La Dolce Mini Two Ways

Just before leaving for Italy I bought the Dolce mini. At that time it was an in-store only item and I didn't want to risk that it would sell out while I was away as it is one of the most beautiful tweeds that I have ever seen. Interestingly enough, the name on the receipt is "Lacroix tweed" mini, so I wonder if the same tweed has been used by Christian Lacroix for some "couture" piece. Maybe it has nothing to do with that Lacroix but it would be a strange coincidence, don't you think?

As usual, the website pics don't do this skirt justice. I know that many are turned off by the length of the skirts this year but this one is not "that" short and this shape works better as a mini than the bell shape IMO. I mean, if you could bear the length of the felted wool bistro mini, you should bear this one. I happen to have the felted bistro one in the same size (bought this summer on a popback), so I took a pic for you to compare (the grey felted wool is less than an inch longer):



I find the felted bistro to run larger than this one so you can easily size up for more length.

While I was in Italy I couldn't wait to come back and wear it. I like it THAT much and it makes me happy seeing it when I open my closet every morning. I am honestly puzzled that this beauty hasn't sold out yet. It's expensive for sure for a mini but so are many other things that sell out in days. One sure thing is that it is much more striking in person and they didn't do much for it on the website.
For example I don't know why they have picked a grey sweater to show on the product page pics, as the skirt has in it a plethora of yummy colors mixed with golden threads:



In my opinion grey is one of the few colors to avoid completely (as probably navy and all the reds), as it tones it down. Plus, there are so many colors to pair with it that a neutral like grey seems lazy to say the least. It's like a concentrate of those JCrew colors that many of us love so much: the yellows, the pinks and the beautifusl greens. Speaking of green, look at the forest green lining:



I know what you are thinking: we could have lived without the the gold-zipper pockets and absolutely speaking I would have preferred this mini without those zippers that I found initially very ugly. But then they grew on me and I am now convinced that they actually add a modern touch to it, so it can appeal to the younger customers (as tweed generally doesn't). The thing is, you can still wear this skirt a la "old JCrew", if you can wear a mini.

So I want to show you these two different ways to wear it. Modern and aggressive (with the right shoes) and pretty-sophisticated, like in one of those beloved old JCrew catalogs that some of you treasure.

For a modern look you need a pair of shoes with an edge, to echo the zippers. While I was in Italy I splurged on a pair of lace-up peep-toe stiletto-heel booties by Sportmax (the younger line by MaxMara) that happen to do just that, they echo the zippers. I have been wanting a pair of shoes with a WOW factor for a while and these are just what I was looking for (they are also incredibly easy to walk in):







So, the rest of the outfit could be a long cardigan and a tee, like this:





Or a simple turtleneck. During the 20% off sweaters promo I ordered two merinos turtlenecks to try specifically with this skirt, one in black pine and one in paradise blue. Both colors are present in the skirt (the darker threads in the skirt are not black but dark green), but I preferred the black pine for a turtleneck. If you have never see this shade IRL, it is a very dark forest green, more unexpected than black (it comes across a little bit lighter than it really is in this pic):



I am going to show you the pairing with the paradise blue color, even if I had to crop this pic and I am going to return the sweater because I would wear it only with this skirt:



Now for the "pretty" version of the outfit, I picked an old cami that was screaming "me, me" from my closet as I haven't worn it in a long time. For the life of me I can't remember the name of this one but I am sure that it was Fall 07 as I bought it for as part of my "back to work" attire after my maternity leave (I went back to work in August). I am pretty sure that the color is the beautiful honey glaze, that is back this year. The advantage of this top is that it's long enough to cover the zippers. I have paired it first with a cashmere crewneck in a similar hue (the warm maize from last year) and the crystal colletto in dusty blossom (as for the shoes I would go for flats or a mid-heel like the Juliet):




And for a total "candy effect", with the Michelle cardigan in dark rose. A darker gold glitter-y belt or a mustard-y one would be better than this pale gold one, but this is what I have:



You can also wear it with a little cardigan, even if in this case you will see the zippers. Two example, with the same warm maize cashmere cardigan and with the Jenna in black (here in s S):





What do you think? Which way do you prefer it? Would you give it a try now? If not, why?

PS
I spent a lot of time to take the pics for this post and I am kind of curious to know if you like the skirt or not, so I appreciate anything that you have to say!

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!