OOTD: Ahey, Matey!

So I had a lot to blog about this week but I didn't get around to it. Let's hope that next week I will settle in a more reliable blogging routine.

I wanted at least to post the pics of the outfit that I wore yesterday to dinner with hubby and friends because I think that the Striped tie-front top is now on sale in the stores. This has become my favorite summer top ever (Dani, you were right to tell me to get it!) and if initially the price was on the high end of the spectrum (it was really a splurge) it has been now reduced to a very little cost-per-wear. I also forgot to mention in my previous post about this top that despite what the website description says, it is NOT dry clean but machine washeable (I washed it already and it came out perfect). Yay!

My girlfriend is a writer and not interested in the least in things like shopping and clothes. I have never seen her wearing a skirt so when we go out with them I tend to dress casually and wear pants (even if we go to an upscale restaurant like in this case).
I built my outfit around my new Madewell anchor belt, that I have ordered during their free shipping promo around 4th of July. I have to thank my blog pal ajc for sporting this belt on her blog, I tend to forget about Madewell. This belt is my only concession to the anchor trend, it gives any outfit a subtle maritime flair without being too in you face (a warning if you are contemplating to order it: it runs very large. I ordered a small and I had to add two holes to wear it on the hips). It is a pant belt so I was looking for a pair of pant to wear with it and after discarding an old pair of JCrew white wide-legged trousers I picked out these Theory linen pants that were a favorite of mine but I haven't worn in a few years because they had become too small (I couldn't button them anymore). To my surprise they fit decently again and they are the same exact shade of blue of my tie-front striped top, so it came naturally to pair them with the top. Theory has the best pants out there but they are cut for very thin women and if you have a minimum of curves they tend to have a sausage cage effect. However, when they fit well, they REALLY fit well (these have a bit of stretch in them):

A panama hat really gives this outfit a nice finishing touch. In the end I didn't wear it because there were a very few hours of daylight left and I also thought that there wouldn't be enough room on the table to put it during dinner (because clearly I wasn't going to eat with my hat on). However, I will wear it the next time that I wear this outfit:

I really loved this outfit, but hers is another outfit that I wore featuring this top tucked in:

Do you have this top or the Madewell anchor belt?

Statement Stripes (The Gondola Stripe Coat)

I wanted to show you my birthday present today but I realized that I don't have any picture of it and my camera's battery is completely out, so I will blog about something else that I already have taken pictures of and I wanted to post about anyway, sooner or later.

I didn't go completely crazy during the recent promos at JCrew. I made mistakes in the past and bought stuff more because of the deal that they represented than because I really needed them or liked them. So I tried to stick to a list and buy only those pieces that I had been eyeing for a long time and that I really must have. However I ended up buying something that I had scratched from my list a long time ago, after waiting for its release for months.

The Gondola-sripe coat was the only item in the Spring/Summer Lookbook that I had really been looking forward to seeing in store. I almost preordered it because I was sure that it would sell out in a minute but the price retained me and I preferred to wait. As you know it came out quite late in the season, as a wool coat it is something that around here you want to put in the storage in April, more than over your shoulders. I tried it anyway but I was underwhelmed: too boxy, too high-waisted and overall unflattering on my small figure.
Well, that's because I tried the wrong size. I tried a 0, while I should have stuck with my coat size, which is a 2. In any case I had more or less forgot about it when one day I saw one in the sale section of the Fifth Avenue store. It was marked down to $249 and the additional % off brought down the price to $175. That's what I call a good deal, but as I said I didn't want to buy anything impulsively just because of the markdown. It was the only one they had and it was a size 2, so remembering that I had tried a 0 I took it to the fitting room out of curiosity.

What a difference a size can make in a coat! While the 0 was boxy and added weight to my short frame, the 2 elongated it and the fact that the waist fell at my natural waist (and not under my ribcage) had a overall slimming effect, especially when closed. In the end I bought the coat and the shoes that I tried with the coat in the fitting room (these were already on my list) and I *almost* bought the jeans that I had found in the fitting room and fit me perfectly (but I do not need a nother pair right now).
I have a trick though: I need to wear high heels with this coat and better if platforms or stacked heels. I think that someone taller than me (tall in general) can get away with wearing flats but I need to counter-balance the heavy top with more leg length and a heavy bottom.
Once at home, I tried to recreate the look from the lookbook with what I already have, I loooove that look. It doesn't really work on me because the coat is longer than my shorts:

It isn't that it is that bad (even if personally I prefer my coat shorter than my skirt/dress or, in this case, shorts) but look what happens if I want to close the coat:

Yep, I look like a stripper working in club frequented by Gondoliers or men who have a thing for stripes. I could try a longer skirt but I am almost sure is not going to work anyway.
Much better with jeans. In fact this is how I am going to wear it mostly and I am fine with only one outfit if it's a winner (of course I can wear other pants). The shoes are the Seville canvas and satin espadrilles (these, unlike the other kind of Sevilles, fit TTS). Note how the shoes help to balance out the coat, as I tried to explain above and how the look is streamlined instead of boxy (or at least I think):

Now, this is a early spring coat and I am aware that I am going to wear it next year (or a few days in the Fall at best), let's hope that stripes are still hot next year or I will really look myself like a Gondolier escaped from Venice ...

What do you think of the Gondola-stripe coat? Would you wear it yourself? Do you think I can pull it off? Please share!

Two Vacation OOTD: Beach Stripes and Porcelain Paisley

Hello everybody! I am back from our short beach vacation. We had wonderful weather (after a rainy start on the morning of the 4th) and I feel like I have been away for at least two weeks! The highlight of the vacation was definitively watching the fireworks on the beach in Montauk (it was the first time that I watched fireworks on a beach if you can believe it) but more that the fireworks themselves it was the atmosphere of the evening that struck a cord with me, with all the people people flooding into the streets towards the beach and some sitting on the roof of their cars parked along the road, at the highest point. It felt quintessential american to my foreign eyes, and I felt like I was in some Spielberg movie (E.T., specifically).
I was also lucky enough to pick the perfect book to keep me entertained while I was tanning on the beach (this year we took MIL with us so my husband and I could relax for long stretches of time as we didn't have to take turns to play with our daughter). I read "State of Wonder" by Ann Patchett and I highly recommend it as a read that has both an adventurous side and page-turning pace but also more literary substance than the usual thriller or romantic beach read.

I don't have much time today but I just wanted to post quickly a couple of outfits that I wore during the vacation that showcase two JCrew items that are currently on sale and I just love.

The shorts in the pics below are called simply beach shorts and even if they are currently sold-out they might popback. I ordered them when they went on sale a few days before leaving, but I had tried them in store and almost bought them fp (the only reason why I didn't buy them fp is that my budget that day had been entirely used by a big-ticket sale item that you will see soon on the blog). These shorts are adorable and even if shorter than what I usually wear in the city, once on the beach you don't really care (after all a bikini is shorter than the shortest shorts). I have always been a shorts-and-a-tee kind of beach girl more than a cover-up one and the perfect beach shorts are not easy to come by. The fabric must be flexible enough to allow for any kind of movements (in case of impromptu beach volley or beach tennis game) and easy to get on/off but also not too delicate (in case of splashes of water). If you also want to look cute, that's almost mission impossible. These are perfection, they are 100% cotton (poplin, I would say) and sooo comfortable thanks to the elastic at the waist.
In these pics I am wearing a size 0, I would say that they are TTS (if you want more comfort in the legs, size one up). The white shirt is actually the Oxford-cotton tunic from a couples of years ago that is one of my beach staples and the green tee is Calypso (this was $4.50 during their recent crazy sale):

The other item that I brought with me and I wanted to show you in action is the Ella dress in porcelain paisley. As you know it was love at first sight between me and this dress but I couldn't justify the initial price tag for a dress that won't receive a lot of wear. I waited for it to go on sale and it paid off because in the end I got it for less than $100 which for a STUNNING dress like this one is more than acceptable. I also got used to the double zipper that was almost a dealbreaker for me. I simply don't zip the internal corset (that's impossible to do alone, as someone said on the JCA if you need to have a maid to get dressed you might want to reconsider your purchase) and I just zip the external back zipper, that is more manageable.
That night (Friday) we were going out for dinner to a lobster place to celebrate my birthday. The shoes are my Tory Miller sandals in white patent (perfect to dress down the dress), the bag is my gold Thompson tote (a white bag would have been better but I haven't found the perfect white bag yet). Of course my daughter had to be in the pictures, she was incredibly cute:

That's it as far as vacation pictures go, I will be back soon with my birthday present (don't try to guess, it isn't JCrew, for a change).
Anybody else has the beach shorts or the Ella in porcelain paisley?

Happy 4th!

My version of red, blue and white. I will probably wear this to see the fireworks in Montauk tonight (if it stops raining). I wish you all a very happy and relaxing fourth of July!

Everything JCrew

Date night (crazy) outfit

I had a movie-and-dinner date night this Saturday with hubby (duh! Who else?) and I wore something that you don't see me wearing very often. I was inspired by ajc's post and I was feeling like wearing something that would surprise my husband. See, I never know what my husband is going to like when we go out (he doesn't like frills or too romantic dresses but he doesn't like when I wear jeans on a date or when I try my version of sexy), so I always end up wearing something quite ordinary that doesn't get too much attention from him because when I look for compliments in general I am not going to get any (quite the opposite in fact). In any case, before you see what I wore I need to provide you with some context, otherwise you are going to think that I am going through a middle age crisis and that this dress is a direct consequence of that. I had bought this dress in sight of a gateway in the city that we had planned for Memorial Day and that we decided to cancel at the last minute. We had booked a room at the Standard hotel and the plan was to party (they have a famous party on Sunday afternoons) and then go to our room instead of taking a cab home. I found the idea quite sexy so I was full of anticipation when a few days before I saw this dress at H&M. As you know I think that H&M is quite a good source of disposable fashion that sometimes looks great but I wouldn't go as far as to say that their stuff is amazing. The fabrics are often subpair and the stritching cheap, in particular as far as their "fancy" dresses go. I wouldn't buy a coat at H&M but if you want to experiment with trends that only last a season it is the place to go. Anyhow, this dress is not the typical H&M dress, the fabric is a very substantial neoprene-like material with raw edges that don't frey and it is VERY well made. It has a futuristic feel to it, a little bit a la Balanciaga and the print is simply stunning. I asked if it was a special collection or something but the SA didn't know and there is no special tag even if I only saw it the flagship on 5th Avenue (my local store never had it). I was transfixed and I bought it even if at $69 it was definitively expensive for H&M (it helped that I had a $45 store credit). I took these pics right after buying it nd the colors are much brighter IRL, as you will see further down, but I wanted to show you these pics because the print is more visible than in the pics that my husband took Saturday night (I don't remember if this is the 2 or the 4 as I went back and forth with the size but in the end I decided to keep the 4 because I could barely breath in the 2):

After the night out that didn't happen this dress was hanging in my closet unworn, as it had lost its reason to be there and Saturday night I pulled it out more to test it than to actually wear it. I was thinking that I should return it but it broke my heart to return such a unique dress so I decided that I would show it to my husband (which I almost never do) and see what his reaction would be. At first he looked at it and then at me and uttered his favorite words "C'est horrible" but I was undeterred and when I put it on and asked him if I could wear it to the movies that night and he said "Si ca peut te faire plaisir ..." ("If that could make you happy") I knew that he actually liked the dress (otherwise he would have said "You are not going out with me in that dress".)
So, here I am in my crazy dress Saturday night. We went to see a French movie at the Paris theater, which is right next door to Bergdorf. Note that I had highlights that afternoon, after almost six months since the last time (my colorist had a baby this spring and I had to wait for her to be back to work):

This is the movie theater. I love that Paris sign:

I had tried to take a pic of myself while I was waiting for the elevator (and yes, those are parrots on my boobs!):

After the movie (that we both really enjoyed even if I had very low expectations) we had a pizza at a casual place because I couldn't walk too far in my platforms (the craziest shoes that I could find to pair with my crazy dress. Believe it or not I don't have a single pair of orange shoes) but I didn't feel like I was overdressed. I just felt in a good and cheerful mood (husband noticed). I would like to say that it is the power of movies, but it was probably the power of clothes.
While we are on the H&M topic, I went in this weekend (it was craaaaazy) and I couldn't resist this whole oufit:

I had already tried the skirt a while ago but at that time I didn't feel like spending $29 on a mini. Lucky me this one went on sale and for $15 I think it is a great summer mini. This is a size 6 and it "just" fit, I almost bougth the 8 to be more comfortable but then I decided to go with the 6 because it was most flattering and if I can only wear it this summer what the heck. I hesitated on the top because it is cut quite big as you can see (I am wearing a XS) so I put it on hold but then went back to get it because I like this outfit too much (I like the top per se but this is a re-edition of a top that came out in the Fall in silver and I had missed on and I would probably get more wear out of the silver one). What do you think? Too mermaid?

I am packing today. For the first time ever we are not going to spend 4th of July in the city but in the Hamptons. Friday is my birthday and I hope that I will have the time to write another post with my birthday present picks before then. Otherwise I will talk to you next week!

What do you think of my crazy dress? Are you finding good stuff at H&M this season?

Great Deals At The Loft

I have a confession to make: I am becoming a Loft full-price buyer. I am incredibly impressed with the Loft this season and I keep finding stuff that not only is very good quality for the price but is also very different from what I find at JCrew, which sometimes feels like a breath of fresh air when you spend your day obsessing over one retailer's Catalog. I also noticed that the good stuff tend to disappear very quickly, at least at my store and in my size, and while I used to wait for a coupon before buying anything there, now I just go for it.
I wanted to share three of my recent finds, that are now 30% off with the current limited-time promotion on full-price purchases (go to the website for code and infos).

When I first saw the Graphic Stripe Sweater Skirt it was love at first sight. I have seen a lot of skirts "inspired by" Missoni but I can tell you that this one is as close to the real thing as it gets (I recently tried a Missoni piece in store and was slightly underwhelmed compared to its Loft knockoff, no joke). It is extremely comfortable to wear (no lurex in it) and is very flattering, it has a magic slimming effect even if it is a knit. It has pockets, which is always a bonus.
This is the XS, fits TTS:

The only problem with this skirt is the color. I don't have many things to pair with it and nothing that really matches the turquoise and teal in the skirt. I had to buy the tee in the first pic to have an option other than white to wear with it. So I am not 100% sure that I am going to keep it for that reason but I think that it is an awesome skirt.
The day when I bought the skirt I noticed a dress in the same wave but in neutral colors, the Wavy Stitch Stripe Sweater dress. I gave it a try and decided to buy it as well because it seemed like something that could travel very easily and be the perfect candidate for my vacation suitcase (I am going to Italy in August). At that time I sort of liked the skirt better because the colors are more summery and I was a bit bummed that the dress didn't come in that turquoise as well.
Since then I changed my mind. This has become one of my favorite all-time dresses. It has the same slimming effect of the skirt and it is close to wearing nothing on a hot day. This is the XS as well, that day the temperature neared 100 degrees and I felt fresh all day:

Warning: this is the kind of dress that men tend to like, so be prepared if you buy it. I received several whistles from street workers and I can tell you, that hadn't happened in a very long time. I felt a bit Sophia Loren in this dress, it has that power on you. Besides the street workers, I received a compliment from every single person I talked to that day (I was looking for a present so I went into every other boutique on Madison and every single SA or client complimented me on the dress).
This is the outfit that I wore (less the necklace, I thought that the dress was enough and plus my Stubbs and Wooton espadrilles, that really added to the outfit):

Something that I am kicking myself for not buying full price in store is the Sunwash tee in neon kiwi (which is really neon yellow). This tee is awesome as well, and it is perfect to wear with the Tina Turks for BR shorts that you have seen in a previous post. Now it is sold-out in my store and it is going to be the hassle.

Last, I often hear on the JCA people complaining about the lack of silver-toned jewelry at Jcrew. It is true that most of the JCrew jewelry is gold-toned and these days I find myself gravitating towards the silvers. The Loft is the place to go if you are looking for inexpensive silver-toned jewelry, most of their necklaces are priced $34.50.
In particular I was looking for a pendant-style necklace to wear casually on a white tee. I found this one today that not only has silver hardware but also white stones (this is my OOTD, BTW, and that tee is the factory version of the vintage cotton lace tee):

Have you stopped at the Loft recently? What do you think of their offerings this season? Would you wear the "Sophia" dress?

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?