OOTD (Orange is for Halloween)

So today was Halloween Parade day at my daughter's school. The parents got to stay for the first hour during the celebrations and the kids had to wear orange and black (not a costume because they would wear paper crown and necklaces that they had made during the last week). I wasn't sure if the parents were supposed to wear black and orange too, but I thought it would be fun anyway so I asked my daughter to look in my closet and find something orange. That was too easy, she immediately found the gateau orange skirt from this summer ("That's orange!"). Yeah, that's definitively orange.
So this is my OOTD:



An below it's IRL, at school (I had to cut my had off because of the mom in the background, it was impossible to keep my face and not hers). I like how the colors of the skirt and my daughter's tee really matched (in the end I was the only parent to wear orange and black but the teacher thanked me for the effort that I had put into it. That helps because normally I'm always late in returning book orders, papers to sign etc.).



This is really a fun skirt to wear at parties, especially kids parties. I had already worn it at a birthday party of one of my daughter's friends back in the summer and took a pic of the outfit that I never got to post, so it's now or never:



I think that I'm going to update this outfit with the Funnelneck cardigan that I have in champagne and of course tights and wear it around the holidays, I just love the tee and the skirt together.

Back to Halloween, yesterday I hosted a Halloween party for my daughter and her best friends (there were seven kids aged 18 months to 2 and half and at some point it got a little bit out of control, but I survived). I didn't wear a costume, but my daughter was just adorable in her bumble bee costume so I wanted to share a pic (I like this one because it looks like she's flying away):



I have to say that being European I never "felt" Halloween like an American but now that I have my daughter is different, I like the tricks or treats and the Halloween parties with her. I'm not going to wear a costume this year as my husband is still travelling and I'm not going to a grown-up party so I'm happy that I have at least pulled off the orange skirt this morning.

Happy Halloween everyone!


PS

Stay tuned for a "I need your help" post later this evening (or maybe two)!

Jcrew New Arrivals: the Deco Shirred (Mini)skirt

Saturday I really needed a break (my husband had been travelling all the week and I was left alone to cope with the first week of nursery school drama), so by 10 am I was gone and I spent my day off at various Jcrew stores in the city trying on the new arrivals and taking plenty of pics to share with you (I also went to Zara for a change of scenery). When I downloaded the pictures I realized that I have tried a lot of sweaters, so they will have a dedicated post coming up next.

But first, I wanted to talk about the Deco shirred skirt as many JCAs reported that it's very short. It is indeed a miniskirt, but I was more worried about the weight of it for cold winter days and nights and I wanted to check if it looked as good with black opaque stockings.

The fit is the same of the Shirred wool skirt, which is also very short. The description on the website says that the fabric is a blend of silk and wool; however it feels more like silk than wool at the touch (it is lightweight), but the good news is that it is fully lined.
Here is my usual size, a 0, without stockings:



And this is with the stockings (yes, I was that organized: I took a pair of tights with me):



In case you're wondering what's the tee-shirt that I'm wearing with the skirt, it's a new one with a small sequined rose (it also came in a dark slate). It is very sheer and not worth it the $45 (if I'm not wrong) price IMO. It looked like a bad knockoff of a Jcrew "rose" tee or an outlet tee:



I also tried a size 2 in the skirt, to compare the lengths. On me, the 2 sits much lower on the hips, but it still looks nice:



The tee is the new flower tee that made a brief appearance on the website last week (I'm not sure what happened with this tee, did I dream it or it sold out already?) It retails for $36.50 and it also comes in pewter. Here is a S (the XS was very fitted, I would size up in this one):



And here is the skirt without tights:


I think that the skirt would have worked in either size for me but I prefer the 0 because the 2 had more of a A-line shape that I don't like that much. The SAs also advised to go with the 0. However the 0 felt much more like a mini, while the 2 felt more like a regular above-the-knee skirt and if you live in a very conservative environment and you plan to wear this to go to Church for example, I would size up.

The 0 is on hold for me at the store but I wanted to listen to your comments before buying it.
Is this on your wishlist? Do you prefer the short version or the longer version on me?

Spice Olive and Orange (featuring the Jcrew Gateau Skirt)

I think I have mentioned in my "Sateen Soiree Blazer" post that the first time that I tried the blazer in store (in the spice olive color) I happened to have also an orange gateau skirt in the fitting room with me and I immediately LOVED the two together. At that time they were both quite expensive (the blazer was still $99 and the skirt $59) and I was looking for something completely different so I let them go, but I kept having flashbacks of that outfit and now I can finally reproduce it as I found the gateau skirt two weeks ago on super-sale.

So here it is:



It's super pretty IRL but I think that it works because they are both made in sateen and my shoes are the same color than the jacket (or almost). The two colors are enough, without adding a third one!

While I was taking the pictures, I realized that I can also wear a "pants" version of this combo (the cerise cafe capri are almost the same color of the skirt):




While we are in the subject of the spice olive color, I have a little funny anecdote.
When I bought my b-day party dress at Intermix, they also had a top in the same style (one-shouldered and with the big ruffle around the neckline). I tried it in white but didn't feel it and while I was in the fitting room I asked the SA if she could bring me the spice olive one. The SA must not have been a JCA because she looked at me with a puzzled air and then she muttered "Do you mean the green one?". Apparently, yes, I meant the green one. We are so used to the Jcrew color palette and their challanging names than sometimes we forget that spice olive for the rest of the planet is a "green".
I actually bought the spice olive, ehm green, top because I tought it could be nice under the soiree jacket and also because the price was very attractive (OK, also because a lady who was trying the black one looked at me as if she was going to jump on me and take it off me right away), but I regretted and I have since returned it through the Amex return protection program (it was FS).
I have taken some "souvenir" snapshots though that I want to share with you:



And here it's with the jacket (I didn't like it that much under the blazer and that's the reason why I returned it):


Do you like the spice olive/orange color combination? Would you wear it or do you think it's too much? Do you prefer the skirt or the pants version of my outfit? Do you have the Gateau skirt? How do you wear it?