OOTD: Grey, Silver and the Crystal Symphony

I wore this outfit this morning to run errands after dropping off my daughter at school. I really liked how the belt and the Crystal Symphony necklace brightened up the otherwise total grey outfit:





I hadn't worn the Minnies in a long time and they looked a little bit tired. So far I washed them in the machine, on a delicate cycle, but I might need to send them to the dry-cleaning the next time. Or I might need to buy a new pair (the navy or the denim ones) for spring ;-).

And now on the Crystal Symphony necklace. I always liked it but because I have a very similar one (actually more similar to the new colletto one, with round crystals) I couldn't justify to spend $98 on it.
One day in January (it was one of those lucky days) I walked into a store and saw it in the sale section. There was no tag attached but I obviously recognized it. I went to the register and asked what was the price. The SA had to look up the style number in the jewelry book and I saw that HE didn't recognize it because he was trying to find a match in the book for the thing that I was holding in my hands. I wanted to help and I told him (TWICE) "It's called the Crystal Symphony necklace" but he smirked at me (as to say "I know what I'm doing"). When he entered the style number, the price rung up at $19.99 and that was BEFORE the additional 30% off. Now, I hadn't seen it in a store in a very long time and the in-store sale prices tend to drop very quickly so, after asking him if he was sure, I promptly paid for it and when he informed me that it was final sale, I said "Yes, please, so you can't change your mind" (another smirk). A few days after, I saw another one in another store (with tags this time). The price? $69.99. And that's when I found out that the SA had made a mistake with my necklace, but I didn't feel too bad for my "stealing" it because I knew that I had done my best to hint him on the right direction.
That's how a crewless SA can help sometimes.


Happy Tuesday!

The Cashmere Croquet Cardigan

I had planned to write a post on the Crystal Symphony Necklace today to wrap up the jewelry subject, as I ordered it last week to wear with my b-day party dress this coming Saturday, but when the UPS package arrived yesterday I had another (bad) surprise: there was no trace of my necklace in the envelope and I received a white Jackie cardigan instead! I was beyond upset: it's the second time this week that something goes wrong with my order (first the defective palm-leaf necklace and now this) and to be honest with you I ordered the Crystal Symphony necklace only to wear it on Saturday night (actually I bought the dress AFTER seeing the necklace IRL, kind of to showcase it) but I'm not sure that I'm going to keep it, unless I damage it in any way (and I don't think that I'm going to sweat on it as it is a seated dinner and we have simply no room to dance). At least, this is the plan because when I tried it on in the store I really "loved" it (I just don't "need" it as I have a very similar one from many years ago but the color is a little bit off compared the color of the dress).
I called Jcrew CS this morning and the SA offered to send me another one by overnight shipping (at no extra charge, of course) but when she was about to place the order she noticed that at the shipping departement they had already found out about the mistake and they had already shipped another one, scheduled to arrive today. So, in the end it will be here in time, but the post will have to wait.

Instead, I'm going to write a quick review of the Cashmere Croquet cardigan that, if you have read my previous post, I bought last week with the $25 off $125 card.
This cardigan has been sitting in my cart for a long time, waiting to go on sale. When it came out I thought that it was terribly cute but 1) the price ($188) was way too high for 2) a winter-heavy 12-gauge cashmere cardigan in summery, sorbet colors that I wasn't sure when (I mean, what time of the year) to wear exactly.
Actually I was eyeing the melon color, as I think that the melon is more for warm and the lavender is more for cold skin-eyes-hair tones.
When it finally went on sale for $129, I couldn't pull the trigger as it was marked as final sale and I wasn't going to spend that much on something that I had never tried on. Plus, I would have paid the sale tax on it (which in the NY state applies only to clothes and shoes that have a selling price above $110) and I HATE that, even if it's only 4.37% (while it's 8.7% on all jewelry and bags, with no minimum below). So I decided to wait, at least for a % off promo.

When I was looking for the jewelry at the Fifth Avenue store last Friday I spotted one on a table and it was a XS, but in the ametysth color. I tried it on and it fitted me very nicely, so when I found out about the "new" price of two necklaces I decided to buy it with the $25 off card (take that, sale tax!), even if I wasn't sure about the color.
(At the register I faced a crewless manager who just couldn't understand the sale tax thing. I wanted to buy the necklaces and the cardigan separately in two transactions, so the $25 would be taken off the cardigan price only and the new price would be below $110. I mean, you live/work in NY, you MUST KNOW THAT. Anyway, he couldn't believe it until he saw it on the ticket but he didn't give me the satisfaction of admitting that I was right and he was wrong. He just shrugged and went on to take care of another customer.)

I just couldn't pull myself to try it on this weekend as it was so hot, but when the 20% off promo started on the website I made an effort to try it on properly to make sure that I liked color, as the melon was still available on the website and I could have ordered it instead.
I styled it with the navy mica mini and the glass and pearl necklace (sorry, I was wearing my slippers, so I tried to hide my feet):




As you can see the XS fits me perfectly. I like that it has a jacket feeling and I also like that I'm wearing a short-sleeve tee (Petit Bateau) underneath but it doesn't show in the sleeves. I'm totally won over this color, I think it's uber-chic and will make a better transition to fall than the melon. Just to be sure that I have enough options to wear it with, I ordered a perfect tee in the amethyst and the corsage tee in lavender with the $20 off (will see if I can wear it unbottoned with it, depending on where the flowers are positioned).
This will be perfect for my upcoming trip to Europe to visit the family (at the end of August, we just booked the flights). We'll stay a week in Paris and I'm sure that I will have the occasion to wear it while I'm there (hopefully it will still be too warm in Milan where I will be next).

Is this cardigan on your wish list? Do you own it? When do you plan to wear it if you own it?