An evening with Tom Mora

A couple of weeks ago I received an unexpected invitation in the mail. It was from JCrew and it said that I was invited to a private shopping event at the Soho store with special guest Tom Mora and handpicked gift with a $250 purchase to (I quote) "honor you, one of our best customers". Of course I know that they sent this to pretty much everybody who has ever shopped there but since I am usually NOT invited to private events because I am not a cardholder I was happy to be finally aknowledged as one of the best customers, after years of spending my money there. The cocktail party was yesterday night and I decided to go even if my guest (my best friend) cancelled at the last minute.
I had planned to wear my Frances dress in lifesaver print that I am saving for special occasions like this one but the weather was unseasonally cold yesterday so I decided to wear the floral fresco pants instead (also because so far I have a $150 cost per wear on these). In case you missed my post, the Talitha blouse in wreath is THE perfect blouse to wear with these pants. I added my big pearl necklace, my big splurge jacket from a few years ago and my Tory Sally peep-toes in navy and I was ready to go:







I was the first to arrive there and to be let in, so immediately introduced myself to Tom (I said I had a little JCrew-related blog without telling the name of the blog). He complimented me on my outfit (touched my jacket and recognized that it wasn't JCrew and he couldn't tell if my necklace was JCrew or not) and asked me if I also owned the top in the same print than the pants. I replied that it didn't fit me well because it was too high-waisted and he told me that the prototype was even more high-waisted and that they tried to bring the waist down but apparently he was aware that it wasn't enough. I half jokingly said that I must be one of the few people to have bought the pants full price and he admitted that they tought they would do better (to which I replied that they were too expensive to start with and that it is one of those "love it or hate it" kind of item). He suggested that I try the pants with a striped tee (not sure about that, actually). I asked him about the Fall collection and he told me that they brought together the party and occasion team (that he used to be head of) and the women's apparel team and it was the first collection carried out by the two teams together (I think he said this out of modesty because my question was if it was the first women's collection that he designed entirely). He told me that he already designed some of the Collection pieces in the summer collection like the Neon stripe skirt, a sequined green spaghetti strap dress that I think is store-only and some other sequined stuff. At that point I was feeling like I was monopolizing him so I thanked him and let him speak with other people but I came back before leaving and asked if I could take a picture with him, which you can see below (this is a horrible picture of me but I am going to post it anyway for the blog's sake. I was at my third glass of wine and they didn't have anything to eat):

As I said goodbye, I took advantage of the privilege to ask him to pleeease make less high-waisted dresses and he said that he would take note. We'll see in the next collections!

Tom gave a little speech during the evening but it was a bit disappointing in that the invitation said that he was going to talk about the inspiration behind the Fall collection, while all he talked about was the beautiful display of colors in the store. Bah!

The gift with purchase was a Timex watch. That's a nice gift but I didn't find anything to buy while I was there! They were out of my size in pretty much everything that was on my "maybe" list (like the cafe capri in kaleidoscope dots) and I didn't feel like buying for $250 of things to return just to get the watch because I don't wear a watch anyway (my husband after said I was stupid for letting the watch go). Oh well!
The best part of the evening for me (besides my chat with Tom) was that a very nice SA gave me a price adjustment on my Jardin maxi in morning aqua that I bought last week on a popback on the website for full price, even knowing that if was half price in store (after missing it in store, I stalked the skirt forever on the website and I jumped on it when my size popped back). That saved me $80 that I am pretty sure I am going to reinvest soon. On the other hand the manager on duty on the lower floor gave me a very hard time for what seemed to me like a very easy exchange: I ordered the Ella dress in porcelain paisley during the last 30% off promo and I think I received a fluke because it fit differently from what I remembered from trying it on and also the print on the skirt portion was a bit off (asymmetric). So since they had a 0 in store I asked if I could return my dress and get the one that they had in store without going through a return-rebuy transaction (same dress, same size, same price paid). The reason is that it wasn't fs online while it would have been fs in store and I wanted to keep my online receipt in case I want to return it, as I am not 100% sure that I am going to keep it. The manager argued that they have to go through a transaction for inventory reasons (What inventory reason? Same dress, same size!) and in the end she gave me the "one-time exception" line but I feel like she wasn't doing me an exceptional favor. Am I wrong?

Anyway, I am glad I went. I regret a bit the Timex but at least I have a pic with Tom as a souvenir of the evening.
What would you have asked told Tom if you were at my place? Anybody was there last night?

OOTD: Safari

So I found out that the problem is in the new post creation template and I cannot creat a new post without bugs on my computer but that if I create a post on another device (phone or iPad) I can come back and edit it normally. This is a huge improvement for my blogging activity because it means that I can use the pics that I have on the computer and blog almost as usual.
Well, I didn't know this this morning when I took my OOTD, so these are the phone pics. The dress is Loft (last year) and the accessories JCrew. I really recommend the Brompton mini hobo in safari cat for the current price ($99 less 30% off), I carried all morning on my shoulder without a problem and I appreciate that there is a zipped compartement to safely carry my wallet. I don't cave very often for bags and epecially JCrew bags (the last one is the Thompson tote from three years ago) but this one is worth it IMO and will also transition well into Fall and even Winter:







The belt is the elastic clip belt (there is a factory version of this) and the necklace is the double strand giraffe necklace that is currently on sale as well. I like it a lot because I can pair it with many things that are in my closet as I have many neutrals and it gives a safari vibe to any outfit (even without the bag).

I am off to a special event at the Soho store. Read all about it tomorrow!

Saying Hi! And A New Top in Store

I am sorry for the long hiatus that was totally unplanned. I have a problem with Blogger on my computer (apparently the problem is some setting on my computer and not my Blogger account) that prevents me from writing and publishing in HTML. Since all my pictures so far are stored physically on the computer, I can't use the iPad to blog. However, since my new phone is much faster than the old one that I lost and I can take and store pictures on it, I thought that I would give the blogging from my phone thing a try.

I have a backlog of outfits and new purchases to show you but while I wait that the problem with Blogger finds a resolution or that I retake the best of my OOTD pictures with my phone, I am going to post about a new arrival that I tried in store the other day and snagged a few pics of while I was in the fitting room. It is a new incarnation of the boatneck blouse, like the striped Seine and the wildcat one. 100% rayon and retails for $128 (at least the price didn't go up). The colors are very similar to a cashmere sweater that came out earlier in spring and if I weren't completely striped out at this point I would consider it as I loved that cashmere sweater but not the price tag (not to mention that we have a limited season for summer cashmere here, especially a popover). This is the 00, which is not the size that I usually take in this blouse and felt a bit small (so I would say that it fits like the previous versions):



What do you think of this new print of the boatneck blouse? Have you seen it in store?
Whoa, that was very time-consuming, Blogger'd better work again on my computer or I ll be able to blog very sporadically. Hope to see you soon!

Flashnews: Trina Turk for BR Shorts on Sale

I don't have a lot of time today but I wanted to post about this before the weekend kicks off. I popped into BR this morning since I had half an hour to kill before camp pick up and tried a few items from the Trina Turk collection. I had already took a peek at the Collection the other day but I had no time to try anything on. I was particularly interested in the shorts in the crazy botanical print that I am not sure if are a store-only item or sold-out immediately on the website (even the first day when the Collection launched they weren't available online, even if they caught my interest because the model is wearing them in the product page of the short-sleeved safari jacket). Anyway, I knew that these were selling fast because they are relatively affordable ($55) and the print is not as overwhelming as other prints from the collection and in fact when I went this morning they had only one pair left in a size 4. I grabbed them anyway because I am a solid 2 in BR bottoms and in general there isn't such a big difference between sizes in shorts.
In fact they fit quite nicely, even if they gap a bit in the waist and as you can see from these pics I took them home with me. I prefer them to be a tad big than too small and this print really screams summer vacation to me and I plan to take them to Italy in August (even if I will most likely stay in the city):




The print isn't matching at the seams, but I wasn't expecting it to anyway (I am just mentioning in case it is a dealbreaker for some of you):


So, the good news is that when I took them to the register they rang up at $33 instead of $55. I was surprised because they just came out and normally the collection is excluded from promotions, so I thought they had been misticketed but then when I looked at the receipt I saw that a code 40% off FP pants had been applied. I am telling you this because nothing in the store let me think that they were part of the promotion and my decision of buying them was independent from them being full-price or on sale but I wouldn't have hesitated a second if I had known. So if you are interested in these (probably also the solid version is marked down), I would run to your closest store and get them with this promo (that ends today).

I also tried the Pisces strapless dress because the print is very old school JCrew IMO but BR doesn't do strapless very well IMO and the 0 fit me perfectly but was cutting painfully trough my chest, and this without providing a lot of support. Maybe on super-sale.
Last, I tried the orange silk cowlneck top, which is more neon-y IRL than in the website pics and while I really liked the color and even the fit that highlights the collarbone and the shoulders, the fact that is super-sheer and with a slight racerback means that it is going to be a nightmare to find a bra to wear with it (also the color is kind of trendy so it is probably going to look a bit dated next year). In any case I tried the 0 and it fit perfectly.

That's it! Have you tried anything from the Trina Turk Collection? Have a nice weekend everyone!

Calypso Sample Sale: Hits and Misses

In case you aren't on the Calypso mailing list and you haven't heard, Calypso is having a sample sale on their website. Sample sale is only a way to say that the prices are rock-bottom low, all the sales are final and it's only for a limited time (until Saturday). As you probably know Calypso is one of my favorite brands after JCrew so I couldn't resist ordering something from the sale. For a limited time they also lowered their minimum for free shipping (to $150 instead of the usual $250), so it was even more tempting (t is back to $250 now if I am not wrong).
Calypso can be very hit or miss but I know the brand well and I live near a store so even if I go there less than I used to I try things on from time to time (usually they have stuff that is not on sale but it comes handy when they have a sale like this one).
Anyway, with one exception, I am pretty happy with my order and because the sale is still going on I took pics of what I have received so far in case some of you is considering ordering.

The best of the bunch is a short-sleeve shirt that was up on the website the first day and sold-out almost immediately. This shirt, called "Cosia" is from two years ago and I remember trying it in store and "sale wishlisting" but in the end I could never find it on sale in my size and never got it (I remember last seeing it at $99 or $69). It was offered during the sample sale at $24.50 (down from $168) so when I saw it, I jumped on it.
This shirt is Calypso at its best. The print is a beautiful flowery print (it also came in another print) but the style of the shirt is military, with epaulettes and a vaguely oversized structure that manages not to be boxy. Add a rope belt (the Calypso "signature" belt that I now own in numerous exemplaires) and you are ready to go. The other day I paired it with my JCrew safari pants for a soft-military look:





But of course you can indulge its delicate and feminine side with a pair of chambray pants, for example:




Things popback on the Calypso website but it looks like this one is gone for good for now and won't popback during the sale (however, I wouldn't be surprised to see it in occasion of the next sample sale). For reference I ordered a XS and it "just fit" in the shoulders and arms (because of two pressure buttons the arms are pretty tight):



The other hit from my order was the Rachel handknit sweater. This one is still available and even if the price is not as low as the Cosia shirt I am glad that I got it. At first, when I opened the package, I was a bit disappointed in the color because I was expecting something more neutral (like a camel-caramel) but as the website description says, this it is really "in the shades of sunset", yellow and orange. The knit itself is rope-like (made of different stripes interwined together) but it is very, very comfortable to wear. The fit is great (this is the XS):





As you can see it is definitively sheer so if you plan to wear it in the city you need a cami or a tee underneath. However, this is the perfect beach sweater to throw over a bathing suit. Remember the JCrew sweater that came out last summer and was supposed to be a beach sweater but was scorching itchy (I loved the look of that sweater but couldn't get it off fast enough)? This sweater is what that sweater was supposed to be. It is a very high quality sweater and if you can wear this color you can't go wrong IMO.

And now the miss. I ordered the Cassandra silk dress as a ride-along, under the pressure of checking out fast so as not to lose the other items in my cart (including a suede navy belt that I haven't take pics of that was the Holy Graal in my order, something that I always regretted not buying FP). I love a nice kimono dress and this is 100% silk (not to mention that is was down to $49 from $350) so I took the risk.
Well, even if not a complete disaster I don't see myself wearing this dress elsewhere than on a beach vacation and I have more than enough things to bring on a beach vacation. The top opens up revealing a lot so that you need to wear a cami (again) or a bikini (it is probably better suited for bustier women). The skirt poufs out a bit strangely but the self-tie belt helps with taming it down (like in the first two pics, where I wore it lower that at the dress waist). I know that it doesn't look completely uninteresting in these pics but I wouldn't have bought it if I had tried it on. I paid with my Amex, so this is a possible return under the Amex buyer protection (that incredibly I haven't used yet this year). Anyway, this is the XS:





On the positive side, it is 100% washed silk lined in silk crepe (a rarity these days). Thoughts?
I am still waiting for another package with the Cashmere duster in ivory (it is now sold-out in many colors including ivory but there are still two colors available and for that price you might want to consider it, Calypso does cashmere very well).

Have you ordered anything from the Calypso sample sale? Do you like any of these? Please share!

OOTD And Product Review: The Stripe Tie-Front Top

First, the outfit that I wore yesterday to do errands in the morning and then to take my daughter to a graduation party (I am pretty sure that this is another of those NYC crazy things, graduation parties for 5-year-old. In case you are wondering she is graduating from nursery school to kindergarten).
As you know I am a matchy-matchy person and I when I put on my suckered gingham shirt and the white scout chino I was pretty upset that I did't have a white belt to go with the outfit (I wanted to wear a belt because as of late I feel sloppy in chinos, so a belt would have helped to make me feel more put together). Instead of trying something in the blue tone to match the shirt I decided to break it with a neutral belt, a la Jcrew. I think it works because rummaging in my messy jewelry box I found this BR tassel necklace that matched perfectly the color of the belt. I added my tan Revas (not pictured) and I really liked how the outfit turned out:




Today I am wearing white pants again, but my matchstick cropped jeans instead of chinos. Since the weather is (finally) very nice I decided to break out my Stripe tie-front blouse. I bought it a few weeks ago and I have been thinking about returning it for decency reasons (I am talking about the price, there isn't anything else undecent about it) but since I got it as an exchange for something that I had bought during a 20% off private event and I really, really like it, I decided to keep it and start wearing. It looks like this top is much more popular in store (where is selling like crazy) than on the website probably because you can't even see the stripes online with their white background.
It is a Collection item and this is a mistery to me. OK, it is a nice linen-cotton blend and the print is a cool pencil stripe but it is unlined and there is nothing that would make you think that there is something special about it besides the detail of the tie in the front (I am not a textile expert so I don't know if cutting the fabric so as to have the two ends that tie together is something that increases the production cost that much). I honestly think that they put the Collection tag on it to justify the selling price, in any case this is how it looks untied:



Obviously you have to tie the two ends to wear it properly:



In the store it was styled with a coral necklace, which I really liked, and this coral beads necklace that I never wear has just the right amount of color:




Size-wise, when I first tried it on I thought that the 0 (that I am wearing in the pictures) was a bit too swingy but when I tried the 00 it looked too small (like I was wearing one of my daughter's clothes), even if it fit. I actually like the fit of the 0 a lot now (note that it is a little bit longer in the back for a perfect fit).
I added my Nolita jacket today since I am not sure if it is that warm:




I really like tis top for its coolness factor (in the double sense that it is a very easy-breezy top for the summer if you don't like to wear tanks and it has that "cool vibe" that sometimes JCrew clothes pull off) but it will be certainly marked way down because it is clearly overpriced. If you don't need it right know, I would wait for a sale.

What do you think of this top? Did you even notice it on the website? Would you splurge on it?

More Fitting Room Pics and a Funny Fitting Room Story

First, I wanted to apologize for my lack of comments to my last posts, I forgot to mention that early last week I lost my cell phone (left it in a cab) and with it also the ability to blog on the go. It is quite incredible how dependent from technology we are these days, how could we go through life before the invention of smartphones? By the way, AFTER the tragedy had happened I found out that there are apps that you can download on your phone that allow you to enable the GPS signal for tracking purposes and even block your phone from a computer in case of loss, so in case you have an Android or a iPhone that's something that you might want to look into. Anyway, I just received a replacement and I am getting used to it so I should be able to resume my regular blogging activity (especially leaving comments on other blogs) shortly. Thank you for your patience!

Now, I realized that I never finished posting the fitting room pics of the June catalog (see the first part with the dresses here). At this point you have seen all of these on other bloggers but I am going to go ahead anyway because I have a very funny story to tell you that happened to me that day in the fitting room.

Let's start with the Cafe capri in silk foulard. As you know I am a big fan of the cafe capri and these are no exception. They are 100% silk, unlined (which is good for the fit IMO) and they fit TTS. If I didn't have the "other" foulard ones I would consider them on sale but they are definitively redundant (not sure why they didn't make them in a different colorway, like a blue). This is the 0:




Next, the Plaid boucle tweed jacket. This is a cool tweed jacked but as many reviewers pointed out the trim is really neon-y and it won't stand the test of time. Size-wise it fits small IMO, this is the 2 (the lasrger of my jacket size) and it "just" fit (the pants are the Ankle stretch toothpicks in sea blue, size 26 (my regular jean size):



How adorable are the Linen shorts in safari cat? I just got rid of many 3" shorts so I am trying very hard not to go there anymore but I do think these are awesome for a vacation. I tried both the size 2 and the size 0 and I think I prefer the fit of the 0, even if they are more fitted (I am between sizes these days in shorts). The top is the equally adorable Ring around eyelet top in a size XS and color blue grotto (I am waiting for this one to go on sale but I see that is selling out on the website):




I also quite liked the Stripe popover, it is very summery and has less of a jailman look than the Linen perfect shirt in stripe. This is the 0, fits TTS:




Don't laugh at the next one, I really didn't know what to think of the Antique paisley tunic when I tried it on. It wasn't on the website yet and it looked too short to be a dress but when I tried it over pants like a tunic it bunched up. Now we know that it's a cover-up. I don't remember if this was a XS or a XXS but I remember thinking "Total pass!":



The next one is the Whisper gauze peasant blouse that I loved in the previews. However it didn't work on m IRL, I sized down to a XXS but it still looked like there was too much fabric. I don't know, maybe I should try it again with a different bottom because I like the concept:




Last, I was curious about the Classic mini in double-serge cotton. This one is made in the same fabric than the pencil skirt which means that it is a bit stiff and as the pencil skirt it is lined. I tried a 0 and found the fit a bit small (but I didn't try a 2 to compare and you will find out shortly why). I tried the bright spearmint color but I think I would go with the natural, in this color I felt a little bit like one of my daughter's mini-dolls (you know like the Lego "Friends" of the Polly-O):




So, the funny story is that I got stuck in this skirt as I was unizipping it. The zipper is in the back and after going down an inch from the top it wouldn't go up or down any further. I said that I found the fit small but it wasn't like I was squeezing in it, I didn't force it or anything to zip it and in fact I could easily turn the skirt around as to have the zipper on the front and be more comfortable in my movements. I tried again for another 5 minutes and it wouldn't bulge so I had to call the SA to the rescue. The SA came and after trying herself she called another SA, a male this time who seemed to have more "experience". At that point I started to worry about my underwear because he was "working" around my butt and I was afraid that the skirt would came off all of a sudden and leave me in my undies but luckely I was wearing a pretty chast and un-sexy pair of CK panties (and not thongs!) All this took about 15 minutes and it was getting late for school pickup. There wasn't any fabric trapped in the zipper so at some point the male SA disappeared and came back with a pair of scissors. Yes, they were forced to cut the skirt off me to get me out! Now, I have been trapped a few times trying on stuff (typically pull-on dresses that turned to be too small) and I have been forced to ask for help before but this is the first time that they have to cut a cloth off me. I have to say that the SAs were very professional and customer-friendly and they said profusely how sorry they were that it had happened and they didn't even for a second make me feel like it was my fault (it was clear that the zipper was defective but they could have joked or given me attitude). I don't know who was the most embarassed, me or them. In any case once freed from the skirt, I took a picture of the trophy:



So be careful when you try this skirt! I am joking, I honestly think that it was one of a kind and not a flaw of this skirt in general but I haven't tried another one since the accident.

Have you ordered or have you been interested in any of these? Have you ever been trapped in clothing that you were trying on? Please share your wildest fitting room experience ;-).