabulous, for only $24.50.

It's a blouse of nautical inspiration, with an elastic at the waist, covered by a tissue belt. The color combination is just about perfect:



It has adorable golden button at the shoulder (they are not "fake" buttons, but I could pull it over without openining them, which seems a little bit of a hassle):



This blouse is 100% polyesther but it doesn't look cheap at all (I was surprised that the fabric wasn't silk or at least a blend). Had I seen someone wearing this in the street I would have thought that it was something by Chloe and I would have been very jalous because I can't afford wearing Chloe.
To be honest, of all the new spring clothes that I bought or seen around, this is the one that I'm the more excited about. I simply can't wait to wear it. I can picture it with a denim pencil skirt, white trousers or with skinny jeans.

Speaking of skinny jeans, the last thing that I bought is a pair of denim leggings that look like the Minnies, at least once on. I liked the denim Minnies when I tried them but I'm bothered by the ankle zipper because I think that they will look dated next year and I'm not sure that I want to pay $98 for something that I will wear only one season (especially jeans).
These H&M look-alike are only $19.50 and if the details are kind of cheap (faux-pockets, elastic bandwaist), the wash and overall effect is the same as the Minnies. I was wearing them in the pics above but you can better see them in this pic (they need to be hemmed, I just rolled them on the inside to take the pic):



I think that I can live with the cheap details and save $70, what do you think?

We'll see if JCrew is going to do better than H&M in the March rollout. I could convert myself to disposable fashion!

It's My Sweater (Sonia Rykiel for H&M)

If you have been following the news of the fashion world, you probably know that H&M has produced a collection in collaboration with Sonia Rykiel, the French "Queen of Knitwear", that debuted in stores this past Saturday.
Even if I have never lined up to get a H&M high-fashion designer piece before (they generally sell out the same day that are put on the shelves), I decided that I wanted something from this collection just because it reminded me of Paris.

I have a H&M really close to my place but I rarely go there. Actually I try to stay away because I generally like their prices more than the clothes themselves and if I walk in I rarely walk out without buying anything (I get caught in the "irrestistible deal" game), only to regret the purchase when I arrive at home. What helps is that they keep the music's volume so high that even if sometimes I'm tempted, I don't make it past the front door, especially if I'm with my daughter (maybe they don't know that but that's better than a bouncer for us moms).

But this time around I was going especially to checkout two pieces of the Sonia Rykiel Collecion, that I had previewed on the website here. By the way, even if you're not interested in the clothes themselves, I reccomend to checkout the Flash animation with different corners of Paris that come to life and provide a background for the model wearing the pieces of the collection (darling if you love Paris!)
I didn't know what to expect because knitwear is not what H&M does the best. They tend to use cheap fabrics and it clearly shows on their knits. In fact I didn't like most of the offerings, including the sweaters and scarves in the iconic colored multi-stripes (that looked a little bit cheap to me).
Anyway, one of my two choices (a black and white striped sweater with a bow around the neckline) was already sold-out by the time I got there in the afternoon. The other one was a black scoopneck with the words "My pull" (My sweater) and the Rykiel "signature" in white with rhinestones (it also comes in bright pick with black inscription) and it's very Parisian in an Agnes B way.
They had it both in XS and S and I had a hard time in chosing between the two sizes, but I finally went with the S in case it shrinks in the washing machine:



It's kind of challanging to wear a black and white sweater in non obvious ways (like, with black pants) and even more challanging to avoid the the Pierrotization of an outfit around this sweater. I have tried it under my Zara jackt and Martini pants and I liked because it gives the outfit a playful touch:



What do you think? Is it possible to wear this sweater and not look like a mime?

Even with my best intentions I couldn't help buying something else while I was there, but that's for another post.

Have a great week!

Time for A Giveaway (and yes, it's JCrew) !

Dear readers, you don't talk much these days and I love to hear from you. So I thought that a giveaway would shake you up a little bit and make you talk, especially those of you who haven't talked in a while (if you are still there). I don't have anything special to celebrate (the blog first anniversary will be next month and I couldn't wait that long) but I feel like a giveaway is overdue in sign of appreciation from me to you for being a follower and reading my blog.

I know that I had announced a giveaway before and dropped it but at that particular time there were so many bloggers giving away fabulous jewelry that it was getting a little bit competitive out there. And because I didn't receive any gift from Mickey that I could offer to you in my turn, I waited to find the perfect prize (something that wouldn't cost much but that you would possibly love).

And I think that I have finally found it! I will give you some clues:

1. It's Jcrew
2. It's inexpensive
3. It's reusable
4. It's coveted

No, it isn't one of the new recyclable shopping bags, like the one pictured under the title (even if they are cute, aren't they). I put that pic up there because I didn't want you to find out immediately. But your prize WAS in that bag.

Are you ready? It's TADATA .... Yes! One of the super-cute and much talked about canvas totes that are in-store only (at least for now). These come in 3 patterns and I picked up the one that I like the best, with three chic ladies going shopping with their doggies:



And of course you have the name of your favorite (or ex-favorite) retailer on it as a bonus.
If you don't know what you could use it for, let me tell you that these make the perfect bags for returns because they are big enough to stuff a lot of Jcrew items inside and unlike the most reusable bags out there they are landscape-shaped (wider than taller) and not portrait-shaped (thanks to HeidiG for the terminology).

Here are the rules:
1. You have to be a follower (new followers are welcome)
2. You have to leave a comment and tell me what you like best of the blog and what you don't like that much (please be kind)
3. You have to promise that you won't resell it on Ebay for $35 bucks (if you don't like it, do not participate, even if it's free stuff)
4. You have until Thursday the 25th at midnight ET to enter the giveaway. The winner will be chosen by random.org (whatever that means, but I have a week to find out) and will be announced on Friday the 26th.

If you want post a link to this post on your blog, you're more than welcome but you will still have an entry, to not penalize the non-bloggers.

And now, good luck!

OOTD (featuring the wool twill club pants)

Technically this is not my outfit of the day (I'm still in my pjs and I don't think I'm going to wear this this morning as we still have snow on the sidewalk), but it has been an outfit of the day a few weeks ago, when I came back from vacation. I meant to post this earlier because I LOVE everything about this outfit, but I never got around to it.
The reason why I'm posting it today is that it gives me the occasion to do a quick review of the Wool twill club pants in case you are considering ordering these with the 20% off promo. I'm really puzzled that these pants are still available in more or less all the sizes (at least in the butterscotch and black), because they are LOVELY and CLASSIC and if you can get them (like I did) for around $30, they are a great deal.
But first, the OOTD pics:





I'm wearing a 0. These also come in 00 but I couldn't even button them, so I would say that they run TTS. They are equally nice with low heels (above) and flats (below):



Now, I know that these pants have a bad reputation because people were complaining on the JCA blog that they pile like crazy between the legs (and that's maybe the reason why they are still lingering in the sale section). And I can understand that if you have paid $98 you are entitled to be mad if your pants pile. But for $30 I was ready to take the risk and you know that I'm not that concerned by piling because I have a secret weapon. Plus these are not pants that I plan on wearing often and for a long stretch during the day. In fact I wore them to go to the doctor and then the day after to take my daughter to another "interview" (by the way, I'm done with that!)
Anyway, they did pile a little bit around the crutch after the second wear, but nothing that can't be undone and for me the pros outdo the cons by far. First of all there aren't many wool pants out there that look good on petite figures. They tend to be wide-leg and wide-leg pants overwhelm me most of the times. The cropped leg on wool pants is great for us petites. Second, they are fully lined and one of the reason why I don't buy wool pants often is that they tend to be itchy. In fact I had almost given up on the whole wool pants idea after the last time that I wore a pair for dinner and I spent most of my evening in the restaurant's restrooms to scratch my bare legs to get some relief. Well, because there are lined, no itching (tested and approved). Third, I have been looking for a pair of neutral (beige-ish) pants for a while and the butterscoth color is such a great neutral.
As a top I'm wearing the cashmere boatneck popover. I know that I had said that I wouldn't buy multiples of this (I have the cinnamon spice already), but when the heather grey popped back in my size I couldn't resist the great price and I have to say that when I put it on I was completely smitten. So I take back what I said. It fits even better than the cinnamon spice and I don't have another grey cashmere sweater.

The pants look good with the Donegal shawl cardigan (that was the cardigan that I had originally tried them with when they came out in stores). The color is more of a match than what it looks in the pic:



And also with the Funnelneck sweater (the pants kind of play down the military accents of the sweater):



I really reccomend these pants to anyone who is not afraid of piling! Get them before it's too late!

President's Weekend Shopping

So I was at the Gap last Saturday to pick up some tees for hubby (they were running a promo and all the tees were $10) and I saw some cute stuff in the ladies department (obviously I couldn't leave the store without having a look), including a cotton henley sweater that was in promo for $30 and reminded me of the Jcrew cashmere one (I will probably buy one of these on super-sale).
They also had some great leather ballet flats: the leather of these ones is super-soft and the black really look like Repetto. They are $39.50 and totally worth the price in my opinion but they run big and they will probably fit better someone who normally wears half-sizes (I am a 7 and the 7 was too big, while the 6 was too small). Thanks God they didn't work for me, because I really don't need another pair of ballet flats.

But the one item that I'm really excited about is this top. Now, the website pics not only don't do this top justice but are misleading as the fabric looks completely different IRL. It looks like a heavy cotton on the website while in reality it's a blend of cotton and rayon, very lightweight and sheer, with a swiss-dot pattern (if you fear sheerness, this top isn't for you).
At $49.50, it's a little bit expensive for the Gap but I had a 20% in-store coupon and I used it to buy it because they had only a XS left and the S was sold-out.

It has cap-sleeves but the collar is what makes this top really special:


Look how adorable it is under a cardigan:




Now, in case you want to order it, you have to know that it runs SMALL, especially across the chest, so depending on your bra size you might want to size up (I bought my regular XS and it's a little bit tight, but not uncomfortably tight). And as I said it's very sheer (you need a nude bra or a cami under it).

I also picked up a Button cuff striped tee in the blue lightning color (these were on sale for $9.99 in store) but the sleeves are excessively long on me so that I would have to wear them cuffed and I don't know if I'm going to keep it.
At checkout they gave me a coupon for 40% off on one full-priced item every Wednesday starting today through March 3d, so I will try to re-buy the blouse with the 40% off if I happen to see another XS (but to me it's worth the price that I paid and even the full price).
They were still giving away those today when I was at GapKids, so you might want to ask the next time that you're in a store.

Over the weekend I also became the proud owner of a Jcrew ruffled-collar trench (aka Keagan) from Spring 09 (you will certainly remember the lovely Vanessa wearing it in the March catalog). This jacket was one of my biggest regrets as I had missed in store when it went on sale and I had the "Mickey" red card that gave 25% off on top of everything. After it became clear that I wouldn't find my size in a store I stalked the website almost every day for MONTHS for a popback (it never popped back in a 0 in the bleached almond color) and then I started to stalk ebay (the 0 was pretty rare even on ebay and it was much more expensive than what I would have paid had I bought it with the red card at Jcrew). In September I almost bought a size 2 that was reasonably priced but then I decided to wait and then it was too cold to wear all of a sudden. Then one day las week, when the 0 that I had been watching on ebay for months became "the last one" available, I realized that if I was still after this jacket after a year, it was probably worth it to pay the price that they asked for it (it was still less than the full price), so I pulled the trigger it helped that it will be soon again the season to wear it).

I receive it on President's Day (actually my husband received it and he handed me the package without a word). The good news is, I still LOVE it, after all this time. Here it is (I know that some consider this jacket boxy and not flattering but I love everything about it), finally:




The detail that I didn't remember is that the ruffle around the collar is detachable, so even if one day I get tired of ruffles I can still wear the jacket. Genius! (Now if they only could do that for every ruffled top that they put on the selling floor ...) I think it's one of those "classic with a twist" items that JCrew makes so well and it reminds me of a Burberry short trench without the price tag.

Do you like the Gap top? Did you see anything that you liked at the Gap recently? Have you ever had a similar obsession for a piece of clothing that you ended up finding on ebay? And did you still love it when you received it? Please share!

I will review the Tory Burch shoes in the next post.

My Valentines

Hello ladies, it feels like a long time since my last post, but my husband had a long three-day weekend and I just found a little bit of time to update you on my Valentine's Day celebration, even if it comes a little bit late in the game.

With hubby, we decided to celebrate Valentine's Day a day before, on Saturday night, because we were hosting a Valentine's Day playdate for my daughter's best friends and their parents on Sunday afternoon and we thought that after that we wouldn't be in the mood for a romantic dinner (not to mention that I absolutely wanted to watch the Pairs Figure Skating Short Program on Sunday night and watching TV isn't ranked amongst the most romantic Valentine's Day activities).

We have this tradition that if we stay in for Valentine's Night (and we decided to stay in because we hadn't booked any restaurant and anyway finding a babysitter last-minute for Valentine's Night is nearly impossible) we order sushi at our favorite sushi place (as we don't normally order sushi), but I wanted to bake something for dessert.
So around 7, while I was baking a chocolate cake, my daughter managed to burn her fingers pretty badly on the bulb of my bedside table lamp (while my husband was with her!), and because I didn't have any anti-burn first-aid ointment and husband was taking care of her I had to stop baking my cake and run out to the closest Duane to buy some (I know that it's silly to put ointment on a burn an hour after the fact but it reassured my husband, plus it helps the healing and to avoid scars). Now, there was a MONSTER line at Duane of last-minute Valentine's givers (mostly men) who were buying Valentine's cards and chocolates. And I had to skip the line because the register at the pharmacy was already closed and explain to the angry costumers in the line that it was an emergency. Which gave me a big headache.

All this to say that when I got home I wasn't in the mood any longer and I almost called off the celebrations. I didn't, but I could really have ruined it and I have to thank my husband who stepped up and saved our Valentine's dim-lit dinner. First of all, when I showed up for our dinner in my jeans and not showered (and clearly not in the mood for romance) his disappointed face made me go back and take a shower. That really changed everything because once showered I made the effort to dress-up (I wore the Banana Republic silk-print dress that you have seen in one of the latest posts) and felt like celebrating again.

Second, he had a Valentine surprise for me and ladies, let me tell you, I was SHOCKED. He picked up a neon pink stretch lace babydoll by Victoria Secrets and I can't even remember the last time that he offered me some lingerie (we were probably dating and we have been married for twelve years). I really didn't think that he would have something for me, especially because he had travelled all the week, and for a second I felt bad for ordering myself a bottle of the new Chloe perfume in lieu of cadeau from him (he was nice about it though, because I had told him the day before and even knowing that I had bought myself a present, he still went to Victoria's Secret on Saturday morning and picked up the babydoll. BTW, he said that my daughter helped him to choose the color, which I can totally believe!)

Needless to say we had a very romantic evening. By the way, I did finish my chocolate cake, so at least I can say that I participated in the making of the dinner:




The Chloe perfume arrived today (the package didn't make it here for Valentine's Day because of last week bad weather) along with the Tory Burch shoes that I have finally ordered over the weekend with the 25% off promotion. I have also received a long-regretted Jcrew item from last year that I have finally bought on ebay last week, but more about these purchases in the next post (I also did a little bit of shopping at the Gap and want to talk about one item in particular). So stay tuned!

JCrew New Arrivals: More IRL Pics

These start to feel like old arrivals actually, after yesterday mini-update and the news than the new collection (a big one, apparently) will hit the stores as soon as Feb. 22d. However, since I have taken the pics I'm going to post them as I know that it's always useful for those who are nowhere near a store and also because of the current 20% off promotion.

Let's start with the "new" chambray shirt (item 22658). It's a heavy (and quite stiff) denim and sort of shapeless on me, but the sleeves were really tight. I didn't feel comfortable at all but I wasn't interested for me as I already have the contrast-stitch perfect shirt and the denim safari jacket from the past summer. This is a 0:


This is the "new" Jaspe hoody that I'm pretty sure was also available on the website but disappeared. It is thinner than the "winter" version, but has the same fit (only, the price increased to $68). This is an XS:



They also had a new, cropped, version of last year space-dyed cardigan. The XS was big on me (and totally not worth the $98 price):


The following is the Alpansia swiss-dot blouse (item 22657), in a 0 in black. As you can see it was VERY long for this kind of blouses on me (but I should have tried the white one, as I think that the black is not as pretty):



Nightgown alert on the next one. This dress had a little something on the manniquen and I hadn't seen it yet, so I tried it (without any real intention of buying it when I saw that the price was $188). It's silk and it comes in XS-L sizes (not sure about XL). It could have used a steamer, so try to imagine it without all those wrinkles:





I have to say, it wasn't completely unflattering and styled as it was in the store with the Jaspe zipped hoodie over it, it was kind of cute (especially for a younger gal). But would you spend $188 on this? Right!

Let's move on to the tees. There were a few neon-y tees, like this one:




I really liked the fit and the color of this one (it's store-only), but the applique ruined it for me (and the worst is that it's what makes the price jump to $45 for this tee). I think that they should stop putting rosettes and embellishments in general on all their tees because I'm sure that I'm not the only one tired of this.

The following one is the Hand-cut flower art tee (item 23713) that is also on the cover of the Lisbon catalog, but in the less-seen light charteuse color. I don't know if it was the particular tee that I have tried on, but it looks like it runs very small (this is a XS):



And now the two watercolor scarves that have been discussed over at the JCA. There has been a lot of confusion over these and the confusion comes from the fact that they have the same style number (23288) and the only difference is the color code, even if they don't look alike at all to me. This is the papaya (PAP):



And this is the cotton candy (CCA):



I liked both of them (if they only costed $19 instead of $59.50) but while when I was in store I had a preference for the papaya one, thinking it over I would buy the other one as the colors are more springy (but as I said both were very pretty).

I didn't feel like trying any mini or dress (besides the "nightgown" one that I could try leaving my pants on) but on another visit I tried (very quickly) the shimmer pant (mainly for casual-crew, who kept asking about them). Now, I would go with your regular size if you want to order them. I tried both the 00 and the 0 and the 0 fit better. For compairason I have the summerweight chino cocktail capris from last year in a 00 (and they are still a little bit slouchy).
The slate color is very pretty (but they didn't have the 0, so this one is the 00):



The fabric is very soft and comfortable, even if prone to wrinkle. BTW the fabric isn't shiny (on some pics on the catalog and the website you could say that they are sateen-y like the cafe capris, but they are not. The fabric is more of a soft twill.)
This is the 0 in the natural color:



That's pretty much it. I don't think that I'm going anywhere near a store before the new rollout (unless I have to return something).
If you have a specific question on an item that you don't see here I will try my best to answer.

And now a special message for the New Yorker followers. I'm trying to organize a private event for the week of Feb 22nd at the Rockefeller Center store. If you are interested and you haven't received a mail from me about it, please send me a message at crazyaboutjcrew@gmail.com.

Have a very nice Valentine's weekend with your special ones!

PS
I would like to year your opinion on the Tory Burch shoes in the previous post, if you have any opinion at all (there is also a 25% off code). When I published it yesterday it went under the January posts (because I had started wrtiting it in January), so even if your reader showed a new feed you have probably missed it.

Fashion-Related Question #2: What's the Season for Wearing Peep-Toe Shoes?

I had another post in mind for you today, but I received an email this morning that triggered this second fashion-related-dilemma post instead (where I ask for your help). The email contained a President's Day offer from Tory Burch (and you know that I love my Tory almost as much as my Jcrew) and it's even better of the Jcrew 20% off one (one nail drives out another, right?)

But first, meet my new obsession, the Tory Burch Kitty shoe, in black:



And in nude:



And in gold (swoon):



It was love at the first sight between me and the Kitties. I have been considering buying another pair of Reva flats as I wear my black ones so much, but when these came out I thought "Perfection" because they look a lot like the Revas but they are not completely flat and being 5'2" I could certainly use that one and a half inch of stacked heel (which should also make them a little bit more flattering with skirts and dresses than the Revas). They also look as comfortable as the Revas, with the same rubber sole.

Well, they are almost perfection. Because they are peep-toes, as you have certainly noticed. As a matter of fact I own only a pair of peep-toe shoes and I don't wear them much because, it seems, there is no season here for wearing them. In the spring rare are the days when it's not too cold to wear stockings but still not too warm to wear sandals. And I always thought that wearing sandals or peep-toes with stockings (not matter how clear) is a fashion misfit.
But maybe it's just me and I would like to hear your opinion on peep-toe shoes. Do you own a pair of peep-toe shoes? Do you wear them often? Are peep-toes only for the summer? BTW, there was a patent version of the Kitty in the winter, which means that someone wears them with stockings?

And now meet Sally, my alternative to the Kitty. In tumbled leather, Sally is Kitty's big sister, with a 2 and half inches stacked heel, and it comes with peep or closed toes.
Peep-toe Sally in tumbled leather (the color is royal tan):



And this is the closed-toe version (I could only get a picture of the black but it comes in the royal tan color as well):



Now, the promotion is 25% off everything on the site and free shipping for orders above $300 and I'm ready to pull the trigger on one of these (and a pair of Thora sandals, that are very rarely on sale, at least in the not-colored version), but just one, even if they are returnable.
Which one would you order for yourself? Do you think that I will get more use out of the Kitty (lower heel but peep-toe) or the Sally (higher heel but option of closed-toe)? Also, I prefer the royal tan in the Sally but I think that it's much more of a summery color choice, so it would make sense to have them with open-toes. So, if your overwhelming response is that peep-toes are summer shoes, I will probably go with the closed-toe Sally in black or the open-toe Sally in royal tan and wait for the Kitty (that is only available in black and coconut, a sort of grey, on the Tory Burch website. The other colors pictured above are from other retailer's websites). Hope that it makes sense ;-).

And now, the code (ENABLER ALERT): receive 25% off your purchase of $300 or more on Toryburch.com and enjoy free standard shipping when you enter BDAY at checkout (expires Monday 15th at 11.59 pm ET).
Unfortunately the Revas are excluded from the promotion but the code is valid on everything else on the site, including other much-coveted shoes that rarely go on sale (like the Thora and the Miller sandals).

Happy shopping (just stay away from my Kitties)!

Dreaming of Spring

Outside it's snowing ...



... but it's sunny inside:






A girl can dream, right?

We finally had our snowstorm in NY, I was getting jeleaus of all those people under the snow. The effect of the storm on our household was that my husband, who was supposed to leave on a business trip to Miami today, had to change is travel plans and left yesterday, to be sure to arrive in time for whatever it is that he's doing there (something like golfing with clients). So I'm home alone again all the week, which means more time for blogging (and also more shopping temptations as "when the cat is out..". I. Must. Resist. The 20% off promo)

However, this is going to be a short post because I'm going to leave you for one guilty pleasure of the snowy days: watching TV. I NEVER watch TV in the afternoon, but there is something irresistible in being in bed watching TV while is snowing outside. Especially when the DVD of one of your favorite series is waiting for you: I just received the season 5 of Weeds (I love the show) and I can't wait to see what pregnant Nancy is up to.

Have a fantastic snowy Wednesday!

Coming up in the next post: more new arrivals IRL pics

OOTD: Grey, Silver and the Crystal Symphony

I wore this outfit this morning to run errands after dropping off my daughter at school. I really liked how the belt and the Crystal Symphony necklace brightened up the otherwise total grey outfit:





I hadn't worn the Minnies in a long time and they looked a little bit tired. So far I washed them in the machine, on a delicate cycle, but I might need to send them to the dry-cleaning the next time. Or I might need to buy a new pair (the navy or the denim ones) for spring ;-).

And now on the Crystal Symphony necklace. I always liked it but because I have a very similar one (actually more similar to the new colletto one, with round crystals) I couldn't justify to spend $98 on it.
One day in January (it was one of those lucky days) I walked into a store and saw it in the sale section. There was no tag attached but I obviously recognized it. I went to the register and asked what was the price. The SA had to look up the style number in the jewelry book and I saw that HE didn't recognize it because he was trying to find a match in the book for the thing that I was holding in my hands. I wanted to help and I told him (TWICE) "It's called the Crystal Symphony necklace" but he smirked at me (as to say "I know what I'm doing"). When he entered the style number, the price rung up at $19.99 and that was BEFORE the additional 30% off. Now, I hadn't seen it in a store in a very long time and the in-store sale prices tend to drop very quickly so, after asking him if he was sure, I promptly paid for it and when he informed me that it was final sale, I said "Yes, please, so you can't change your mind" (another smirk). A few days after, I saw another one in another store (with tags this time). The price? $69.99. And that's when I found out that the SA had made a mistake with my necklace, but I didn't feel too bad for my "stealing" it because I knew that I had done my best to hint him on the right direction.
That's how a crewless SA can help sometimes.


Happy Tuesday!

How the Saints Costed me a Frances Cami

Saints be damned, how could they win the Super Bowl? No offense for the people from New Orleans and not that I'm that big football fan or that I'm particularly fond of the Colts; it's just that I had bet against my husband that the Colts would win and with more than a 10-point difference. The price? A heart Frances cami that was on hold for me in a NYC store.

Saturday morning I went to the two Midtown JCrew stores to checkout if they had more of the new arrivals (I was hoping to find the vintage boatneck tee that is backordered until the summer) and I found a heart Frances cami in my size in the sale section. Because I had already made another purchase and I had nothing left on my gift card (and I had zero cash with me), I had to leave it at the store (not without putting it on hold for 24 hours).
Once home, I "tested" my husband and told him that if he wanted to offer me something for Valentine's Day, there was something on hold for me at the Midtown JCrew store (he had some errands to do in the afternoon in Midtown) the he could pick up for me. I had no reaction (I am not even sure that he registered), so I preferred not to insist.

Yesterday we were getting ready for the Superbowl and because we always bet something to spice up the game and to give us a reason to watch it through the end (for us Europeans American football can be pretty boring but we watch the Super Bowl because it's an American tradition and it's a way for us to "blend in"), I bet the Frances cami.
As I said I'm no football fan and I can barely follow a game but I knew that the Colts were super-favorite and a friend of ours said that he was expecting them to win hands down, so I wasn't going to put my Frances in the hands of the underdog team.
The rest is history and for the time being I have to content myself with these pics of the Frances (with the Scallopped zipper cardigan):




I called the store this morning and asked them to hold it for me until tomorrow, just in case.
Have a nice week!

P.S.
I took some more pics in the fitting rooms and I will post them later or tomorrow morning

JCrew Spring New Arrivals: Some Fitting Room Pics

Last Tuesday while my daughter was at school I went to the Collection store to checkout the new arrivals. It's dangerous to try on spring clothes just after a beach vacation because in general everything looks better with a tan (at least on me) and in fact I came home with one item that I probably wouldn't even thinked about buying if my legs had been pale as they usually are in winter.

And because I was still feeling a little bit on vacation, I was immediately drawn to this:



I take back everything I said on JCrew swimwear, I would have bought this beauty in a heartbeat had it come out before my vacation (it's the bikini that the model is wearing on page 62 of the Catalog, under the tunic and, strangely, it isn't featured anywhere else in the Catalog). But my next beach vacation will probably be in July (we are planning to return to the Hamptons) and I'm sure that I can catch it on sale before then.

But you're probably more interested in other more city-appropriate new arrivals, so here are my picks (they hadn't everything at the Collection store and many of the new arrivals have already been reviewed on several blogs, so besides the items that I tried on because I liked them for me, I tried to pick-up items that I haven't seen on others).

First, the Laporte drape blouse, in the pale lilac and my regular size 0:



It felt big and a little bit messy. The drape didn't fall nicely (in case you haven't noticed on the website it has an elastic band at the hem) and it is clearly a high maintenance top. For the price it was a pass.

Second, the much-talked about Neapolitan Pencil skirt. This one is beautifully made and the texture is the same than last summer coccodrillo pencil skirt. I think that IRL the print is a little bit more subdued than on the pics (the charcoal is not as predominant) and the violet is really a violet and not "plum".
I'm a 2P in the wool perfect pencil skirts. This one doesn't come in petite but the 0 was perfect in the waist area (it fits a little bit smaller than the wool one and MUCH smaller than the double-serge cotton pencil skirt of the past summer). However it was a bit too long on me and I would need to have it hemmed:




I left it at the store because I don't wear pencil skirts that much to justify the purchase and in compairison I liked the coccodrillo print much better. But if you wear pencil skirts an you like this print, this one is absolutely beautiful and flattering.

As a top in the pics above I was wearing the Jcrew tissue garland tank in lavender.
I really liked this tank (BTW, the embellishment is made in a different, more substantial, cotton than the rest of the tank, which is why the flowers are not droopy and kind of standup like a bouquet) and my only problem was to decide among the lavender, the coral pink and the sepia, that I'm wearing in the following pic with the Vintage zebra-stripe broken-in boyfriend chino short:



These shorts were one of the two new arrivals that had really caught my eyes on the website (the other being the vintage boatneck top, that wasn't in store and now is already sold-out in the camel color in XS). However I didn't LOVE them, so I passed.
By the way, I don't know what size the model is wearing in the catalog but if you go with your regular size they are way shorter.

Probably I didn't love them because my heart was already taken by another pair of shorts:



They are in-store only and they retail for $59.50. Here's a close up on the beautiful Liberty print (that by the way, also comes in a perfect-fit shirt. Did you hear me Dinagedeon?):



How cute are these shorts? When I tried them on though my first thought was "Bummer if I were 14, or even 20, I would totally buy them" because they are very short as you can see and the Liberty print adds to the gamine look; but then I walked out of the fitting room to ask for a size 2 (even if the 0 was perfect) and an old (like 70 plus year old) and very chic lady gave the shorts a look that said "Bummer, if I were a little bit younger, say 40, I would totally buy those". So I asked HER, and not the SA, if she thought that they were too short or young-looking for me. And without saying a word, but just shaking her head from side to side, she sold me the shorts, because I just trust a chic old lady on what's appropriate for my age.
So because I brought them home I took a picture with a better light, but still the pics don't do them justice:



Back to the fitting room, I was curious about the Black blossom jacket, but I didn't like the fit (boxy). This is an XS:



I have to say, I'm not a fan of this print (I didn't care about the cardigan at all when I saw it, even if it looks fabulous on some JCAs), so I didn't try the mini nor the shorts.

Speaking of flowers, the Iris embroidery tank top was enormous on me (in my size):

I can't recall if it was a pullover of had a side zip but it really felt like a tent. Total pass.

The SA insisted for me to try the new Denim Minnie pant that I already have in the non-demin version from this fall. I thought that I wouldn't like these in denim but they were very flattering:



While I wear a 00 in the Minnies, I sized up to a 0 in these as they are less stretch than the non denim-version. My only problem with these is the ankle zipper: even if it didn't bother me as much as I thought it would before trying them on, I think that it will soon look a little bit dated. But if I find them in super-duper sale I'm probaby going to get a pair.

The best for the end (I'm joking). They had a "limited edition" tee with a $125 price tag. You're supposed to be wearing a piece of art as each tee is hand-painted by an (unknown) artist and you pay for that. OK, maybe the artist who painted your tee will turn out to be the next Pollock and you will have made the best investment of your life, but in the meanwhile you're going to wear this (or something similar):



Have you seen the movie "My daughter could have painted that" (about the 5-year-old artist Martha something)? That's what I thought when I saw the tee (in fact it has a striking resemblance with one of my daughter's latest art pieces, named "Elephant on the bus". The difference is that I don't allow my daughter to paint on my t-shirts. But maybe I should and I could sell them on the Internet for $125 bucks). Anyway, it also comes in pewter if you are interested ;-).

Btw, I finally went with the sepia in the garland tank, because I was picturing it with chinos. I have tried it at home with my scout chinos, what do you think of this color on me?



I'm probably going to return it anyway because, strangely, this tank is $42.50 online and $45 in store (as I found out once home) and I can keep it as a ride-along for the next order with a free shipping code (I'm not going to wear it well into the spring anyway).


Have you ordered any of the new arrivals yet? Do you think that Jcrew has taken the concept of "art" tee-shirt too far with their Limited Edition tees?
Any questions, let me know!