Dans Mon Jardin

I have to attend a top secret event this Tuesday and I need to be dressed up in my best JCrew attire (it doesn't need to be an "occasion" outfit, only it must be something special). I will post about the event after attending, as the organizers have requested the information not to be posted on any blog. Don't worry, I am not going to a dinner hosted by the Obamas or something like that!

Anyway I plan to wear my Jardin jacket, as it is quite special. I know, I never told you that I am one of the happy owners of this jacket but I actually purchased it months ago.
I was one of those who admired it when we first saw it in magazines and previews but as you probably remember it soldout as soon as it (virtually) hit the website. It is something that is typically out of my price range and it looked too hard to get anyway so I wasn't really thinking about buying it.

But one day I was strolling on Madison Avenue when I caught a glimpse of the jacket on a mannequin inside the Collection store. It turned out that they had two in my size and I ended up bringing it home. I must admit, it was quite an impulsive purchase but what decided me to take the plunge was that not only it is an absolute exquisite item that fits me very well but also it is something that I can see myself wearing 30 years from now. Also my birthday was only a month away and I used some money that my parents gave me to "reimburse" our family account. So let's say that it was a birthday present.

I took pics for a post as soon as I got it but it seemed a little bit silly to write a review about a jacket that nobody could buy anyway, so I decided to wait until I would wear it, which didn't happen until now (I bought it in May and the summer has been hot here).
I remember that when I was looking at the jacket online I had a hard time to figure out the collar from the website pics, that as always didn't seem to be there with the purpose of helping the customers. It is actually a shawl collar and the sequins are sewn on the inside of the collar, so that when you flip it, they will be visible on the outside:





As I said the sequined floral motive is absolutely stunning IRL:



As someone said all those sequined flowers are heavy and sewn on a chiffon base so they tend to pull on the fabric a little bit but in my opinion this is not a case of bad execution. The only problem with the jacket in my opinion is the tie closure, which in reality is a drawstring. There is no way that you can wear it open like the model, unless you use some trick to attach the ties on the inside of the jacket. Look what happens when you untie the ties:



I think that a simple push button or an eye and hook closure would have been better than the drawstring, also because you can't really pull on the ties as to really close the jacket, there will always be a gap in the middle. At some point I think I will have a button added so that it stays like that:



Initially I had planned to wear it with the contrast-stitches perfect shirt for a look similar to the one shown on the model:



But then I thought that a bright pink top would actually bring out the pink tones of the jacket and I started to look for one. A neon pink like the neon flamingo color that JCrew offered this summer would actually be the best pairing but besides my vintage cotton v-neck tee (which is too casual to wear with the jacket) I don't have anything else in that color and I didn't find anything to buy in the FS section of the website during the past week.
I finally bought a tee at the Loft that is actually quite nice and silky, even if in a darker shade of hot pink. I apologize for the quality of the pictures but I had to use the flash as it was very dark already when I tried it with the jacket and I wanted to post this tonight:





I still have a few details to figure out, like the belt and shoes, so this is not the final version of the outfit. Please let me know which pairing you prefer, if the pink tee or the blue shirt as I am undecided.

By the way, I don't want to enable as this is an expensive item but if you were lusting over this jacket, it is back in stock in all the sizes on the website (crazy JCrew inventory). Maybe it will even go on sale soon!
Have you seen the Jardin jacket IRL? Would you buy something like this? If you own it, do you have any suggestion as how to wear it?

I will probably be back posting Wednesday as I have guests arriving tomorrow and the event on Tuesday.

Have a nice week!