Mother's Day Weekend Outfits

Good morning! I hope that you had a great Mother's Day and that you got to celebrate with your mom if you are not one and with your children if you have been blessed with motherhood.

It was a very busy weekend for me. On Saturday I took my daughter to a birthday party and then we had friends over for dinner with their two girls (aged 3 and 6). I don't usually dress up when we invite friends over but this girlfriend is always dressed up to the nine, so I made an effort and wore my Calypso dress that you have already seen here. Since refraining from shopping is a lost cause, this year my pledge is to wear everything that I buy with a target of 0 clothes with tags on at the end of the season (I am proud to say that I am almost on track).
This Calypso dress is the perfect dress for hosting a dinner party, it is very comfortable to wear and it won't distract you from entertaining your guests. I simply accessorized it with a sparkly bracelet. This bracelet looks like the real thing but it is a $10 Forever21 (I have to thank Gigi who had blogged about it back in the day):

We had really a good time (including my daughter, who collapsed around 10 after playing dress up all the evening with my friend's girls. They were so, so cute, the three of them).

The day after was Mother's Day and even if I didn't get to eat breakfast in bed as many of you did (I just can't delegate coffee-making), I had a very relaxing day. Now, I had already showed you what I was planning to wear (my lady lace popover and my new factory pencil skirt) but UPS screwed up my Mother's Day outfit. Long story made short, my lady lace had a flawn (a problem with the stitching around the neckline) and because the thing wasn't cheap, even with the 30% off, I decided that I wouldn't suck it up and on Thursday morning I took it back to my store where they took good care of it and reordered one for the same price and with free overnight shipping to boot so that I would get it in time to wear it on Sunday. The package was out for delivery on Friday so I was sure that my outfit was saved but for some reasons UPS missed me (ie they didn't deliver it and rescheduled for today. Thank you very much UPS, today is two days too late!) By the way, this is the second time that they miss an overnight shipping delivery, which makes me think that they can't make it in one day as a general rule.

In any case the result of the ordeal was that I had to come up with another outfit for Mother's Day brunch. Luckily it was very hot yesterday so I would have probably been sweating in my merino popover. I had my mind set on wearing a pencil skirt and my summer pencil skirt choices are very limited (I have three including the new one). In the end I picked the flower pastiche one and paired it with the very cheerful retro shell in popsicole pink (that I hadn't the occasion to wear yet since I bought it on the JCA when it was still fp online and in stores):

The shoes here are the Cate slingbacks, because this pencil skirt is loooong so definitively looks better worn with heels. But then I came to my senses and realized that heels weren't a viable choice for the day (that involved walking ten blocks to the restaurant and back, at least), so I changed them for a pair of flats and topped the outfit with a Jackie in champagne:

My daughter and husband had a little surprise for me. My daughter had drawn a beautiful Mother's Day card for me:

and they had framed a picture of the two of us to add to our wall of frames in the dining room.
Here we are outside the restaurant, after lunch (as you can see it was hot enough to wear the retro shell alone). BTW, if you watch the Real Housewifes of NYC, this is the French spot where Sonia and LuAnn had dinner with Brian (the painter) and LuAnn's boyfriend (whose name escapes me right now) a few episodes ago (it is my husband's favorite restaurant in the neighborhood and they have a great terrace):

As I told you I have a very busy week ahead so unless I have something very timely to let you know I will probably disappear for a few days and be back at the beginning of next week with plenty of pictures.
Have a nice week!

Fun at F21

Good morning! I hope that you have spent a wonderful President's Day weekend!

This past Saturday I stopped at a F21 store, where I must say I rarely go not only because the closest store is far from where I live and if I go "on a trip" I usually don't have time, but also because I try to avoid the temptations of disposable fashion stores. Every once in a while though it is good to go just to see what's out there and how it compares to the offerings of more "upscale" mall brands, namily JCrew.
In the past I had more chance with H&M than F21, in the sense that I usually end up wearing what I buy at H&M, while I had many "what was I thinking" moments with stuff that I bought at F21. Their return policy is also much more restrictive (store credits only in a 21 days window), which means that one impulse purchase is likely to become a definitive one so I have to think twice before buying and don't let the prices blind me. I tried to remember all of this before entering the store.

As I entered the store I was greeted by a see of stripes. I have enough stripes and I am reaching the saturation point, so I walked my way through. Another trend that was very present was the plaid shirts, offered in all the colors and at price points like $16 and less. If you are craving for a plaid shirt, it is worth checking F21 before buying at JCrew especially FP. I saw the almost exact replica of last year suckered gingham shirt, in white/melon checks (very pretty). If the JCrew shirt is undoubitably softer, for $16 you have a pretty decent look-alike. Remember, the point of buying at F21 or H&M is to pay a price that won't make you cry if next year you are not into stuff like plaid shirts anymore. That's all the point of disposable fashion: you pay a lower price for cheaper fabrics/quality knowing that you will wear the item the time of a trend and will dispose of it the next season. Amen.

When I go to F21 I always look for evening tops and prints. I think they do prints very well for the price. And guess who is not doing prints at all? I am eagerly waiting to see some nice prints at JCrew but my ps told me that she didn't see any print in the next rollout. Not to mention that when they come out with a nice print it is generally something overpriced and "occasion" (I am thinking of you ikat dress or ill-fitting (like last year bazaar dress/tunic). I have I hopes for this and I think I would happily pay FP for a blouse or a dress in the same print:



but if they only made a romper or even a long-sleeves shirt I will have to pass.

So, I specifically looked for prints and found two things that were worth taking to the fitting room (I was lucky because there was no line). I ended up buying a dress that reminds me of Tory Burch's Arjeta dress, with the difference that the F21 one is 100% rayon and costs $13.50. The overall effect is very similar, especially when I tried it on with my blue wedges:

Even if it's 100% rayon (or maybe because of it), it is very soft and comfortable to wear (perfect for my summer days at the playground) and I am sure that I am going to wear it a lot. I bought a size S (I am never a XS at F21).
I can't find the dress online, but here is a list of similar prints currently on the website:
Paisley woven skirt (this looks gorgeous)
Ikat print skirt (very Missoni-esque!)
Abstract Painted Tunic
Ikat chiffon dress in the red/brown colorway (this is 100% poly)
Tribal one-shoulder maxi dress (again, 100% poly but so pretty)
Boho Chic dress (this is 100$ silk!)

Do you buy disposable fashion?

Statement Jewelry for Less

The F21 Family&Friends No-Minumum Free Shipping code (F21FRIENDS) expires tomorrow. I had a bracelet sitting in my cart since Gigi blogged about it in a post back in the summer (sorry I can't find the post any longer) and I perused the website for more jewelry. I have never bought on their website before because they have a 21 days store-credit-only return policy and a $75 minimum for free shipping (which is hard to reach!), but I thought that this time I would give it a try.

I ended up buying a few "statement pieces", all for less than $10 each:

1) Chunky Faux Perl Necklace, $7.80

2) Edgy Rhinestone Earrings, $9.80



3) Lace-Covered Rhinestone Bracelet, $5.80


And this is the bracelet that Gigi reviewed, the Cut-Out Rhinestone Bracelet, $10.80

I know that this one looks a little bit cheap in the pic but it looked stunning on Gigi and hey, it's $10.

There were many other interesting ones that I left behind (including the Chain Perl Necklace, lookalike of Jcrew "pastiche" necklace), If you have a little bit of time (browsing the website can be a little bit time-consuming), I really recommend to have a look and take advantage of this free shipping offer.

What do you think of these? Have you ordered anything from F21?