OOTD (A Souvenir From Italy)

When I was in Italy in June, I was transfixed by the beauty of this picture from the Louis Vuitton cruise 2011 ad campaign, that was in every fashion magazine that my mom had saved for me:

The campaign is shot in Capri and this image reminds me of my vacations in the South of Italy when I was young and lived with my parents and made me a bit nostalgic. Since my birthday was coming up I decided that I would offer myself the scarf that the model is wearing. As I found out when I went to the Vuitton store in Milan it isn't a scarf but a "bandeau" which is a long and thin rectangular piece of silk that you can wear in your hair, like a headband, like a belt or like a tie. I absolutely wanted something in this print (that was widely used in the cruise collection) and because it didn't come in a scarf and I couldn't afford anything else, the bandeau it was. I got it in the another colorway, with mustard-y fruits instead of peach-y ones because I have more things in that color palette. The SA at the store suggested that I wear it tied like a ribbon around the handle of my handbag, but I was afraid of loosing it (the thing isn't cheap!) so I waited until the weather cooled down to wear it around my neck. I broke it out yesterday with this outfit (the sweater and jeans are JCrew, the vest is Gap):

Normally I don't like to show off logos and brand names (it is so 80s) but I really like how the brand name is incorporated in the print here (Louis Vuitton is "written" like it was the continuation of the same branch). I tried it loosely tied around the collar of a white blouse with the ends let down, like tie:

And my favorite version, the ladylike bow on a silk blouse:

The temperature is supposed to warm up again this week after a pretty cold weekend, so I may wear one of these versions soon!
Hope you had a great weekend and you are ready to start a new week!

From Safari-Chic to Preppy (Two OOTDs in One)

It looks like the bad weather is following me since we are having a foggy and humid (if not rainy) week in NYC too. Sigh!

This morning I went out in my short-sleeved selvedge denim shirt and lightweight chinos to take my daughter to school:

But I had to come back and take a jacket because frankly it was cold. This little Theory linen jacket gives the outfit a safari-chic feeling (pardon my Espadrilles):

I recently ordered the Large resin necklace in tortoise as a ride-along and I was pretty disappointed: it looks quite cheap and it is too dark (it looks pretty much dark brown with little "tortoise" effect, at least in the one that I was sent). So I already returned it but I have an old chocker by a French jewelry designer with rectangular tortoise links alternated with gold ones that is a much better necklace (even if a short one):

Even with the jacket I was still cold, so after dropoff I gave up the safari look for a preppy one. I went back and forth on the Shrunken Fisherman sweater since it came out. I liked the look of the beechwood color but I wasn't crazy about the lenght in the XS (a bit too long). I wanted to give the XXS a try but it sold-out quickly on the website and this size isn't carried in store. Also, I haven't bought a cotton chuncky crewneck in YEARS because it is usually too cold or suddenly too warm in NYC in the spring/summer season for this kind of sweater. But because of the wonky spring that we had this year I could really have used it, especially when I was in Italy, and regretted it several times. I finally bought it a few days ago with the 30% off, because $40 is a price decent enough even if I don't wear it constantly (and because the style is fairly classic it should last for years).
So this is my preppy look, that replaces the early morning safari look:

As you can see I belted it as to make it a bit shorter. What do you think? Like it belted or not?

Thank you to all of you who left a comment to my previous post. I am not ignoring you but I experienced Blooger issues the past few days (my comments got deleted at publishing). It should be fixed it now, so I should be able to comment back again and comment on your blogs. Thanks for reading!

JCrew Misc Try-Ons

Good morning! I wanted to post very quickly a few pics that I took on two recent trips to the B&M in case you want to order any of these during the MUSTHAVE promo (many of these items are not on sale yet but you can always add them as ride-alongs).

First, an item from the April catalog that I hadn't seen in store yet, the lovely and ultra-feminine Silk Sophie blouse. It fits TTS. This is the muslim color (ivory) and it is very sheer, as you can see (granted, I was wearing a black bra which isn't the best):

I love the gold buttons, they are very Tory Burch-esque. I saw the dark slate color and it is pretty too (wih the advantage of not being sheer), it is a grey with a hint of green (the swatch is pretty much true to the color IRL).

Next, another new arrival, the Schoolboy blazer in summer stripe. It is very lightweight and kind of shiny. Personally I didn't like the fit and style, but here it is (it fits bigger than the otherschoolboy blazers IMO, this is a 0 while I am usually a 2 in schoolboy blazers):

I tried again the Shrunken fisherman sweater but in the white colorway. It was a little bit sheer and more beach-y. All in all I prefer the bleechwood color but here is the white, in case you were wondering how it looks on:

In all these pics I am wearing the awesome Cropped white matchstick jean. I don't have a white pair of cropped jean and the fit of these was so great that I had to buy them (with 20% off). This is a size 26 with a tee that is not online (expensive, like $45 maybe, and sheer):

And now a few items from the sale section. The Delaney eyelet top, that went on sale on the website this morning and is $29.99 in store is very cute, not sheer (it has a double layer of cotton, something quite unseen before) but runs big. This is a 0 and it was very low-cut:

The Stripe mandarin tee fits TTS but I went one down because I liked the length of the XXS better (it is less pajama-y):

In case you were wondering like me where in the world the picture on the Sequin postcard tank had been taken, mystery solved: per receipt it's Santorini, Greece (even if it doesn't look like Greece to me). I had been eyeing this since it came out as I have few tanks and $13.99 is a price good enough for me. This is the XXS:

That's it for today. I tried a very cute linen top (the linen version of the Tulip cami) but it isn't online yet so I will probably post the pics in the next fitting room post as new arrivals are due next week.
Any question, let me know. Have a good weekend!

A Few Try-Ons and a Wilder Dress

Good morning! I know I have promised a post on my new Tory Burch shoes but I went to a JCrew yesterday to look for a few newly marked down items and I took some pics, so I thought I would post these first since the promo SUNNIE ends this weekend.

I will start with the few new arrivals that I tried on (there were a few more but they didn't appeal to me), then I will show you the two sales items that I brought home.

The first new arrival that I wanted to show you (because there is already a buzz about it and you might want to order it with the 20% off before the end of the weekend) is the Shrunken fisherman sweater. This is a beautiful "classic JCrew" sweater (maybe a little bit too much for my taste but I know that there are many of you who will fall for it) made of 100% cotton (I thought there was silk in it actually). The knit is chunky but manages not to be bulky and I found it very flattering. This is the bleechwood color in a XS:

I have no idea why they called this sweater "shrunken". It is very misleading as it isn't shrunken at all. I think that the white is a better color for summer than the bleechwood but it is a matter of what you want to wear it with. I personally don't wear crewnecks in the summer (especially chunky ones) so it is a pass for me but if you wear this kind of sweater, I will definitively give it a try with the 20% off as it will sell out fast, I think.

Second new arrival in stores, which isn't really new online but was very curious to see is the Wave tank. I absolutely swoon every time that I see the pic of this tank on Alexis' new banner. My store didn't have the tan color, only the black. This is a 0 (fits TTS to a little bit big. They didn't have the 00 to compare but I am wondering if it's going to be too short. The 0 isn't that big):

This is definitively on my sale watchlist, I loved it but it is silk so not something that I will wear that much to justify a full price purchase.

Next and last new arrival is the Washed chambrey shirtdress. Actually when I saw this I had a "WTF" moment because it really looked like a long shirt, but the I saw it styled on a mannequin and I decided to try it on.
This is the 0 not belted (I would never wear it like this):

And this is how I saw it styled, with the Clip elastic belt (I love this belt by the way, but it runs small. This is the S/M and I could only wear it at my waist):

Taller ladies will be sized out in this one, it is already pretty short on me, especially belted. It is way overpriced but it isn't even on my sale watchlist anyway.

The next one isn't a new arrival but I hadn't seen it/tried it on before. Finally a Lemlem tunic that is actually wearable (I found Lemlem offerings very hard to wear). It's the Elsa smocked shirt. It only comes in S and M and this is the S. Lemlem items would certainly sell better if they offered more sizes, the S was "okay" but I would never spend $188 is something that doesn't fit me perfectly (I know that it is meant to be worn at the beach but still. It was also a little bit itchy):

I also tried the Crisscross dress that was in the sale saction for $39.99. This is the seaweed green in a XS. What can I say? it was flattering but also frumpy. I felt a little bit like I had just escaped from a rapist (the belt was unraveling and the picot trim around the neckline looked liked someone had tried to pull on it). Maybe if I can find it for $19.99 and in perfect condition I will reconsider:

And now the two items that I took home. I went to the store specifically looking for the Voile tuxedo shirt after reading on the JCA that it was on sale for $49.99 in store. It was pretty much the only thing that I liked in the April catalog (very underwhelming catalog IMO), along with the gingham shorts(but my pledge this year is not to buy shorts until it is the season to wear them). At first I was worried by the sheerness but I was immediately smitten as soon as I tried it on (and thanks to the placked the bra wasn't showing (it is sheer from the end of the placket). I would say that it fits bigger than the perfect shirts, the 0 is a little bit roomy in the shoulders but not exagerately so. It is very Jenna, IMO:

The following pic doesn't do it justice (I was trying the Oxford scouts ina the blue color and it looks like I am going to a pajama party) but I want to show where it hits when it isn't tucked in:

The other item that I took home is the almost sold-out Wilder dress. This is completely sold-out in the XS in NYC stores (I did a search for it) even if it isn't on sale in stores. I tried the S because that was the smallest size available and surprisingly I didn't find it to be too big. In fact I don't know if the XS would fit in the chest (I am a little bit busty for my size). I got the measurements from CS this morning and the XS is 30" in the chest (length is 27.25") while the S is 32" in the chest (length is 28"). Granted, it is a little bit loose on the top but I can get away with it without alterations, especially if I wear it as beach/vacation dress. In case you are wondering, it is fully lined in cotton voile, so it can be worn in the city as well. What do you think, am I trying to convince myself?

In any case it is really growing on me. I tried it this morning with a few things and I am totally in love. For $48 (price with the Mickey card) I think I am going to keep it. I wanted to post the pics but I am running late, so you will have to wait for the next post.

Do you see anything that you like? What do you think of the Wilder dress on me?