Mother's Day Outfit (Sort Of) and the Tory Burch Kitties

I wore two great outfits this past weekend but I also managed to break my camera, so I couldn't take pics to share. What happened is that the memory card got trapped in the memory card slot (because my daughter chewed on the camera cable when she was nine months old and a new cable costs more or less like a new camera, I use a memory card reader to transfer the pictures from the camera to the computer, which means that each time that I have new pics I have to take out the memory card) and not only I broke the memory card in two but also the slot (a piece came away with the card) while trying to extract it. It was quite the bad timing to break the camera because my daughter is going to turn three this Friday. On a positive note, it was time to upgrade it and the price of the camera that I have been watching for months (as I knew that we would need a new one at some point and I started to do my research around Xmas) has finally dropped, so it is on my way and I should have it by the end of the week (hopefully; if you don't hear from me it probably means that the camera didn't arrive in time for my daughter's birthday party and my husband killed me).

Back to the outfits, on Saturday I wore a variation of the outfit that I have blogged about in this post, only with white jeans and the silver Tory Burch thongs. I get compliments every time that I wear the ribbed vest and this time I got one from a lady who lives in the building and is normally very uptight (one of those persons who don't smile or speak or even acknowledge you in the elevator).

On Sunday we went out for brunch for Mother's Day. It was very cold for the season (it still is) but I refused to wear a coat, so I wore my Dauphine jacket instead. I bought the Dauphine quite a while ago, at the first markdown, and then re-bought it for much less during the last 20% off sale promo. I know that this jacket got mixed reviews and some of you don't like the fit, but personally I love it and I felt very chic in my outfit.
The details are amazing and I was impressed when Jenna Lyons said (in one of the interviews that Alexis put up on the JCA blog) that the tweed of these jackets (this one and the blush jacket from the Fall collection) comes from the same fabricant that provides Chanel. So it is the most Chanelesque Chanel knockoff that you can possibly get. My husband was impressed too when I told him (it was the first time that I wore it) and all of a sudden he got over the tweed jacket that I sold last spring on the JCA (he kind of obsessed over it and kept telling me that I Had made a mistake even if I had worn it once or twice maximum and it was brown, which is a color that he normally doesn't like to see me in).
I think that it looks great with the denim pencil skirt and that's how I wore it for our Mother's Day brunch. As I said I don't have a picture of the outfit but I wore something similar a couple of weeks ago when I was trying on the Tory Burch Kitties that I finally bought during the Saks Family and Friends Promo (only, I was wearing a navy top in these pics while I wore the cashmere tee in natural on Mother's Day and it looked much better with the jacket):



Detail of the beautiful fleur-de-lys golden buttons:



Here is a pic that my husband took in the restaurant (where at least you can see the top):



And these are the Kitties in the nude color IRL:





I have to say, they are beautiful but a little bit redundant in my wardrobe, maybe because they are almost flat and they don't change my life in terms of shoe choice, I feel like I could wear another pair of flats that I have instead. I haven't worn them yet (a sign) and in the end I think that I am going to return them and buy a pair of Sallies open-toe in navy when they go on sale (I tried them with white jeans and the check shirt and they looked fabulous and I don't have a single pair of navy shoes).

Have a nice week!

JCrew Spring Blazers

I have been trying a lot of jackets as of late, so I have enough "material" for a post on the new jackets that JCrew is offering this spring. I haven't tried any "utility" jacket as I have many and honestly I think that you can get a better deal at other retailers (like Old Navy).

The first is the Tweed jubilee jacket. I tried this one for a friend who was interested but nowhere near a store. I really liked the fit but the color washed me out and it is one of the most expensive jackets out there. I think that I would have considered buying it on sale if it came in another color (a grey maybe?). But even the SA, in an impetus of sincerity, said that the color was meh on me:



Buttoned up (the 0 was perfect with a tee/cami but a little bit tight in the shoulders when worn with a sweater):



Close-up on the fabric. It's a cotton tweed and it's very comfortable to wear (not stiff at all, but for $350 that should be a given). It has threads of canary yellow that don't show up well in the pic:



The next one is similar but a little bit less classic (it has an "unfinished" feeling). This just came out in the new rollout and I don't have the style number. It was priced at $350 as well. It looks like $350 is the new standard for a jacket this year. I have only seen it oin this orangy color:




The next one is probably my favorite. It's the Rose vines blazer that retails for $168. A totally useless jacket, because it's so lightweight that you could wear a shirt instead. However, the print is so pretty that it was hard to resist (but don't worry, I resisted). By the way, it's the same rose vines print that the shorts, the romper and the perfect shirt come in but yet another shade, called "bright orange" (the overall effect is that of a white jacket):



Basically it's the 2010 edition of the poppy floral jacket from last year, but the ruching at the back make the fit more feminine:





The next one is the Calvary linen twill blazer. Nothing special, really, and it fits big, I was swimming in the 0:




I also tried the Tweed Delphine blazer but completely forgot to take pics. It was a little bit boxy on me but I think that I will retry it when it goes on sale. It has beautiful "fleur de lys" golden buttons and looks more like a Chanel than a Chanel knockoff.

I didn't buy any of these jackets, but got another one that is currently on sale. But that's for another post.
Are you considering buying one of these jackets? Do you own one? Please share!

Enjoy the day!

What Do You Think of ... This Marc Jacobs Sweater-Jacket?

I was at Lohemann's this morning looking for a swimsuit for my upcoming vacation (we are leaving in less than ten days, yay!)
I try to stay away from Lohemann's because there are too many temptations there but because the Jcrew swimsuits really don't fit me well and I like to buy a new one each year, and in my opinion Lohemann's is THE place to go because they have the greatest deals on otherwise much more expensive beachwear brands, I decided to go.
I found what I was looking for (post coming soon) but I also found something else that I WAS NOT LOOKING FOR but I just couldn't leave there.

It's a jacket from Marc by Marc Jabobs made in a sweatshirt fabric and lined with sherpa (I know that this description sounds weird but you will understand when you see the pics). I couldn't resist the colors and the beautiful buttons:







This is the sherpa lining (only the body is lined, not the sleeves):



It wasn't on sale but at $79.99 it was decently priced (as everything at Lohemann's) for a Marc Jabobs piece.
I should be happy because it is a great find and I really like it. However I feel a little bit of a buyer's regret because:

1) It was an impulsive purchase and I don't need it (hey, I was looking for beachwear)
2) It is a size S and I think the fit would have been better in a XS (it is a little bit boxy when fully buttoned, like here):



3) It looks like the buttons come off very easily (in fact the last one came off when I was trying it in the fitting room) and I'm not good at sewing!
4) I have other jackets that I still have to wear
5) I don't have any budget left for spring clothes (unless I return something)

But on the other side:

1) I think that the colors are stunning. It's a jacket that doesn't go unnoticed.
2) It fits very well in my lifestyle (because of the fabric it's very comfortable and I can wear it to the playground, take up my daughter without fearing for it etc.) which means lots of potential wear
3) The fact that it's sherpa-lined it's a plus for me because it means that I will be able to wear it without a coat in early spring when the air is still frisky (and anyway when it gets warmer I don't like to wear jackets)
4) Did I mention that I like the colors?

What do you think? Should I keep it? Is it worth it? Please share!

The Sateen Soiree Jacket

Today I lived in the fear that the UPS guy with the first of the two Jcrew purchases that I made last week wouldn't show up before 6 pm. Normally I'm the one who receives the packages, even late, but I totally forgot that I had a movie night with a girlfriend tonight and I had to leave at 6. My husband agreed to come back from work earlier so that I could go and when the package didn't arrive at noon (UPS makes two deliveries a day, one around noon and one in the late afternoon-early evening) I started to sweat. If you have been reading this blog for a while you know that my husband doesn't necessarly approve of my spending habits, especially when it comes to Jcrew so I really didn't want him to get the Jcrew box instead of me. I don't order on the website very often because he can immediately see what I buy on the credit card online statement (by the way, not to channel Sophie Kinsella's Becky, but couldn't credit cards companies give us, wives and girlfriends with illecit spending habits, a break and NOT mention on their statements what we spend on in the most embarassing details? Like it wasn't hard enough to smuggle shoes in the apartment, they have to tell our husbands that those $300 spent at a mysterious Chuckies went in a MIU MIU pair? Thank you Amex for getting us into troubles. Seriously, is there a class suit against Amex for violation of wives privacy that I can sign up for? If not, it means that the world is ruled by husbands...)
Just when I was trying to come up with a backup plan for the delivery (a plan that would only work with the complicity of the doorman), the UPS guy showed up (around 4) and saved my day.

Anyway, I ordered two sateen soiree jackets, one in spice olive and one in slate in two different sizes, a 0 and a 2. I had tried the spice olive in store when it was $99 and although I really liked it, I wasn't ready to spend that amount on a jacket because I don't get to wear jackets very often. It's funny but at $39.99 the same raisoning becomes an enabler (hey, I don't have many jackets, I should wear them more often, I should buy this one) and I pulled the trigger. In order to get the free shipping I also bought two pairs of the cocktail capris in a petite size that I couldn't try in store (the regular 0 was way too big on me).

Now, I thought that it would be useful to post a quick review of the sateen soiree blazer as many JCAs mentioned it in the "sale watch" post last week and there were different opinions about it (it seems to be a love it or hate it item). I tried it on very quickly this afternoon to post IRL pics in case some of you want to take advantage of the 20% off coupon, which makes this jacket even more of a bargain.

First of all, this was the first time that I have ordered a jacket from Jcrew and I was impressed with the wrapping and the fact that they came on a hunger (you are maybe used to it but I didn't expect that). The jackets were in pristine conditions and clearly they had never left the warehouse before:



The details are beautiful, look at the lining with the pink inserts (the inside of the sleeves are also pink, actually a bummer that it'is not supposed to be shown):




Now the fit. The most important thing to know about this blazer is the lenght. It is short (that, and the fabric, is why it's supposed to be an evening jacket, I guess) and if you have a long torso it might not work for you.
Also it's not very fitted through the waist but the overall look is very nice because of the shortness. I know that it looks plain on the website pics but it definitively has a little something, it's a fit that you don't see quite often. Here I'm wearing it with the stretch cocktail capris:



I put the Cate slingbacks on just to show the proportions (I know that the color is not good):



In store I tried it with the orange gateau skirt and the ensemble looked gorgeous. It works well with a full skirt IMO. The closest that I have to the gateau skirt is this cotton-taffeta A-line skirt from early fall 2008, but really, the effect is not the same:


The fabric wrinkled a little bit during the pic session, which means that it will definitively wrinkle a lot if you wear it for an entire evening. Which means that it will probably need dry cleaning after each wear to look fresh. If this really bothers you, this jacket is not for you.
Regarding the spice olive color, because of the tissue (sateen) I find it a little bit lighter than the same color in the cardigans. It's more light chartreuse than spice olive if you master the Jcrew color palette lol. I didn't try the slate on because the 0 is clearly my size, so I'm not going to bother (plus, I think that the spice olive is more of an unexpected color for this kind of jacket and it contributes to its charme).

I urge to try this jacket, especially now that it comes to the price of a tee shirt. For me it's definitively worth it a try.

Do you own or have you tried this jacket? What do you think?