Academy Stripes and Bronzed Twig

While the JCA community is very excited by the bright colors in the JCrew Fall collection, I am still pretty much in love with some of the muted colors from last year, in particular the bronzed twig color, which is particularly flattering on my skin tone. I have a few items in bronzed twig and I regret not buying more (in particular the merino turtleneck).

I have recently ordered the Schoolboy blazer in academy stripes and it arrived yesterday (along with the flair skirt in heather acorn). I was waiting for a % off but I decided that I would better get it now and actually wear it (since it is pretty lightweight) than wait for a % off and get it when it is too cold to actually wear it (although yesterday and today it was almost 90 degrees here). Also, this blazer is $30 cheaper on the website than in store (it retails for $230 in store), so I was afraid that they would adjust the online price to match the in-store price at some point (typically when they update the website with a new rollout).

What I like the most about this blazer is the particular color of the stripes, which is very similar (if not identical) to bronzed twig. One of my favorite pair of pants, the cropped pants in wool crepe from last Fall, are also bronzed twig and I couldn't wait to receive the blazer to try it on with the pants. I was torn between ordering the 0 or the 2 and after trying a 0 in a store I went with the 2 because even if I liked the fit, the 0 was too short, showing my shirt and the button of my jeans/pants when buttoned (which I HATE). This is the blazer with the pants (I am not wearing my shoes because I was lazy but with these pants heels really make a difference):

Close-up of the details (this blazer is very well made):

The silk charmeuse pencil skirt in bronzed twig was a recent gift from a friend. We wear the same size but she is a little bit thinner than me around the waist and had this skirt altered to fit her. I always liked this skirt but it looked giant on me when I tried it in store and didn't want to go through the hassle of alterations, so not only I got it for free but it now fits me perfecly without alterations. Thank you so much Amy! I am very happy to have this skirt in my closet now, since it goes with many other pieces that I already own.
I tried it with the blazer and even if I prefer it with pants, if I had to wear it with a skirt it would be this one:

An item that I plan to wear with this skirt is the goldenrod brocade top, from last fall as well, that I love but I never know what to wear with. It looks really nice with this skirt, both belted and unbelted (the shoes are the Juliet pumps in aged driftwood, that are more caramel-y than the skirt but not shockignly so):

And with one of my all-time favorite Jcrew pieces, the Olive top:

Anybody wearing the academy striped blazer with a skirt? Anybody still in love with muted colors?

Mom's Night Out Outfit (Plus Another Chanel-esque Outfit with the Tori Factory Cardigan)

I still owe you pics of the outfit that I wore to the Mom's Night Out last Thursday. Before I show you the pics, let me say that it wasn't your regular Mom's Night Out. First of all, the moms of the entire school were invited and second it was held at one of the mom's apartment. Now who can invite the entire school in her apartment? Exactly. Have you seen "The Nanny's Diaries?". I am talking about that kind of apartment.
Knowing that, and knowing that I was going to meet a lot of new people I wanted to look classy without looking like I was trying too hard so I picked a top and a pair of pants that make me feel put together and confident no matter what. The pants are Theory and are maybe the best pants that I own and the top is the lovely Jcrew Olive top from last year:





I actually wore my real pear necklace instead of the one that you see in the pics (a Nordstrom Rack find) because the color didn't go that well with the Olive top IRL. I always feel at ease when I wear this top and/or these pants and the outfit contributed to my enjoying the party and the company without worrying about the appropriateness of my outfit (the other moms were wearing similar outfits. A very few showed up in jeans.)

The following is another outfit that I plan to wear soon to some kind of cocktail party (there are many to come organized by the school). It features the same pants, a blouse by Calypso that I bought recently on sale and the factory version of the Tori cardigan. The general look of the Tori is the same than the retail version; however it is very itchy and not nearly as soft (in the factory dream blend there is only a small percentage of cashmere compared to the retail version). I thought about returning it but it looks good with so many blouses that I am going to suck it up (also it helps that I bought it with the 30% off).
In particular the Calypso blouse is difficult to wear with a cardigan because of the exaggerated collar (as you will see), but it looks good with the Tori and I can even wear it with the cardigan closed and the collar out (the necklace is the knotty pearl necklace, currently in the sale section of the Jcrew website):




This is with the cardigan over the blouse and left open:



And this is the blouse alone, tucked in:



I am off to a curriculum night at school now but I will be back tomorrow with some pics for Halloween.