The Cafe Trousers Day To Night

I have FINALLY got my red Cafe trousers hemmed, just in time for Xmas (I know, it took me almost two months and now they are on sale but better later than never). I don't know how I will feel about wearing these after the holidays so I thought that I should try to get as much wear out of them as possible right now.

I wore them yesterday morning to go to the post office (Xmas cards, anyone else is this late?). I wore them with my selvedge chambray shirt and cashmere shawl cardigan in navy:

The belt is new and is currently sold in the stores. I usually wait for belts to go on sale but this one is NAVY. I don't remember the last time that I saw a navy belt and numerous times I thought that I could really use one, so I bought it with the 30% off (it is $39.50 FP). If you need a navy belt I highly reccomend it (let me know if you need the style number). I took a S in this belt and the fit is perfect to wear with pants.

I more or less lounged in my lounge clothes for the rest of the day and wore the pants again yesterday night to have dinner with husband and friends at an upscale restaurant in the neighborhood. Husband was late from work and met us directly at the restaurant, so I took advantage of the fact that he couldn't see me getting ready and say a thing about my outfit and showed up like this:

The cami (that you can't see well in the pic) is the Lisette from last year. I love this cami, the lace detail is so pretty and delicate. The belt was called crystalline belt, also from last year and you know the jacket. I liked this outfit a lot and husband didn't comment on the pants or jacket (good thing, as you know). Also people at the restaurant were dressed to the nines, as I haven't seen in a long time so I felt comfortable, if a bit extravagant.

All in all the Cafe trousers are very versatile (and again the wool feels wonderful against the skin, it isn't itchy at all). You can get them now in store in this color for $89.99 less 30% off (as of two weeks ago, so now even less probably).

Do you dress in black and red for the holidays?

Review: The Cashmere Shawl Cardigan

Since there is a new promo going on at JCrew.com, I thought I would quickly post some pics of one of my favorite sweaters that is currently offered at 30% off, in case some of you are considering it.

The Cashmere shawl cardigan has been around for a while. I first saw it in store back in January and fell immediately in love. It came out on the website in the spring and it was offered in navy, grey and alabaster, but the stores already carried the heathered caramel and black. I bought the navy when it went on sale but missed on the caramel color that sold out in my size pretty quickly. When I saw that they were offering it again on the website in new colors including the caramel I placed an order through a store and because it was still on sale in the stores at that time (it has since gone back to fp in the stores too), I got it for a VERY good price (as far as the style number is the same and the item was carried in the stores, you can always ask for the store sale price). In any case I think that it is worth the promo price (I got my navy one for $129).

This cardigan isn't styled at its best on the website IMO, not to mention that it isn't a shawl cardigan, technically (CWFS stroke again). It is very versatile and it looks best when belted. I took these pics very quickly right after buying it to convince a friend that she needed this (especially for that price), and I just threw it on what I was wearing (a pair of cords or straight jeans would work better but I hope you get the idea anyway). It didn't work with her, so I hope to convince some of you ;-).
I got my regular XS, it fits TTS (sleeves are normal). This is how it is styled on the website (kind of meh, I actually like my navy one better when left open):

You can also position the collar to have it more open instead of cascading (and still leave the cardigan open, unlike in this pic where I was trying to see if I could use a pin):

But look how it changes with a belt (this is the Multistrap belt that I bought to wear with it. It fits small so even if on the website they say to order one size up if you want to wear it lower, I would recommend to order one size up even if you want to wear it at your waist over a cardigan like here):

Imagine this with cords and boots and it could easily be in a Ralph Lauren ad IMO. Unfortunately, this color isn't part of the promo but the cool pine is and you can achieve the same look (if you are interested in the grey I would suggest the double buckle belt instead).

The cashmere is the same thin 12-gauge cashmere that they use for the turtlenecks and Jackies, so don't expect the super-plush 7 or 5 gauge of their new cashmere cable. I don't guarantee that it won't pill but I have a cashmere turtleneck in this exact same shade from HO10 and it shows no signs of pilling or wear.
I agree that even with the promo, it is still a lot of money for a sweater but if you can wait I would definitively get one on sale.

Do you own this sweater? Are you considering it?

Yatch Blue for Early Fall

The Cafe capri in wool in the blue yatch color is, along with the cashmere cable sweater, the only item from the JCrew Fall Collection that I have picked up so far. I don't really "need" another pair of pants, but the color is so unique that I had to have them.
Because of the color and the fact that they are unlined, they have a limited wear season here in New York. And because they are quite expensive, I wanted to be sure that I had enough options to wear them and that they wouldn't just sit pretty in my closet, so here are a few suggestions on how I am going to wear them this Fall.

Option #1: with a short-sleeved cashmere tee (here I am wearing them with the lovely cashmere henley tee from this summer). It is a very simple, but cute, look and I could wear this any day:

Option #2: with a light camel top. My cashmere cable sweater is going to be too warm for early Fall but I have my birthday poncho in the same camel:

Option #3: with a short jacket. I happen to have the pefect jacket for these pants, the Boden fringe tweed jacket. They are meant to be together (in the pic below I should have changed the top under the jacket but I was lazy. You get the idea though):

Option #4: with a crisp blouse. Now, some time ago I made a Polyvore with these pants and the silk Sophie blouse from the spring and I couldn't wait to wear the two together, but in real life it looks a little bit too uniform of an airline company, especially with the blouse tucked in and a blazer:

Better untucked, but I am a tucker-in:

Option #5: colorblock, with a top in a slightly contrasting color. You have already seen this one from the fitting room but I am going to add the pic here as well (I haven't pulled the trigger on the Blythe blouse in extravagant green yet because I have realized that I can wear the Casbah perfect shirt for a very similar effect):

And checkout what I was saying about the Casbah perfect shirt:

Option #6, with a bold top in the same color family. The blue in the indigo floral top is not exactly the same but because the top isn't a solid color it works (I should wer this top more often, it is such a beautiful print):

If it gets chilly I can add my cashmere shawl cardigan in navy (BTW, I hhave this one in two colors that I picked up on sale and I looooove it, it is very versatile and looks very chic belted). I think that with these pants it is better to keep the top in a lighter color but in this case it works because the floral indigo top has navy in it and creates a diversion from the contrasting pants:

These are enough options for me to keep the pants and wear them. What's your favorite option and how do you plan to wear them if you have these pants?
Please share!