Saturday Shopping: Loft Finds

Remember my theory that if you feel well dressed when you are out shopping you are less likely to make impulsive purchases? Well, it didn't work vey well this past Saturday. I did feel very cute in my outfit but I was wearing the wrong necklace:

I mean, I love my factory Palma necklace (in fact I wear it much more than I thought, probably because it is a statement but not as heavy as the retail version) but it was the trigger of a purchase that I hadn't planned: who knew that I needed a pair of jeans in the same color?
So far in the big summer duel between pastels and bright I chose brights: pastels tend to wash me out so I generally stay away and I thought that I was going to skip the trend altogether. But on my way to the post office I stopped at the Loft, that was having a 40% off everything promo and saw their version of the light-colored denim pants trend. They are called Modern Rolled Cuff Sraight Leg Jeans in Stretch Cotton Twill (ouf!) and come in beautiful pastel colors that so far I have seen offered only at high-end brands like AG. The regular sizes were almost sold-out but I found a 2P and a 4P in the soft seashell to try on and that's when my necklace turned out to be a negative influence. Look, don't they look like they are made for each other?

Besides the necklace, I also like the fact that you can pair them with a white shirt like the one that I was wearing without being in total white. The SA said that they tend to stretch a lot but the 2P was uncomfortably tight and the fabric was creating lines around my thighs, so I went with the 4P which has more of a relaxed fit. They are presented with the rolled-up cuffs on the website and in stores but I prefer them unrolled, probably because I am not really a petite by Loft standards.
They had a lot of cute things and there was the longest line at the resister, a sign that the promo worked well. I had to refrein from buying other things that I don't really need just because of the 40% off but something in the sale section really caught my eye. In the endless landscape of stipes, polka-dots and paisley prints that the retailers have rolled out for us this spring a snakeskin print pencil skirt seems like a breath of fresh air. The fact that I don't have a single snakeskin print item in my closet is a clue that I am not usually drawn to snakeskin prints and I debated this one too because I don't want to add stuff that ends up unworn but in the end the colors and the fact that it was only $18 after the discount convinced me that it was worth taking it home and trying it with a few things.
Well, I really like it with the selvedge denim shirt (here I am trying it with the long-sleeved one but I have the short-sleeved one for the summer):

And a little bit more safari, with an old Zara shirt that is a favorite of mine:

All in all I think this is a great skirt to own and one that I am going to wear (the fabric is similar to the JCrew factory printed cotton pencil skirts) and the price is hard to beat. It is a size 2 so it fits a bit loose but before taking it to the tailor I have to decide if it is worth the cost of an alteration.
Speaking of alterations, I just picked up from the tailor my new coccodrillo pencil skirt that was a size 2 and I had taken to fit like a 0. Since I have new followers, I hope my long-time followers will forgive me if I repeat myself here and I explain that this pencil skirt from retail 2009 was for "the one that got away" that I searched high and low for almost three years until a JCA posted one on the Weekly Exchange for a decent price a few months ago. It was a size 2 but I knew that my chances to find a 0 for the same price were close to zero, so I jumped on it. Now it fits perfectly and I can't wait to wear it. Since many of you liked the outfit with the chambray shirt and the linen polka-dots popover I tried it with that same top and even if coccodrillo print and polka-dots sounds like a crazy combination, it works well IRL (in fact I love it). What do you think?

To go back to my Saturday outfit, later in the afternoon I changed the accessories and went to the playground with my husband and daughter. This time I tucked in the shirt and added a belt (and took off the necklace). For a very long time this Paul and Joe belt was the only belt that I owned, along with a simple black jean belt. It was a splurge at the time but turned out to be a good investment, since I am still wearing it to this day. By the way, the jeans are the Comptoir des Cotonniers ones that I bought at the sample sale (they are a French size 36, which corresponds to a 2 or a 0, depending on the sizing particular to a brand. I would say that the Comptoir pants fit small):

That's it. Did you shop at the Loft this weekend? Do you prefer the outfit with shirt untucked or with shirt tucked in and belt?