Surviving Black Friday and OOTD

I don't know you but I am SO happy that Black Friday is behind us. This year I felt the pressure much more than in years past, probably because almost all the retailers pushed up the start of the crazy deals to midnight while I usually sleep in too late for the good early birds specials. So I was on the computer at midnight and it took all my willpower to only order my husband's Xmas present at Bloomingdales.com (that in fact was having "early birds" or better "late owls" savings until 4 am).
If you live in a city like NY you have to decide where you want to spend your Black Friday money in advance because we don't have a mall where you can hop from one retailer to another in less than three hours. So I decided that I would spend my Black Friday money at the Loft for a number of reasons, the most important one being that I have a store at walking distance from my place (I hate taking the subway) and I knew that they were having a 50% off BF special until noon. The other reason why I went to the Loft is that I was there two days before for a return and I saw a lot of cute dresses. Last reason was that you can't risk to spend too much money at the Loft (unlike at Saks, that I have purposefully avoided). In any case I bought a bunch of stuff because of the 50% off but then I had buyer's remorse and returned almost everything a few hours later! Oh well, the important thing is to participate.
I took pics of everything I tried on and I will try to post them before the end of the weekend, since they are still having 40% off everything.
But now I only have the time for a quick OOTD and these:

Did you recognize them? Well, they are not the JCrew printed Valentinas but Nine West knockoffs. I had been eyeing them for a while and I was hoping for a better deal on BF, but they were "only" 30% off. I bought them anyway because I didn't want to miss on them at $55. You can buy them here (color is multi sy) but they look MUCH better IRL. They are TTS to slightly big IMO. They are also very comfortable to walk in and the heel is slightly lower than the Valentinas. They also have a flat version for a little bit cheaper and again, they are awesome (I would have bought the grey ones but they didn't have my size and half a size smaller was too small). I will probably end up ordering them since they have free shipping on any order for a limited time.
I really reccomend to check out Nine West if you are shopping this weekend, they have a suede Mona knockoff as well (that I can't find online) and a style very similar to the JCrew Juliets of a few seasons ago (here).

Now, on to my OOTD. I saw a woman wearing this outfit at JCrew yesterday and I had to copy it (the good thing about having a brand obsession is that you can immediately recognize the clothes when someone is wearing them without having to ask "where did you get that?" and chances are are that you have them too).
I didn't think of wearing my cashmere shell over my tartan shirt but it looked really classic with the whit-ish cords (these are the toothpicks in champagne from last year). So here you go, with the shell tucked in our out:

I added a necklace that I bought on ebay last year to wear with this shirt thinking that it was black (it came in crystal and black). In reality the black color is a quite clear petrol green but it works with the shirt anyway:

I have worn this shirt so much since I bought it last year around this time that I allowed myself to add another "tartan" item in my closet with the 25% off promo. Can you guess what it might be?
OK, that's it for today. I am curious to know how you spent Black Friday and what deals did you get, please share!

OOTD With Mini-Me and a Few Try-Ons

Good morning! As you know I rarely post pics of my daughter but yesterday we ended up wearing almost the same outfit (it wasn't planned, it just happened) and we both found it very funny (she noticed herself that we were wearing the "same pants" and we were both wearing a similar striped top), so I took pics to post.

First, my outfit. You have probably already seen it (it features two of my favorite items, that are in constant rotation in my closet) even if I was breaking out my new pair of toothpick cords in champagne (I wore my matchstick in sea salt to death and I thought it was about time to get a fresh pair since the price is now more than a good deal). This is my only pair in this year version, with the zippers at the ankle, and I sized one up from the other three pairs that I have from last year (I figured that because they were fs and whit-ish, I'd better size up and have them gaping a little bit at the waist than look like a sausage, and I was right):

And this is with my mini-me, who is wearing Gap skinny cords (with ankle zipper!), Petit Bateau top and handmade cardigan (I took the pics with her before and I still had to wear my belt here):

In the afternoon after drop-off I stopped by the Collection store to checkout the new arrivals. The store was packed and I didn't feel like trying everything on, so I picked only a few things that really caught my interest. This year I am drawn to dresses more than usual, probably because my daughter is getting older and I have more freedom in my movements as I rarely have to carry her or even take the stroller.
So I picked up three dresses. I apologize for the rolled pants in these pics but I was lazy.

The first one is the beautiful Silk serenade dress in the lagoon blue color. Some of you have probably ordered the colorblock version that was very cheap during the last 30% off promo, but I didn't dare to order a fs dress that I had never tried on before (especially a colorblock one). In any case this is the 0. Needs steaming but fits TTS and beautifully:

The only thing that I find a little bit strange is the seam below the elastic waist (it looks like a crease in my pic but it's a seam and if you zoom on the website pic you can see what I am talking about). Besides the fact that I found myself trying to pleat it down like it was a crease, I don't have other complaints. It is low-cut so probably not appropriate for the office.

The second one I had I hopes for but it was a disaster on. It is a new short-sleeves cotton dress in a creamy colorway with red swiss-dots. It looked very cute on the hanger but as I said the fit was totally off on me. This is the XS and I would clearly need a XXS, but the XS was already too high-wasted on me so I didn't even ask for the size down. It is priced at $98:

You can see this dress also on dinster who agrees with me on the high-waist business.

The third and last one is the Cecilia dress, even if when I tried it I didn't know that it was on the website. This one deserved that I try it on properly and take my pants off ;-).
I thought it would overwhelm me with the full skirt doubled in the same cotton (a LOT of fabric here) but I fell in love, the 0 fit me perfectly even if it is much longer on me than on the model (I kind of like it better this way actually):

You can tie the sash in the front (it looks more like a party dress this way) and it has pockets:

What can I say about the color, orange it is just one of my favorite colors as you know (quite interesting, "retro orange" is more orange in this dress than in other offerings), but it also comes in white and black.
I put it on hold at the store but because we have a JCA event this Saturday I will probably order it with a % off.
You can also see this dress on AppGal (who liked it) and shopwithm (who disliked it. But look how cute the red dots dress looks on her!)

The last item that I tried on is a new schoolboy blazer in a madras fabric. I wasn't interesyed in this one but it was selling out and I figured that many of you might be interested so I grabbed the only one on the floor (which happened to me my blazer size, a 2). The fit is the same as the other schoolboy blazers, I just don't like this madras, personally (if I had to buy a summer schoolboy it would be the one with the scratchy sleeves)). Anyway, here it is (it retails for $168 if I am not wrong):

That's it for today. I will probably try more on Saturday. Any question let me know.

Orange Tuesday (and Today's Outfit)

Sorry for the quite long iatus. I had planned to post some pictures of our Halloween party (we had a blast) on Monday but I have deleted ALL. The. Pictures. by mistake (before saving them on the computer, of course). I am still in shock, especially because there were a few good ones of my husband as Napoleon. I guess that the official party photographer has a client...

Anyway, you would think that this was one of my Halloween weekend outfit, but I actually wore it yesterday to a playdate:





Last year cinnamon spice color is the most perfect shade of warm orange (this is the boatneck cashmere sweater). The toothpick cords (last year as well) are navy even if they probably read as black in the pics. The flats are the tortoise patent flats, a recent sample sale find. I have stalked these flats for so long on the website and on ebay before finding them at the sample sale and you know what? They are the most uncomfortable shoes that I have ever owned (and I include my highest heels). They are almost impossible to walk in so until I find a solution or sell them on ebay I am using them only for very short walks. They are terribly cute though and when I look at them I tell myself that I can suffer a little bit:



It is very cold here (in the low forties yesterday), so I put my winter gear in full rotation. Yesterday I wore my cloud puffer in glazed pecan:



I am glad that I bought this last year (even if I didn't "need" it), the color is to die for and I always get a lots of compliments when I wear it.

Today's outfit was more casual (not that yesterday's one was particularly dressy but you know what I mean) and you have seen a variant of it before but I want to show it anyway because 1) I bought the tissue turtleneck in dark rosewood when it went on sale to wear with the Dream draped v-neck sweater (aka "yoga" sweater), which, by the way, is incredibly cheap right now, and it's a perfect pairing for the cobblestone color, even if a little bit more dark or "plum" that I expected and 2) I want you to see how cute is the factory enamel critter charm necklace IRL (I bought the elephant one).
So here you go, the dream draped v-neck sweater in heather cobblestone with the dark rosewood tissue turtleneck and the elephant charm necklace:




A caveat about the elephant necklace is that it hits me right in the middle of the cleavage, so if you don't want to draw attention there you need to wear it over a turtleneck or a not too low cut top. It is even cuter than I thought though and the only problem that I have with it is that I can't wear it when my daughter is around, as she wants it for herself (in fact when I received it and tried it on she said "You can't wear it, it's mine!").
I also want to apologize if my mirror is dirty but "someone" loves to come and put her little fingers (which are always dirty) on it when I take pics, no matter how many times I clean it:



Have a great week!

Weekend Outfits (featuring the Tulle Art Blossom Tee and the Merino Boyfriend Sweatshirt)

We had an exceptionally warm weekend here in NY (as everywhere else in the Northeast if I'm not wrong) and today is the first day with temperatures that are nearing 60 degrees since early December (heard on the TV this morning)!!! I know that it's too early to say that spring is finally here but at least we can enjoy being outside in the sun without freezing.

On Saturday morning I went on the hunt for a cardigan to wear with the potpourri dress and then I met my husband and daughter at the zoo. I hoped that I would find something and that they would match the Internet prices, since they were running the 20% off sweaters promo. I think that I found the perfect cardigan (and it's cashmere, so I will not freeze in my dress in Seattle), but even with the 20% off I couldn't stomach to pay more than $100 for it and I decided that I'm going to wait because this type of cardigans always goes on sale early in the season. It's a Featherweight cashmere cardigan in a color that appears to be in-store only (unless it's sold-out on the website, but I doubt it). The color code is NME and my guess of "neon melon" appeared to be spot-on when I asked the SA to check. By the way, did you know that they have a page with all the color codes and their explanations on the computer? I wanted to DIE when I saw the list and I almost asked for a printout but I couldn't find any good reason to give the SA for that (besides being a crazy lady who spends her time learning by heart the JCrew color codes).
Anyway, the color is a very bright melon (if not really "neon") and enhances the orange component of the dress. Another perfect match is the light berry color, but the orange-coral looks much better on my skin tone than the berry. I also tried a lot of Jackies but there wasn't a color that looked as good with the dress as the neon melon of the cashmere cardigan.

I wore my toothpick cords in faded cement, merino ethereal cardigan in heather dusk (bought when it went on sale a few weeks ago) and the Tulle blossom art tee that is currently on sale in stores for $24.99. I wasn't sure about the tee, because the fit with the wide scoopneck isn't too flattering on me. But it looks so good under the ethereal cardigan that I have decided to keep it. Of the three available colors, I like this one the best because the embellishment is black and I can wear it also as an evening tee.




My husband, unlike Slastena's husband, never commented on my soft ochre cords being pukey, but when he saw me in this outfit he had to say that the pants don't look "classy" (the color, specifically). They are definitively sporty, but that's the reason why I "needed" them and could justify buying a third pair of toothpicks (the navy ones are definitively more elegant and I can't wear the soft ochre with grey).
What I liked in this outfit is that it goes easily from day to night with a change of shoes and adding a necklace (and I knew that I wouldn't have much time to change for the evening):



I wore this to a neighborhood pizzeria where we went with a couple of friends and our toddlers. Boy, now I remember why we don't go out very often with our daughter, especially on a Saturday night. At some point the two were running across the restaurant floor and a couple of (not very understanding) ladies were yelling at us for letting them "ruin their dinner" (not that they did anything bad). At that age, they simply can't sit for two hours in a chair, there is not much that you can do: it's the running and giggling or the cries.

Yesterday we decided to cross the park and have brunch at a favorite Mexican restaurant on the Upper West Side. It was a GORGEOUS day and I broke out my Merino boyfriend sweatshirt in honey that I hadn't the occasion to wear yet as it has been too cold and I like it best worn alone and not over a buttondown or turtleneck. It's a little bit wrinkled from being under a pile of other sweaters in my closet. I wanted to iron it before leaving but my husband and daughter wouldn't wait for me:



Instead of a coat I wore my navy sherpa hoodie (from two years ago): it was the perfect weather to wear this outfit!




BTW I didn't wear the necklace in the end, I'm not sure if I really like it with the sweater and anyway we were just going for a stroll in the park and a brunch in a very casual place. What do you think? Do they go together (I don't have another necklace that I could possibly wear with this sweater)?

I also made an unexpected purchase this weekend (at another retailer), but I will leave it for another post.
Have a great start of the week!

OOTD (Soft Ochre and Maize)

I dropped my daughter at school earlier this morning to attend a parents-teachers conference. The good news? It's warm today, way warmer than last week. If it weren't for the heaps of snow on the sidewalks you could almost tell that spring is around the corner.

I wore my toothpick cords in soft ochre, Glenbrae boots, cashmere crewneck in warm maize, contrast-stitch perfect shirt from last summer and pearl and chain necklace:



I love how the colors go together and I also love the mix of casual and pearls.



I know that many of you have this shirt and don't know how to wear it. For me is the easiest shirt, it goes with pretty much everything (just try and you will see).
This morning I wore the crewneck sweater buttoned up and with the necklace worn on a double strand over the collar of the shirt (see pic above), but now I'm wearing it open, with the necklace left long over it:



Stay tuned for a new arrivals post later (featuring the beach cardigan among others).

Cinnamon and Cords (Weekend Outfits)

Is there an expiration date for OOTD posts? I'm sorry to bother you with my LAST weekend outfits when the NEXT weekend is just around the corner (when I used to work the joke was that the weekend officially started on Wednesday after-noon, when the first half of the week was officially behind us), but because I spent the day of Monday almost in bed with flu-like symptoms (I had the two flu vaccines, I can't possibly have a flu!) and yesterday I still wasn't feeling well (but had to deal with it because my daughter had a busy schedule), today is the first day where I can stomach to look at the computer screen for more than two consecutive minutes. And I really liked these outfits, so I'm going to share anyway.

Before posting the outfits, I wanted to update you on my last week purchases. I was saving what was left on my gift card for something "cinnamon spice" on sale. I LOVE this color, it is one of the prettiest Jcrew "fall-winter" colors ever in my opinion. I wasn't hoping to find the cashmere boatneck popover any longer (I had tried in October but apparently it sold out quickly) but when I saw that it was down to $69.99 on the website last week I had to at least try a few stores in the city. Well, not only I found one in my size but I also found a Celosia cardigan in the same color for $39.99 (probably a return).

While I was in the store I noticed that another item on my wishlist since they came out in the summer, the toothpick cords, finally came down to $29.99, so I decided that it was the right moment to buy a couple of colors while my size was still easily available. I bought the soft ochre first and then the navy and deep aubergine. I am still regretting not buying more of last year's matchsticks, and I'm not sure that they are going to redo the toothpick style next year, so I thought that I'd better get them while I could ((no need to say that I don't have anything left on the gift card). I have to say that after these last purchases I felt like a lot of stress went off my shoulders and I haven't even checked the website or the JCA blog in the last three days because I bought everything that I wanted to buy and I could even envision not buying anything else until the spring. OK, maybe it's because of the flu, but still.

And now the outfits. Saturday was very cold and I wore my new soft ochre toothpick cords with the warmest sweater that I own. It's a very thick cashmere turtleneck by the French brand "Zadig and Voltaire" (which has now a store in the Meatpacking district) and it is all what a cashmere turtleneck should be: incredibly soft, warm and luxurious (I have to say, I remember spending a small Euro-fortune on this but it was just before moving to NY - I moved around Thanksgiving - and I was afraid that the winters in NY would be too cold for my wardrobe. And in fact they were exceptionally cold the first two years that I was here):





You can see that I'm holding something in the first pic. Let me introduce you to a girl's best friend:



Cashmere (even the best) piles but we are lucky to live in a world where someone (a genius) has created the Magik Fuzz Buster and our sweaters can look like new in less than 5 minutes. I have a Jcrew red cashmere sweater that I had bought when I was almost five months pregnant and after a few wears over my pregnant belly (and also a passage in the regular cycle of the washing machine by my husband who used to do the laundry) looked like an old sock and it is almost in like-new conditions after an intensive Fuzz Buster session. If you don't have one of these I urge you to run to the closer Walmart and buy one (it costed me $5 a couple of years ago). I'm one of the laziest person on the planet when it comes to housekeeping duties but you can really do this while watching TV. Plus, don't underestimate the pleasure of seeing a beloved cashmere (but it works on any blend) sweater that you had given for dead coming back to life before your eyes. It is Magik, I tell you.

On Saturday night we were invited at friend's for dinner. I wore my black matchstick cords from last year, my black Gap "layering" turtleneck with the snow-gem tee over it (both tucked in the cords) and a red lipstick very similar to the lipstick that the model is wearing in the latest catalog (mine is by Giorgio Armani). It was VERY pretty and festive. Unfortunately I couldn't take pics because it was already dark and the day after I didn't have the time to wear the whole thing again just to show you. But in case you have something similar in your closet, I would give it a try.

On Sunday we went all the way downtown (Tribeca) for a Xmas brunch with friends that we hadn't seen in a while (it was kind of a reunion). The restaurant with its big windows and wood panels was the perfect spot. I wanted to wear something festive but casual, so I broke out my new Celosia with the check shirt (that I surprisingly liked together). In the pic I'm wearing the toothpick cords in navy but I had to switch them for jeans at the last minute because it was starting to rain and cords don't love rain as you probably know (I apologize for my daughter's stuff in the background):



Fun fact about the Celosia cardigan: there was another baby at our table (younger than my daughter, barely a year old) and she was mesmerized by the cardigan's ruffles. When she was about to cry, all I had to do was come closer and show her the intricate design of the ruffles and she would just look at them and giggle. Who knew that a cardigan could babysit? I was surprised that the mother didn't ask where she could buy one!

Have a nice week!