OOTE: Going Out at 40

Do you remember the last time that you went clubbing? I didn't and if you asked me what people wear to NY clubs these days I wouldn't have known what to tell you. Not that I really cared but a mom in my daughter's class recently turned 40 and she invited a group of us to celebrate in a club downtown. Usually the birthday parties I go to are held in private homes or restaurants or special venues that you can rent for the evening but not clubs. After a quick look at the content of my closet I realized that I had nothing to wear. I have plenty of cocktail dresses but they didn't seem appropriate for a club. The only dress that I have that I could have seen myself wearing is the confetti stripe one but it's 100% merino and you cannot dance in that thing. Jeans or the green toothpicks seemed a bit too casual for this particular occasion because I was sure that none of the moms would show up in jeans, not to mention that I didn't have any top with something going on to wear with my jeans.
This got me thinking and I realized that by limiting myself to JCrew, I keep buying duplicates of the same things/styles. JCrew doesn't do very well in the "tops to go out" category IMO and this is something that I have known for some time but that I didn't have the time or energy to address. You have the choice between a sequined tank/tee (and I admit that this could be OK if I weren't completely sequined out) or a silk cami. Silk camis are fine, don't get me wrong, and can be pretty but don't give you the look I was going for, they are more elegant in a "going out to dinner" way. What about a nice and interesting top without sequins? Nothing in this department. I ended up wearing my Dolce tweed mini with the black organza (sash? swish?) top and the Tory ruffle cardigan and it was OK but not great (it actually looked better IRL than in this pic because I changed my tights with a more opaque pair that went better with the booties and didn't cut my legs):

So, because I had another occasion coming up I decided to branch out and see what was out there. I didn't know what I was looking for exactly, but I knew that I wanted something different from sequins that would surprise me. I wasn't necessarely going after something expensive, disposable was OK as far as the design was special enough. After looking at various brands (including H&M), I once again found inspiration at Sandro, the hip French brand that has become recently available in the US. The problem with Sandro is that it is already overpriced in France and here in the US it becomes completely out of reach, for what it is. As much as I like this "orbit print" tee and would totally wear it to go out, there was no way that I was going to spend $150 in a tee:

However, seeing it at Sandro made me realize that I was looking for a tee with an interesting print (and possibly no silly messages badly translated in French on a striped background). I remembered seeing printed tees the last time that I was at Zara and in fact this tee had everything I wanted, including a decent price that wouldn't make me feel totally dumb if in a few years I end up asking myself "what was I thinking?" when looking at it. I almost left it at the store because it is cut very generously, in an oversized trapeze shape that seems to be THE cut at Zara this season. But I liked the print too much and I found that it works tucked in. It has a faux Peter Pan collar that as you know I love and goes well with my style.
So welcome to my new clubbing/going out outfit:

The print has a vibe similar to the Sandro tee but is in fact a night shot of a suburban landscape, some highway somewhere. I really like it, it's what I would call a conversation starter (not that I need to start conversations with strangers but the single women reading might want to pick it up. Just a suggestion). I am pairing it with my Curator pants in the second pic and that's how I wore it Saturday night for another friend birthday (this friend is an architect and if the birthday was at home, the crowd was definitively more intellectual-artsy than the one I usually frequent).

Do you still go clubbing/lounging at bars and if yes what to you wear? Do you think that JCrew does well in the "going out" category? Do you like my "going out" tee?