It's the BR silk lace-print dress and I felt immediately pretty as soon as I tried it on. And when you are forty going forty-one you don't feel pretty very often, at least not in the way as it used to be. You can feel elegant, chic, good but pretty? Very rare, I tell you.
I was very tempted to buy it but 1) it was a size 2 and even if not big I would have preferred to try a size 0 at least for comparaison and 2) it was an holiday silk dress from the Monogram line, which is the Banana equivalent of the Jcrew Collection line and even on sale plus 30% off it was still expensive (around $90) so I decided to wait a little bit.
A week before my vacation, the Gap run a promotion "the more you buy, the more you save" across all the brands where you could save up to 25%, and because I had to buy new clothes for my daughter I checked the price of the dress and with the promotion it came down to $59, that was more in the price range that I was willing to pay for it. The 0 was available, so I ordered it.
The dress doesn't seem to be popular as almost all the sizes are still available on the website but I have to say that if I hadn't seen it in store and tried it on, I wouldn't have given it a thought. Also, the only customer review on the BR website is a bad review (of someone who said that it wasn't as expected) and it's true that the description can be misleading because it doesn't mention that it has a sash tie and that it's meant to be worn with the bow tied (otherwise it's just shapeless).
But with the tie? Pretty:
The adjustable straps are removable (which I prefer) and print is prettier IRL than on the website (where you can't really make out the lace motif):
It's a cocktail party dress (read: not a lot of wear) but what really sold me on this dress is the fact that when I tried it I was wearing my toothpick cords in soft ochre and as much as I love them they are a pain to take off in the fitting room. So initially I tried the dress OVER the cords and surprisingly I liked it that way. Add boots and you have a bohemian tunic that you can wear during the day:
And my BR knit coat is perfect to top it:
I felt like this dress can be versatile and that's the reason why I caved (I'm laying, I caved because I felt pretty).
What do you think? Would you wear it as a tunic over pants? Which one of yopur recent purchases made you feel pretty?
the dress looks great on you and i esp. love the way you "casualized" it. btw. you dont look forty.
ReplyDeletei have a question OT:have you seen the watercolor mini? is it TTS?
what colors are in it?
TIA
I also am thinking: Don't worry Ema, you don't look forty!
ReplyDeleteI love the dress and I think it looks just beautiful both ways.
The "dusty blossom" color from JCrew is making me feel pretty these days: every time I wear something in this color my husband tells me I am glowing! Thankfully I bought a few things in this shade when I was shopping so much last year! ;)
Wow, Ema - I love this dress on you. And the casual look is so fab too! What a great buy. I may have to see if I can track this down somewhere... (and I love that you were just trying on over your cords - I do that often with dresses & skirts, esp if I am wear boots or lace up shoes - the dress has to be worth trying on pants-less.)
ReplyDeleteAdmittedly the way "lace dress over cords" sounds really weird, but it looks great on.
ReplyDeleteIts has that certain something that makes it look tres chic.
Well done!
LOVE this gorgeous dress and it looks fabulous on you. It is hard to believe you'll be 41 with that bod!:)
ReplyDeleteI do not care for the dress with the cords. It is far too "dressy" for this look and the boots..not working. Maybe black leggings and short booties?
Ema I thought you were 28! You look fabulous and you always have good taste!
ReplyDelete