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.