A Shorts Weekend

I have been wearing shorts non-stop this past weekend. It was sooo hot and I wanted to be 100% comfortable so I didn't wear dresses.

I really liked my Saturday outfit. I think that it looks quite pulled together for an outfit with shorts:




I am wearing the space-dyed grey tee from JCrew that I scored on final sale. I really loved this tee until my husband on Saturday night made me notice that I had a hole under my underarm. I am pretty sure that it wasn't there when I bought the tee (it wasn't in the sale section but well folded in its pile), so I think that I am a new victim of the "tee that develops a hole after a day of wearing" plague. It's a first for me and when I read on the JCA blog about it I thought that people were exaggerating things. Seriously, this is a $58 tee even if I didn't pay that price, how can it be possible? I will never look at JCrew tees the same way as before.

Unfortunately I had just bought another tee, the vintage cotton v-neck in black (that is on promo in store for $19.50). I love how the black here is not a solid black (not sure if it makes sense if you haven't seen this tee) and I think that the low v-neck of this one (which is an update of last year boyfriend tee) is kind of sexy. So I would probably buy it again, at the risk of developing holes (which hasn't happened with this one).
I wore it with boyfriend shorts and the studded pyramid belt to an outing to the Bronx zoo on Sunday (BTW, we had a blast and if you happen to go there don't miss the Wild Asia Monorail ride. It's the only way to see the elephants and it's totally worth the money):



As if I hadn't enough shorts, I bought a new pair on Saturday. This wasn't a impulsive buy though: I waited forever for these to go on sale and when they finally did this week I almost missed them (I have to thank my daughter who, while we were on our way to the post office on Saturday afternoon and we walked past the Gap, asked me "Mommy, aren't we going inside today?"). Anyway, I am talking about the Chambray boyfriend cutoffs and I just love the light denim color for summer shorts (they are chambray, so extremely soft). These are really casual shorts, to wear to the beach (when they are not rolled-up they are almost a bermuda lenght):




What are your favorite shorts this season?

End of the Week OOTDs (Wearing Color Against the Heat)

If you find yourself in a desert and you ask a bedouin (if you have the chance to meet any), he will tell you to wear black to protect your body against the heat (and even if this seems a counter-intuitive advice, because black absorbs light, just trust the bedouin in the desert because he knows better).
But when it's really hot outside I am suddenly in the mood for colors (sorry bedouin, I live in NYC and we have AC: no need to create an AC system with my loose-fitting black clothes and my perspiration). So I have been wearing lots of colors this week and I am going to share my OOTDs. Enjoy!

Wednesday, wearing an old Jcrew chino skirt (circa 2007), Gap tank and Jcrew necklace:



Yesterday night, date night with hubby (we went to a very nice reastaurant in the neighborhood with an even nicer terrace). Wearing the Jcrew Piazza dress in aqua, ATL necklace, Stubbs and Wooton espadrilles:




I had a melon Jackie in my bag but it didn't come out during the evening. It was so hot, even at 11 pm. I took a pic anyway:



Today. Wearing last year's JCrew pavillon pique dress with a Theory tubular cami:



And in all these pictures, wearing my OPI pedicure (as you see I like color on my toes too):



Have a nice weekend and stay cool!

If Diane Kruger can wear Bright Plum, so Do I!

Do you remember this post on the JCA featuring Diane Kruger in a Jcrew outfit?
My first reaction to this outfit was that I would never have thought of pairing those two colors together and I didn't know if I liked the result. But my second reaction was that for a blonde, Diane Kruger looked very nice in that bright plum color. I have always thought that bright plum (or that shade of fuchsia) was a color reserved to brunettes (not that I am as blond as Diane Kruger but I am definitively not a brunette).

So yesterday, when I was in a store and I found the same cashmere cardigan in that same color for the incredible price of $34.99, I picked it up over the same one in black (now of course I regret not picking up BOTH for that price). If Diane Kruger can do bright plum, so do I, I thought.

I thought that it would be fun to try to recreate a similar look with this cardigan and something that I own. I don't have the Surf tweed charter skirt so I have paired it with the Drapey Drexel plisse skirt. And let's be honest, what really takes that outfit from preppy to a whole new level are the Lanvin heels (I immediately recognized the shoes when I saw the pic because my favorite shoe store had them in the window for a long time and I was swooning over them each time that I went grocery shopping, as the shoe store is on my way to the grocery store).
I happen to have a pair of similar heels from Zara that I bought in Italy just before getting pregnant. When I found out that I was pregnant I freaked out and decided not to wear the shoes until the baby was born, out of fear of falling over my heels and hurt the baby or worst (my husband agreed). In the end I never got around to wear them, because after having a baby you don't really feel like going around in a 4' heel.
But maybe, thanks to Jcrew and miss Kruger, they will have a second chance to be worn:







I have to say that this color doesn't photograph very well. If you have seen it in person you know that it's much more vibrant (and I hope that washing the cardigan won't change this) and I really like it with black, it's a nice alternative for the evening.
Here is a pic of the Lanvin-esque Zara shoes:



What do you think? Which look do you like better (you are allowed to say that you like Diane's look better, no problem)? Do you think that bright plum is for brunettes?

The Tissue Folded Bow Tank (and an Unexpected Encounter)

Even if the Tissue Bolded Bow Tank isn't something that one would normally write home about, I want to share some pics because 1) I think that it's a very flattering tank and 2) the price right now with the 30% is very interesting if you are looking for a tissue tank easy to dress up or down.

Actually I fell in love with this tank when I tried it on a couple of weeks ago and I bought it even if it was FP (I admit that at $39 it was a little bit overpriced but I needed something to buy along the rose vine blazer to use a $25 off coupon). But it went on sale a couple of days later so I returned it and re-bought it for the sale price plus the 30% off.

It comes in two colors, faded black and blush stone, and I bought the faded black. The folded bows along the shoulder straps stand out from all the embellishments that we have seen on all the tees and tops this season. They are really special in my opinion and make this little tank worth wearing it alone (which does help when it's 100 outside). As I said it can be easily dressed-up (here with cocktail capris in dark charcoal and champagne fizz necklace):




And here is the dressed-down version, with jeans and the whirling ruffles cardigan from last summer:



BTW, the website describes it as a "loose fitting tank" but I think it fits TTS and not that loose. Highly recommended, especially for the current price.

Now, I can't pass under silence something funny that happened to me this morning. I was strolling down Madison Avenue with my MIL and daughter (we were going to the zoo) when I saw a familiar face standing in front of the Collection store. It was Mickey Drexler! I immediately recognized him from the recent WSJ story and video. When he looked at us, I said the silliest thing to him: "How are you, nice to see you". Yes, I told Mickey Drexler "Nice to see you" as if we were good old friends! Anyway, I don't know if my exceptionally warm greeting made him think that in fact he did know me from somewhere or he simply saw that I was wearing JCrew head-to-toe (thanks God!) but he said "Nice to see you too!". It was the awkwardest thing, I tell you. I would have wanted to ask him something about Jcrew, ANYTHING in fact, but nothing came up to my mind and he went into the store (plus I was with MIL and daughter and I couldn't really follow him inside). He really caught me by surprise and now of course I regret that I have missed my chance to exchange a few words with him, but really, what are the chances that you are going to bump into the CEO of your favorite retailer in the street?

What would have you told Mickey Drexler had you run into him in the street (now, I know that you are angry because of the sneaky final sale, but try to forget about it for a second)?

Crazy for Cashmere

During the last year I have developed a weakness for JCrew cashmere and each time that a cashmere sweater goes on sale and the price drops below $100 (my personal threshold) I can't resist and I jump on it. I know that Jcrew cashmere is often criticized and I don't want to lunch myself in a pro-JCrew-cashmere harangue here but in my opinion their colors and styles can't be beat and if one is willing to wait, even their prices.

This summer I have been eyeing the Cashmere zip pocket cardigan. I immediately fell in love with this sweater when I saw it in store, especially in the now sold-out blush stone color. As I said before I never pay full price for cashmere but because my birthday is coming up soon and there is nothing else around that I wanted more than this sweater I was ready to make an exception and make it my birthday present to myself, sale price or not.

When two colors (the lavender and sepia) went on sale last week and I saw that the blush stone was sold-out both online and at the Collection store, I emailed my PS and asked her if she had one in my size to put on hold for me.
This sweater was still full price in store in all the colors but because this particular color was sold-out online she gave me the online sale price (even if I am not sure if it ever went on sale before selling out on the website).

I think it's one of the chicest sweaters EVER. I love the gold zippers on the pockets and placket and even if it's 100 degrees outside I can't wait to wear it (it's a substantial 12-gauge knit and I would be sweating in it even in the evening). At least I got to wear it this morning for the blog and I took my pearls out for the occasion:





My long-time followers will remember that in the fall a SA at the Rockefeller Center store had (very proudly) told me that Tory Burch had visited the store the day before and that she had bought "lots of cashmere". Well, I can totally see Tory Burch buying (and wearing) this cardigan.

In case you want to take advantage of the current 30% off promo and order one of the two colors that are currently on sale on the website, the fit is TTS to small. If you plan on wearing it with something more than a cami or a tank underneath I would size up. Although, the deep V-neck and the three quarter sleeves make it a summer sweater and I don't know if this style can really be worn when it gets cold.
Now, if only the lagoon green and the black could go on sale, I would definitively buy another one.

Do you own this cardigan? How do you wear it? Would you consider it for the current price?

OOTD (Lofty pieces)

Hello everybody! I hope you had a great weekend. My mother in law arrived last Saturday from Paris just in time for Father's Day. We went to our favorite Mexican place on the UWS and then to the Flea Market. I didn't take a pic of my Father's Day outfit because it was very similar to one of my Easter outfits that you have already seen here, but with white shorts instead of the denim pencil skirt (however the poly H&M nautical top wasn't such a good choice yesterday because it was very hot, almost 100).

However I did take a pic of the outfit that I am wearing today. I am wearing Loft from head to toe (almost), for a change from JCrew. The tank is from last year but the knit skirt is a new purchase. I had been eyeing it but as a rule I never buy full price at the Loft. There is always a coupon or a price reduction around the corner and when I miss out I generally survive ;-).
The skirt was reduced to $34.50 from $39.50 but because they were having one of their 40% off sales weekends I ended up paying $20, which is about the price that I was willing to pay. I like the shape and that it's not very short as my other (JCrew) skirts. It's the perfect skirt to wear to the playground or the beach and I am in full summer mode!





I also went to the Gap, where they were running a similar 25% off sales promo. They had great stuff. I bought a little cardigan very similar in concept to the Jcrew moto torque but not as heavy:





Actually I was more interested in the other color that it comes in (a charcoal) as I already have a couple of khaki cardigans but I thought that I can exchange it later for the same price (it was $28 with the the 25% off) if I find one (on Sunday evening the store was a complete mess).

Among the new arrivals they had yet another striped tee that I highly reccomend if you are not all striped out yet. It is very cute (especially on skinny jeans) and comes in navy and white. And it's only $19.50 (full price). I love the Gap!



It is not often that we have family here and it is like being on vacation for me. My daughter and my MIL are best buddies already (they are playing dominoes together right now) and you bet that I'm going to take advantage of it!

Have a great week!

The LA Chronicles, Part 2: The Party (and the Party Dress)

This is the post with the pics of my husband's 40 birthday party in LA. For the new followers, we rented a villa in LA over Memorial Day weekend to celebrate my husband's milestone birthday as LA is his favorite city and you can read all about it here and here.

First of all I must tell you that I did buy a party dress at the last minute, two days before leaving. It just happened. When I saw this dress in the window of a store in my neighborhood I immediately fell in love with it but it isn't something that I would have normally bought because it's a dress that needs an occasion. It's the typical dress that you admire from afar thinking "What a beautiful dress, too bad that I don't have anywhere to wear it". Well, in this case, as you know, I had the occasion so it was difficult to resist, especially when I tried it on and saw that it fitted me like a glow (and in this case I really mean "glow" and you will see why). I did try to resist because it was expensive, more or less in the price range of the Milly dress that I showed you, but the store was running a Memorial Day promo and I got it with a % off. After all we only live once or, to put it as Woody Allen would, "is there an after-life and will they sell clothes?"

As I was the official photographer of the party I didn't get much photographed, so didn't my dress. I have a few pics from the party where you can get a taste of it but I wanted to post a pic of the dress by itself first. I took this pic in the fitting room (actually I wanted to send this pic to my husband but then I decided not to because he would have said that he didn't like it just to avoid me buying it) and it doesn't do the dress justice but I can't take another pic because I have stored it away already and I am lazy:



Granted, it is more "New York Art Deco" than "California Modern" (the sequin's pattern is clearly inspired by the Chrysler Tower) but that's actually one of the reasons why I decided to buy it: after all I am a New Yorker (sort of) and I see myself wearing this dress again during the holiday season in NY. And you will agree that it is appropriately "Hollywood Glam" (that was the dress code we came up with) with all those sequins.
My only hesitation regarded my husband, who can be very particular about clothes (about everything actually). In general I know what he likes and might dislike but sometimes he surprises me by focusing on a single detail that I can barely notice but makes him reject the whole thing. So I did bring the other dresses just in case because as I said before he was the birthday boy and I wanted to please him.
But he happened to like the dress so I was delighted to wear it. Here is in action:



But enough about the dress, let's talk about the party. I had hired a local catering company to take care of the food (we had passed tray appetizers around the pool and a buffet dinner) and I was a little bit worried because I picked the company without really knowing them (it was a small party and they were the more flexible of all the catering companies that I had contacted) and I did everything on the phone from New York. The guy was always busy and speaking with him one of the last days before leaving I found out that he had just catered big events like the premiere of Shreck IV and the American Idol after-party so all of a sudden I was less worried. It's true that in Hollywood all the big parties revolve around movies but of course it added to the "Real Hollywood" flair of our party.
So everything was great and my husband was really happy of the outcome.

The invitation said 7 pm because we wanted our guests to be able to take advantage of the beautiful view and the sunset (this is how we had setup the bar and that lady was our bartender):





Now, as I told you before I had to crop most of the pictures from the party to cut out my friends (the pic above is an example) and some of them are just unusable.
However I have to show you the following one because it is really a great picture and sums up the atmosphere of the party so I paint-brushed the faces (still a great picture IMO):



Here we were still having drinks; when the last guests arrived (our resident friends who were two hours and a half late) the buffet dinner was served and we all seat around a table on the pool side with a fire pit and it was just perfect. Here I am eating my dinner:



And what's a birthday party without a birthday cake? The cake was actually the only thing that the catering company screwed. I had ordered a special cake of course but the day of the party the caterer told me an absolutely unbelievable story about it (like that he had ordered a "cream" cake and they had made him a "green" cake so he had to throw it away). I think that he just forgot to order the cake and he had to go and buy one already made. At the beginning I was upset but it turned out to be one of the most delicious cakes that I have ever had (and the guests too), so I forgave him (I have paintbrushed my husband's name, that's not a white spot on the cake!):



And I owe you a picture of the birthday boy, but I know that he doesn't want to appear on the blog, so you will have to let your imagination free (he has dark hair):



And this last pic is from the day after when our friends came over with their kids for bruch and then everybody got in the pool. I forgot to add it at the end of the previous LA post put I just LOVE this picture (this camera has some cool features like the "sweeping panorama" one):



I hope that you enjoyed the LA posts. If you are interested in renting this villa I will be happy to provide you with the contact information.

My mother in law arrives this Saturday from Paris and she is going to stay with us until after the 4th of July. I don't know what the effect of her visit will be on my blogging, but I am going to spend a lot of time with her so I will probably have less time for blogging. But I promise not to disappear completely, if anything I will do quick OOTD posts.

Flower Power (The Rose Vine Blazer Styled in Real Life)

I am sorry, this is not the post with the party pictures yet. I have been busy this last two days (OK, busy shopping, but still busy) and I need a little bit of concentration to write up that post. Plus I made a purchase this past weekend that I feel I need to share with you NOW so if the online price drops tomorrow (do you feel the "Wednesday mornings excitement" like I do, these days?) you can make a more reasoned choice.

So the item I am talking about is the rose vine blazer, which is still $99 online but only $59.99 in stores. I had a coupon that I have found in the last catalog and that I had saved until the very last day, which was last Saturday, so I used it on the blazer (and a few "ride-alongs", or should I say "walk-alongs", to reach the $125 minimum amount for the coupon to be applied) and in the end it coasted me $48. Which I think is a great price for this jacket.

I liked this jacket immediately the first time that tried it on but $168 was too much for something that I was afraid I wouldn't get much wear out of due to the color: a whit-ish blazer (because even with a little bit of grey and a pop of orange it remains a white jacket) is really for the summer and summer equals sweat, that equals that you don't want to sweat more wearing a blazer (plus, sweating ladies beware, if the body is lined in cotton, the sleeves are lined in Acetate which isn't the most breathable fabric around).
But $59.99 or $48 is a much better price and in fact it was the only one in the store. I grabbed it even if it was a size 2 and surprisingly I liked the fit even better than the 0, which was more high-waisted on me and a little bit tight on the shoulders, as almost all the Jcrew blazers (I came to realize that I have probably a long torso and I should probably buy Tall in jackets and tops and petite in pants, which doesn't make for a great advertisement of my body, I must say, because long legs are generally much more appreciated than long torsoes. And what can be said about short legs anyway).
But I digress. What I really want to say is that this jacket will make a great addition to your wardrobe IF you have a lot of whites and light blues or light greys (and oranges, but that can be a tough color to wear especially in bottoms) in your closet. It doesn't look good with dark colors like navy, dark grey and black, so if you are planning to pair it with those colors you will be better not buying it. Also, I wouldn't steer much from the grey/blue/orange palette: it really works better with the colors that are already in it (light blue being the exception).

Now, even if I have a lot of whites and light greys and blues for the summer, I still found it difficult to come up with outfits with this jacket. It looks like an easy, thrown-on everything, jacket but in my opinion it's not. And as much as I liked the picture on the cover of the April Catalog that featured this jacket, I am not sure that I want to walk around with three layers of flowery prints.

So, here are a few outfits I came up with. If you like them and you can somehow recreate them, buy it. If not, don't buy it as it will probably hang in your closet unworn. I know that this sounds a little bit too affirmative like I have the skinny on this jacket but I really think that there are not many other ways to wear it. If any of you have worn it in a different way and you think it looked great, please share your knowledge!

So I will start with the "how not to wear it". I said no dark colors. Demonstration with the denim pencil skirt and a navy perfect tee:



See? Too much contrast. Even if you lighten up the top, there is still too much contrast at the bottom:



I did give the catalog "flower power" look a chance. The only other liberty print that I own is my Gap blouse from a few years ago (one of my favorite blouses ever BTW). This one has a mandarin collar though, which is not ideal under a jacket:



Not sure that I like it. It looks much better with a light blue solid shirt, like the slub cotton one (not sure why I left the shirt untucked here):



As I said orange on the bottom can be a tough color to wear, but if you can pull it off it should work. Here with a pair of Tory Burch linen bermudas (that aren't too flattering on my figure, but I just wanted to show you the color combination):



A pair of light denim, short or long, work too:





But total white is probably the best look with this jacket, especially if you can add a pop of color in form of a neon belt:





And a variation of the last one, with the jacket closed and belted:



I really like this look. However, it isn't something that I would wear everyday. It's just too white: with a toddler around I would probably get all frumpy and dirty even before getting out the door.
I thought that I needed an orange top to be able to wear this jacket more often but for the life of me I couldn't find anything in my closet and I thought about ordering one of the neon orange tees that are offered this year. But then, while I was cleaning my closet and sort my old or unworn clothes in piles (Maybe Next Year I will Like It Again, Salvation Army, JCA Weekly Exchange, Storage - which is like a Limbo - for Death Clothes etc.), I found an almost forgotten Gap top that happened to be right what I needed. And that's when I came up with my outfit of the day, that I think it's the best of all the outfits that I have shown you. It pulls out the best of this jacket and it is extremely wearable.
At the beginning I wore it with an old woven belt:



But then I found that my coral beads necklace really made this outfit shine and I also changed the belt, so here it is my OOTD featuring the rose vine blazer:




It was perfect this early morning. Then, it started to get hot and the sleeve lining of the blazer made me sweat, as I said before, but I liked the outfit so much that I put up with the sweat (I was almost home and I like to dress up "for the ladies in the elevator". Hehehe).

Do you own or have considered ordering this jacket? Do you like any of the outfits that I have shown you? Do you know any other way to wear it? Please share!

More Navy in My Closet (and the end of my Tory Burch shoes saga)

I don't have enough time to write the post on my husband's 40 party today, so I have finished up a post that I had started before leaving for LA.

The week before my trip to LA I received a flyer from my favorite high-end shoe store in the city (that happens to be just around the block) that advertized a private sale starting on May 25th. I have to say that every year I wait for this sale because I typically allow myself one pair of designer shoes a season and they carry all my favorite brands (Miu Miu, Prada, Zanotti, YSL and ... Tory Burch), so this is a much-awaited sale for me. On top of being the first to know about the sale, the flyer entitled to an additional 10% off for 3 days only, so I knew that I would be there first thing in the morning.

If you remember my posts here and here and here, I was torn between the Tory Burch Kitty and Sally open-toe styles and when I finally got the Kitties in the tan color during the Saks F&F event, I realized that what I really needed was a pair of navy shoes. I have a lot of navy in my closet as it's one of my favorite colours (if not my favorite) but I have always been struggling to find a pair of non-driving mocs navy shoes. When I saw that the Tory Burch open-toe Sallies came in a beautiful navy I knew that they were meant to be mine.
It happens that this "high-end" store is one of the few stores that carry the Sallies in navy and luckily for me they were part of the private sale, so I ended up getting them with 40% off, which for Tory Burch classic styles is a very good deal.

Can I say that I love them? The navy (called classic navy) isn't a very dark shade of navy and I think that it's very summery (it is exactly the color of the navy in the checkered shirt):



Even if they have a wedge, they are very comfortable and I can see myself wearing them in my everyday life. With the checkered dress for exemple (to spice it up a little bit):



My navy Mica mini from last year was eagerly awaiting for this pair of shoes to be worn (I love this skirt but I didn't have any shoes to wear it with, besides flats):



While I was taking the last pic I thought that I could really use a navy cami or top. I had been eyeing the Adriana tank in classic navy for a while but didn't want to spend much on it and I finally took the plunge during the last promo. I ordered two sizes, one regular and one petite, because other bloggers reported that the fit was slightly big, especially at the mid-section, and when something is offered in petites it usually means that it runs pretty huge.

The tops arrived today. To be honest with you if it weren't for the tag I wouldn't have been able to tell which one was the 0 and which the 2P (I sized one up as I do for pants because it was the first time that I ordered a top in petite). After many try-ons I have decided to keep the 0 regular because it is a little bit more fitted around the underarms and slightly longer, which gives it a leaner look. Those who tried this top were generally disappointed that the ruffles were different than pictured on the website, but because I knew it already I wasn't particularly disappointed. Actually I like that they lay flatter than in the website pic because I plan to wear it under an open cardigan, like the metallic beach one:




Here is alone:




What I DON't like in this top is the zide zipper that makes it impossible to tuck it in, as you can see:



But I LOVE this shade of navy, that matches perfectly my new shoes:



For $32 I am certainly going to keep it. Have you tried it? Are you tempted by it?

Have a nice weekend!