Weekend Outfits (Another Kind of Kate Blue)

Good morning! Wow, what a weekend in terms of news. First the fairy-taily Royal Wedding and then Osama. It was kind of fortunate that the news of Osama Bin Laden's death arrived at the end of the weekend when the excitement for the wedding had already winded down a little bit so that it didn't upstage Will and Kate. I think that everybody felt a little bit English during the wedding and that would haven't been possible if the Osama news had come earlier because it is such an emotional moment for the American nation (but seriously, why all that suspence before President Obama's speech? I thought we were going to war with Iran at the best or that an alien spacecraft had landed on Central Park).

In any case the Royal wedding mania translated here in my wearing an outfit and choosing a nail polish that were sort or a tribute to Kate Middleton (pre-Duchess of Cambridge). We also took our daughter to a princess birthday party yesterday (my daughter was dressed up as Cinderella and the birthday girl was Aurora from Sleeping beauty), which was a nice way to wrap up a weekend that had been all about Royalties.

This is the outfit that I wore on Friday. The dress is a silk Calypso dress in a gorgeous shade of blue (similar to the shade of Kate's engagement dress). I bought it in the winter but before the crazy Calypso sales when you could get it for $25 (I paid around $55 I think). If it popbacks (it's called the "Gurka dress") I really reccomend it, I had tons of compliments on it. But, caveat: it is VERY short (almost too short on ME) and it is probably the reason why it lingered in the sale section for so long. Other than that it is really well made, especially the incorporated belt (so much better than a drawstring, once that you get the hang of it):

I wore it outside with my Lighthouse cardigan (which, by the way is $19.99 in stores!):

Yesterday at the birthday party I wore the Carly ruffled dress from last year, paired with a Jacky cardigan in dark charcoal (donated by a friend) and a BR tassel necklace:

OK, let's talk about the BR necklace. The price that they asked for this necklace ($39.50) is CRAZY. I almost ordered it with a 30% off but then I happened to see it in store and I thought that it was a joke. It is much smaller than I thought (for the price I was expecting something bigger) and flimsy. I ended up adding it to my cart as a ride-along when I placed an order for my daughter last week (love that you combine Gap and BR in the same order and get free shipping on any order totalling more than $50) and I am happy with the price that I paid ($9), but seriously I think it is worth $3 or $4 (it appears to be sold-out on the website right now but I think you can still find it in stores). And you thought that Jcrew jewelry was overpriced!

Back to Kate, when I went for a pedi on Friday (wearing the Calypso dress) I was immediately drawn to a Essie polish called "Aruba blue". I am a nail polish dummy, so don't ask me if this is new or which collection is part of. All I know is that I had to take a bottle with me for future summer pedicures (that day I went with a true red because I had planned to wear a pair of black peep-toes with a black polka-dots dress to go out for dinner on Saturday night and I needed something more classic). I also have a pair of TB Thora sandals that ae exactly this shade of blue (I apologize fo the somehow blurred pics, my camera can't focus very well):

The next time I will show you the polka dots dress (I forgot to take pictures).

How did you celebrate the Will ad Kate's wedding?
On another note, I have now enough fitting room pictures to do another "new arrivals" post. Stay tuned!

Great find of the Week: the BR Lady Peep-Toes (Alecia Look-Alike)

I am on a shoes kick. You will see a lot of shoes in the next days but today I want to blog about a pair of Alecia look-alike that will rave those of you who are smitten by the JCrew Alecia but find them too expensive, even on sale.
I went back and forth about the black suede Alecia all the summer: I wanted to buy a pair because I don't have anything similar in my shoe closet and they are great to add a little edge to any outfit but I waited for them to go on sale as it's a style that could look "passe" next year and by the time they went on sale I cooled off because it was too late in the season and they were still too expensive, even with the 30% off.

A month ago I was at BR and I saw the perfect look-alike, the Lady suede peep-toes. They were $140 but I had a couple of 40% off coupons to be used in September so I hoped that they would still be there when I got back from vacation. They were, and they were still full price which in this case it's a good thing because the 40% coupon can only be applied to full price items.
With the 40% they came down to $84 (what I call a good deal) and I am happy to report that Banana Republic changed back the return policy from 30 to 60 days due to costumer feedback. Take that, Jcrew!

From the front, they are identical to the Alecia, besides the stitches:







The only difference is that the zip is located on the side and not in the back (which is better because less noticeable in case you don't like zippers) and the heel is a little bit higher (4" against 3/4" of the Alecia) and straight:





In case you want to give them a try, I had to size down half a size because my foot was felling off the back. It looks like this is a design flaw as I still had this problem with the smaller size but at least I can walk and I think that it can be solved by applying a little instert.

And yes, I am wearing the Silk and sequins scoopneck tee in olive moss. You know that I really liked it when I first tried it on in sweet almond but when I saw it in store in this olive color I couldn't resist even if it's definitively expensive. It's one of those pieces that just feel like "me" and I thought that it was worth to buy it FP because it's a short-sleeved top and it's season is NOW, unlike most of the fall stuff that are full price now but will be on sale before you can even wear it (I am talking about you Dream V-draped aka "Yoga" sweater.) And if I ended up not wearing it I could always return it. But I wore it a lot already (in Milan and here), so I guess that it was a good purchase.



Now if only could go out and about like this tonight for NYC fashion's night out. I could sip cocktails with Jenna at the Prince store and rub my shoulder against Halle Berry at Ralph Lauren. Instead my husband will be sipping cocktails in Montecarlo at my place and I will be at a playdate with my daughter until 7. I am tempted to show up in this outfit at the playdate and stop by Ralph Lauren with her on my way back (I know someone there) but I am afraid that the other moms will be all in jeans. Unless I put a pair of Gap city flats in my bag and make a quick change before/after the playdate.
I will see how I feel. Anyway I will have my camera with me and if I end up going I will let you know.

Have you seen or tried the BR Lady peep-toes? What do you think? Do you own the Alecia? Please share!

Wedding in Seattle: Outfits

The wedding in Seattle that I have blogged about a while ago is coming up this weekend and I will fly out to Seattle on Friday. I have worked on my outfits in the meanwhile and want to share with you what I have decided to bring.

I have listened to your comments and looked for a cardigan to wear with the watercolor dress (in any case even in NYC it would have been too cold to wear it alone). I don't have a black cashmere crewneck (a no-brainer) and the only option currently available is the featherweight cashmere cardigan that is still full price. After trying different alternatives (including the Jackie in pink frost that is a perfect color match for the dress), I have settled for the Celosia cardigan in black, which goes very well with the style of the dress and also has the advantage of being very thick so that it should keep me warm. I am going to wear this to church, probably:





I think that the black Celosia is a nice option for those of you looking for an evening or dressy cardigan: the ruffles are elegant but not overwhelming. Before buying this one, I sold my other Celosia in cinnamon spice on the JCA Weekly Exchange because I didn't want to have many cardigans in the same style, especially ruffled. I think that I am going to wear the black much more often than the cinnamon spice.

For the evening reception, I have two options and I think that I am going to bring both and decide at the last minute.
The first option is to wear my BR cocktail dress with my BR velvet blazer from last winter and a BR necklace. I hadn't thought about it when I was putting it together, but it's a 100% Banana outfit, which, for me, is kind of unusual as I don't own a lot of Banana:





In pictures the dress is a little bit loose on the top but that's because for the life of me I couldn't zip it up and I didn't want to force and break the zipper just to take pictures of myself (that would have been silly, right?) The necklace is very sparkly IRL and I bought it along with the dress on supersale for something like $18, after seeing it on the adorable Slastena who highly recommended it.

The second option is more elegant in a classic way. It features an old dress by Caterine Malandrino that I had bought years ago at a sample sale and I was simply afraid to try on because I was sure that it wouldn't fit any longer. Well, it looks like I did loose all that baby fat after all, as it fits me again like a glove!
It's made in a double layer of silk chiffon and has a beautiful draping:




I think that it is maybe a little too serious for a friends' wedding but the advantage over the first outfit is that I am very comfortable in this dress and I can dance the night away without worrying about my ladies coming out (which is always a problem with a strapless). What do you think?
The only outfit that I haven't figured out yet is the one for the rehearsal dinner. The invitation says "Dressy Casual" and I interpret it as evening casual without jeans. So I was thinking of a pair of pants or a mini and a nice top, like the ribbon beaded one. Any advice?

If you have something to say speak now or keep silent forever ;-).

Meet My New Bag (no, it isn't a Vuitton)

When I blogged about my bag dilemma, I omitted to tell you that a designer bag that I would have happily exchanged my BR for (let's call it my "dream bag") existed; just, it wasn't a Vuitton. My husband can be very obstinate and the deal that he offered me was only valid on a Luis Vuitton.
Many of you were surprised that I couldn't find a Vuitton that I liked but the reason is that there was another bag that I simply LOVED and have been lusting after for a while and I'm not greedy enough to let my husband buy me an expensive bag that I'm not in love with. It really seems like a waste of money to me.
So I dropped it and I started to wear my BR purse and I have to say that I'm pretty happy with it: it's the right dimension and it's a carefree bag, plus it goes with many coats that I have.
But I must admit that I would find myself browsing the Internet to catch a glimpse of my "dream bag".

OK, enough with the suspence: my dream bag is the Marc Jacobs "The Single". For those of you who are not familiar with Marc Jacobs bags it's a quilted cross-body that retails for $525 and comes in different colors/leathers. I wanted a plain leather one because it is the only one that comes with a chain strap (while the other styles come with a leather strap). It is in a price range that makes it almost "affordable" but if I can spend the same amount of money in different, smaller purchases, I always have scruples to blow more than $150 on a single item (I know it's silly, but it is what it is). So I have been watching every single Marc Jacobs bag sale for more than a year (Gilt, RueLaLa, you name it) and I think that I have missed my big occasion to buy it on sale the day after Xmas at Saks (I arrived at Saks too late and I didn't even think of checking the website before going).

So when a friend of mine gave me the coupon for the Bloomie F&F event I thought that I would give it a try. I had been at Bloomingdales during President's Day weekend to try the Tory Burch shoes and I had stopped by the Marc Jacobs corner to check it out (again). At that time they only had the studded one (in a weird color), which wasn't my first choice so I was almost sure that I wouldn't find it (this time I had checked the Internet first).
But they had it. Classic black. Plain leather. Chain strap. The 20%coupon applied and I had my gift card to spend plus an old return (2008 old) that almost covered for it. You agree that I couldn't leave it at the store.

So meet my new "Single". In my opinion it is the most Chanelesque bag out there (because let's face it: Chanel it's out of my league). The leather is the softest and most luxurious:



It is roomier inside than the BR and the JCrew charmed mini-bag. I like that even if one day I buy a bigger wallet (my Prada is one of the smallest wallets on the market) I will still be able to stuff it in the bag:



And the style? Classic, I tell you, and like a Chanel it will never go out of style:





Now, will I wear it to the playground? Certainly not, at least at the beginning. The "instructions for care" are pretty clear: "Due to the delicate nature of the quilting, we recommend that you treat this item with care. Avoid getting it wet (ie avoid sprinklers at the playground and don't let your toddler come close to you with a watercan full of water. If she wants to jump in a puddle, don't try to dissuade her and just run away), as water stains may occur. Avoid overexposure to direct light (ie, don't stand in the sun waiting that your daughter has finished examining every leaf or insect that she finds on her path) as color fading may occur. If it has frame, we reccomend that you use the frame gently (ie, don't let your toddler pull on it to obtain your attention when she has a tantrum).

So no, I won't wear it to the playground on a regular basis even if it might happen that I go out to run an errand and I end up at the playground (in those situations I guess that I will be a stressed mom). But because my husband ultimately didn't pay for it I'm entitled to keep the BR for my everyday life and I will wear this one mostly to go out with him (or alone). I don't have to wear it every single day as it is meant to last alifetime. And a deal is a deal, right?

I bought something else at Bloomingdales but, yes, you guessed, I will leave it for another post.

OOTE (Deco skirt and Posy cami)

Yesterday night we went out for dinner with friends. Just grownups. I can't even remember when was the last time that we went out without our daughter, it's like we emerged from hibernation.

The weather was warm enough to wear my deco skirt. I haven't worn a skirt in ages, with all the cold and snow this winter, so I was very excited.

You have already seen a similar outfit in the past, but at that time I didn't own the posy silk cami yet. I'm happy that I have decided to keep this cami because the skirt and the cami are made to go together. I have to thank GigiofCa because it was mainly her comment that decided me to keep it. At the time of the crazy post-holidays sales, $19.99 for this cami seemed almost expensive (because I didn't get the 30% off on top of that price); isn't it funny how everything is relative? What was I thinking?

Anyway, here it is, with the BR velvet jacket:


I took the pic above in the afternoon when I was trying the outfit on. That's why I wasn't wearing tights, not that it was THAT warm (my stocking drawer is in another room and often out of reach when I try stuff on).
But I took the following ones when we came back from the restaurant (and you can see that I had tights on. What you can't see are the black Juliets heels that I wore with the outfit):





I'm not sure if I will have the time for another post today, so have a happy Friday and weekend everyone!

One Dress, Two Ways

One day, around a month go, I walked into a Banana Republic (where I don't go very often these days) and fell in love with this dress:



It's the BR silk lace-print dress and I felt immediately pretty as soon as I tried it on. And when you are forty going forty-one you don't feel pretty very often, at least not in the way as it used to be. You can feel elegant, chic, good but pretty? Very rare, I tell you.
I was very tempted to buy it but 1) it was a size 2 and even if not big I would have preferred to try a size 0 at least for comparaison and 2) it was an holiday silk dress from the Monogram line, which is the Banana equivalent of the Jcrew Collection line and even on sale plus 30% off it was still expensive (around $90) so I decided to wait a little bit.
A week before my vacation, the Gap run a promotion "the more you buy, the more you save" across all the brands where you could save up to 25%, and because I had to buy new clothes for my daughter I checked the price of the dress and with the promotion it came down to $59, that was more in the price range that I was willing to pay for it. The 0 was available, so I ordered it.

The dress doesn't seem to be popular as almost all the sizes are still available on the website but I have to say that if I hadn't seen it in store and tried it on, I wouldn't have given it a thought. Also, the only customer review on the BR website is a bad review (of someone who said that it wasn't as expected) and it's true that the description can be misleading because it doesn't mention that it has a sash tie and that it's meant to be worn with the bow tied (otherwise it's just shapeless).
But with the tie? Pretty:



The adjustable straps are removable (which I prefer) and print is prettier IRL than on the website (where you can't really make out the lace motif):



It's a cocktail party dress (read: not a lot of wear) but what really sold me on this dress is the fact that when I tried it I was wearing my toothpick cords in soft ochre and as much as I love them they are a pain to take off in the fitting room. So initially I tried the dress OVER the cords and surprisingly I liked it that way. Add boots and you have a bohemian tunic that you can wear during the day:



And my BR knit coat is perfect to top it:



I felt like this dress can be versatile and that's the reason why I caved (I'm laying, I caved because I felt pretty).

What do you think? Would you wear it as a tunic over pants? Which one of yopur recent purchases made you feel pretty?

A Conversation about Jcrew

Friday was one of those days. I woke up a little bit stressed already because I had THREE Xmas parties to attend, one at my daughter's school in the morning (not that a 2-years-old Xmas party stresses me out "per se" but it meant that I had very little time to do stuff on my own, as drop-off was at 9 and the party started at 11, and should I mention that it was the only day where I could have potentially gone THE TORY BURCH SAMPLE SALE wasn't it for the party?), one in the building for cocktails and one later in the evening at friend's and plenty of errands to do in between. I already knew that I wouldn't have the time to do everything, but as to make things worst I LOCKED MYSELF IN THE APARTMENT after dropping my daughter at school. I know, it's pretty unusual, normally people lock themselves out, but what happened is that a piece in my door's lock broke and I couldn'open the door from inside the apartment because the knob wouldn't turn without the key (and my lock doesn't have a key-hole on the inside). Luckily my doorman had my keys, so he let me out and I could go to my daughter's Xmas party but I had to call the locksmith anyway because once back from school I wouldn't be able to close my apartment's door without locking myself inside again (which I actually did: closing the door is such an automatic action, one of those things that you do all the time without even realizing that you're DOING something). Well, the locksmith came and worked on the door-lock all the afternoon, so around 6 I just had the time to dress and rush my daughter out the door to the building Xmas party.

All this to say that it was an exhausting day and I didn't even have the time to take a shower before going to the evening party and without showering I didn't feel like putting on the outfit that I had planned to.
Instead I wore this (actually I wore black jeans instead of the ones in the pic):



The jacket is a Banana Republic velvet jacket that I found recently after deciding that the Eden blazer looked weird on me (I have ordered the Eden twice because I really nedeed a black jacket and ended up returning it twice). This is the same outfit with the Eden jacket:



Weird, right? Too high-waisted and short. The Banana is AWESOME in comparison, it has a much more tailored (cropped) fit and looks great with dresses AND jeans. In case you are looking for something like this, you can find it here.

While at the party, a friend of a friend (very nice guy) asked me where I got my tee because he liked the design. When I uttered "Jcrew" he couldn't believe his ears, he asked me if I was joking. He thought that Jcrew was "a catalog company" that made basics like cords and standed at the same level than Old Navy. I wanted to die, so of course I launched myself in a "Crewlogy" (Jcrew elegy? Jcrew Eulogy? You choose) and talked about the Jcrew "success story" and MO and Jenna and the store on Madison (he didn't even know that Jcrew had actual B&M stores). He didn't seem convinced, then he looked at my velvet blazer and said "OK, but this can't be Jcrew, right?". I almost lied because it could have been Jcrew, in fact it could have been the Eden that I had returned, but then admitted that it was a Banana. So maybe he won, but it was fun to speak with someone who didn't know anything about the "new" Jcrew.

We had a big snowfall last night, my daughter and husband are already outside in the snow, have a nice Sunday!