Dark Charcoal, Dark Slate and Heather Carbon

Ladies, I'm really sorry but my post on the wedding outfit is being delayed. Not by laziness or lack of enthusiasm on my part but because Blogger screwed up when I was almost at the end of the post yesterday night and I lost half of it (and it was a very long post!) You know how it is when you have lost something that you have just written and you try to remember the exact words and re-type it as if nothing happened: it always feels like it was better before, so I have decided to let it rest another day until the inspiration is back. Thank you for your patience!

In the meanwhile, I have a lot to blog about and I'm going to start with a recent acquisition in one of my favorite colors, dark charcoal (or one of its variant, heather carbon). And yes, Dinagedeon, I have voted for dark charcoal as my favorite Jcrew color!
What can I say? I just think that this is a great color on me. And it's not black, which makes it a better color for the day. I don't like walking around in black in the daylight: wearing total black during the day is very assertive and I always feel like a fashion victim who's trying too hard or, inversely, some kind of poet or existentialist (or existentialist poet) who doesn't care about fashion trends and wears black because we are all going to die anyway (this happens in particular when I'm not wearing makeup).
But I can wear "total dark charcoal" to do errands or go to the park and feel good about it.

I have recently purchased a few items in dark slate (the Frances and the beaded medallion tee, on sale) but the one that inspired me to write this post is the Whirling ruffle cardigan.
I had totally missed this cardigan when it came out. I was on vacation or not paying attention. Then, when I started to notice it (on other blogs) it was already sold out everywhere in the dark charcoal (which is technically called heather carbon in this sweater). For the first time ever I have purchased it on ebay for a higher price than the original FP (knowing that it was on Final Sale) just because I had to have it, like, right away (it popped back on the website a few times but in the other color and I just couldn't wait for this one. The trigger, I think, was that I had vaguely considered pairing it with the dress of Option #3 for the wedding because it looked elegant enough).
But I took a risk because I had never tried it on (nor seen it IRL for that matter), so I went with a XS, which is my regular size in V-neck cardigans (while I'm more of a S in crewnecks).

When it arrived and I took it out of the plastic bag (that BTW was the original Jcrew plastic bag marked with "Final Sale"), my first reaction was "Love it!" but my second reaction was "I should probably have bought a S" because at first it looked a little bit small. But it turned out to be a false alert because the XS, even if a little bit snug in the sleeves, fits me really well and the S would have been a mistake.

So here are a couple of outfits with this sweater. Soon enough it will be too cold to wear it because as you probably know is a tee cotton sweater, so I'm probably going to wear one of them this week.

Here is worn with the "dogggies" tee (you have probably seen this pairing on a Polyvore set by FFM, I have totally copied it) and skinny jeans for a casual look:




I have added the second pic just to show off my new haircut while is still fresh (thank you Gigi for noticing in my previous post!)

Here is with the Frances, which is technically dark slate (but can you tell the difference?):



I'm more and more in love with the Frances, the ruffles are really beautiful. And while you can find ruffles elsewhere, you will probably find them in black and not dark charcoal (OK, slate).

This is the last outfit, with Minnie pants (coal!), Nine West boots (they come across dark brown in the pic but they are a "light black") and the white (Maisy?) shirt (with ruffled collar that you can't see) from last year:



I really love this outfit, it's crisp and elegant (and it looks even better IRL).
BTW I did try it also with the grey dress and it looks beautiful, just not for a wedding.

I'm very pleased with this purchase, even if I ended up paying more than FP (not to mention FS). I think that it's a beautiful piece and it looks much more expensive than its original price. If only Jcrew could make more of these original, well-made and well-priced items!

Do you have this cardigan? Would you have paid FP (or plus) for it? In case you want to purchase one on ebay, they were available in all the sizes.

Summer is Back for a Day (OOTD)

I'm sorry if I haven't blogged much last week but I have been busier than usual with some paperwork and with finding the best deal for a January vacation in the Caribbean that my husband absolutely wanted to book this week (he was like "we need to book this week or we don't go", and I wasn't letting it go away) but I felt VERY lazy, which has never been a good combination because you end up spending much more time to do the stuff that you have to do anyway. On the top of that we had a week of winter-cold weather that really put me in a "I just want to stay home and watch TV" mood and I just couldn't drag myself and my daughter on a shopping trip to find some shoes and cardigan/cropped jacket to wear to at the wedding.
So I had to do with what I already owned for the wedding but I don't want to talk about it right now (I hope that you can wait one more day to see what I wore and hear how it went).

Today I just want to post a pic of my outfit of the day because it was a gorgeous summer day and even if I had already put away my summer clothes, I just HAD to wear the Monterey linen striped skirt for the first (and maybe last) time since I have received it.
Don't you love when you think that summer has ended and all of a sudden you have one of these glorious days just to remind you of how good it was (obviously I'm not a winter person)?
So here is the outfit, with the Imperial tee, the crystal-buttons cardigan and BN flats:



I'm wearing a very old necklace by the French brand Jeanne and Cecile that my husband offered me as a birthday present when we lived in Paris and we weren't married yet. It reminds me a little bit of the Jcrew Symphony one, excepted for the fact that the cut of the stones in the Symphony are rectangular and these are (unevenly) round. But basically it's the reason why I haven't bought the Symphony (that I really love, but I feel like I should wear this one more instead of buying another one that at the end of the day has the same effect on an outfit). This is a close-up:


Anyway, I thought that I would just take a pic of it with the Imperial tee because I love how they look together and then take it off (we were headed to the zoo) but my husband insisted for me to wear it (I suspect more out of sentimental reasons than for style' sake). That's how he likes me, apparently: under dressed at wedding parties and over dressed to go to the zoo.

Have a great Sunday evening and stay tuned for my post on my first American wedding!

October Wedding: What to Wear?

Ladies, I need your help. I have a wedding next Saturday and I haven't given it much of a thought until last week when I have realized that 1) it's coming up soon and 2) the outfit that I had vaguely planned to wear in the back of my mind is too summery for the season (I used to think that beginning of October is still summer here, clothes-wise). Plus, it's the first time that I attend a weeding in the USA, I'm not sure what's appropriate or what people usually wear, and it's an evening wedding (they are getting married at 6 pm in a restaurant where the reception is going to take place).

So I'm going to show you a few options, with the pros and cons for each one, and I would love to hear your opinion. The bride is a collegue of my husband meaning that we aren't very close and I don't feel like buying a new dress for the occasion. I would like to "shop my closet", there must be something that I can wear in there, right? The only dress that I would have loved to buy with the pretext of the wedding is the Brynn primrose evening dress. I had the chance to find a 0 on sale last weekend but it really doesn't look good on me (it makes my torso look very short), so I let it go.

The first option is what I meant to wear in the first place, that I haven't completely excluded yet. It is possible that it's going to be one of those gorgeous indian summer days and if it's the case I would really like to wear the Havona with the soiree blazer:



Pro: I don't need to run out and buy something to complete the outfit. The Havona is the perfect top for a wedding.
Con: it looks summery, plus the fabric of the pants is cotton pique (not an "evening" fabric). Alternatives are the navy mica mini, which has a little bit more of an evening feeling or a pair of black pants (see Option #2).

The Option #2 features the sateen soiree blazer again but worn with evening black (or almost black):



I like how the ruffles of the Frances peak out of the jacket.
Pro: same as above and it feels like an evening outfit
Con: the Frances is dark slate and the pants are black (it is noticeable when not I'm wearing the jacket, which I guess will happen at some point). The pants need an alteration (I bought them when I was 4 months pregnant but they are Theory, not a maternity pair of pants, and I love them)

Option #3 is the only "dress" option that I have. It's an old Tara Jarmon (French brand) cocktail dress that I wore a couple of times. The color is very "fallish" (you can't see it in the pic but it has a delicate flower print) and the velver ribbon running across the corset gives it an evening flair:



Pro: feels right for the season and it's the occasion to wear a dress as I'm wearing pants all the time
Con: I don't have any jacket to wear with it. Also I don't have the "perfect" pair of shoes (the perfect shoes being a pair of Bettina velvet T-strap heels in black that I wouldn't consider buying FP)

Option #4 is my new deco silk skirt worn with an evening top (in heavy silk sateen). I'm wearing it without tights in the pic but I will do wear tights if I decide to go with this outfit:



Pro: it looks elegant/appropriate (to me) with the right accessories
Con: again, I don't have a jacket but it could be the occasion to buy a black evening jacket because it looks like I need one

Option #5 is the silk skirt that you have already seen in a previous post worn with the Frances:



Again, I don't have a jacket to complete this outfit but I was thinking that maybe a long cardigan would work in this case? Is it appropriate?

So, what do you think? What's your favorite option? BTW, you don't have to like any of these outfits, it is perfectly fine to say "You need to run outside now and buy something else"; that's why I'm asking you.
As I said at the beginning I would like to avoid buying a dress that I'm only going to wear in this occasion and who knows when again, but on the other side I'm not comfortable with the thought that everyone is going to show up in an evening dress but me. Do you think that this is what's going to happen? I mean it's not such a big deal but my husband's boss will attend and I don't want to embarass him.
I have shown my husband some of these outfits and I will let you know which one he prefers but I would like to hear your unbiased opinion first.
Also, I have a general question: do you wear sandals (like the Greer that I'm wearing in the first two pics) with stockings?

Thank you in advance for your help!

Jcrew New Arrivals: Sweaters

So I tried many sweaters on Saturday, especially at the Madison Avenue Collection store where I first stopped to try the deco shirred skirt of the previous post. The reason is that the fitting room was freaking cold and I mean really cold, so cold that the blood stopped circulating in my extremities like I was skiing. So while I was waiting for the SA to bring me some sizes in the bottoms I picked up the coziest sweaters that were around to try to warm me up.

Let's start with the Trentino Cabin cardigan in heather camel. It's very soft and cuddly but definitively too long and big on me, especially buttoned up:




Much better on me (and I would say on petites in general), the Donegal shawl cardigan in heather rosewood:




It felt great on and I considered buying it but at $148 ($160 with the tax) I censured myself, also because I have found something else that I loved for almost half the price (see later).

I also picked up the mohair souffle cardigan because they had it the spice olive (color currently sold-out online) in my size. I have ordered this cardi last week in heather silver to pair with the beaded front-ribbon top even if I'm not sure that it's going to work (in fact at this point I'm pretty sure that is not going to work). It is very sheer and not a cardigan to layer over tees because you can clearly see the tee sleeve through:



It looks definitively longer on me than on Gigi who tried it in this post.

Now, the one that I really liked and not only bought but wore right out of the store (the SA cut the tag for me, that's really liking something)! It's the Dream varsity stripe cardigan. This felt like a big hug, so soft, and very fitted. I didn't know that it was in the "dream" yarn until I looked it up on the Internet. I don't think that I have any other "dream" sweater, excepted for the funnelneck cardi so I was pleasantly surprised (now, I can't vauche on the other dream sweaters because the funnelneck and this one have a very different feeling at the touch).
I can clearly see it dressed up with a belt and some jewelry or dressed down with jeans and a tee. It totally fits my lifestyle, so it came home with me (or, should I say, on me?) I picked the heather carbon black but I saw that the lighter color was selling well in other Jcrew stores and it would look lovely with the Imperial tee (I might get the other one too):




Later in the day at the Rockfeller Center store I tried a few other styles.
First the Merino ethereal ruffle V-neck sweater. I wasn't really interested in this one for me but picked it up because of this color (deep aubergine) that will enthousiasm many of you (I don't see it online, must be in-store only). I have tried both the XS and S. If you want to wear it alone go with your size, otherwise size u in this one as the sleeves are very snug:



The S is longer and there is room for a shirt underneath:



It's really a beautiful sweater, I really reccomend it if you think you're going to wear it.
Next, the much talked-about Fifi cardigan. I'm not sure why people are raving about this cardigan exactly but it was selling out fast. The Rockfeller Center store hadn't any XS or S left and they called the Madison Avenue (Midtwon) store to put one on hold for me. Personally I don't need a cardigan like this one at FP ($118) because I have a black one from some holiday seasons ago that I can wear the same way (actually it's more similar to the Merino ethereal ruffle cardigan because it has the same chiffon ruffle along the placket). Also, you don't need it if you have a black Lea IMO because the ruffles don't add that much to the style. The XS was very short and fitted but it's supposed to be like this I think (it doesn't help that I'm wearing dark charcoal pants, I know):




I was a little bit "meh". However, I would pick it up a hundreth times over the "peekaboo" one, currently offered at the promo price of $102.40. I was really interested in this one because it appears to be the only cardigan that comes in antique stone, which is the color of the beaded front-ribbon top. Double "meh" on this one. Seriously not worth the money, it felt very flimsy ((it's in pima cotton) and anyway it wouldn't have worked with the beaded top because of the sequins:



The only new printed cardigan is, I believe, the deco cardi, in the same pattern than the skirt. Thi one is offered in-store only for the time being and I can't remember the price ($88 maybe?)However, this patter works better on a bottom than on a top, IMO as it's a little bit overwhelming close to the face. Plus, the main color is champagne and not ivory white like the skirt. I tried a S, which was on the roomy side:



Are you feeling a little bit tired? Hang in there, we're almost done!
The last one is the Collegiate cardigan. Very cute and TTS, if you need something like this:



The wool felt like boiled wool, a little bit scratchy-itchy even if the description doesn't say so.

I will end this post with an anedctocte. While I was waiting in line for the fitting room at the Rockfeller Store, a young, hipster SA told me quite out of the blue "Tory Burch was in our store two weeks ago" (maybe it was because I was wearing my reva, which means that he is surely gay, right?) It was cute, he was very proud. So I asked "What did she get?". Answer: "Lot of cashmere". So ladies, if Tory Burch buys her cashmere at Jcrew, it can't be so bad, right?

As always, I will be happy to answer your questions if I can!

Jcrew New Arrivals: the Deco Shirred (Mini)skirt

Saturday I really needed a break (my husband had been travelling all the week and I was left alone to cope with the first week of nursery school drama), so by 10 am I was gone and I spent my day off at various Jcrew stores in the city trying on the new arrivals and taking plenty of pics to share with you (I also went to Zara for a change of scenery). When I downloaded the pictures I realized that I have tried a lot of sweaters, so they will have a dedicated post coming up next.

But first, I wanted to talk about the Deco shirred skirt as many JCAs reported that it's very short. It is indeed a miniskirt, but I was more worried about the weight of it for cold winter days and nights and I wanted to check if it looked as good with black opaque stockings.

The fit is the same of the Shirred wool skirt, which is also very short. The description on the website says that the fabric is a blend of silk and wool; however it feels more like silk than wool at the touch (it is lightweight), but the good news is that it is fully lined.
Here is my usual size, a 0, without stockings:



And this is with the stockings (yes, I was that organized: I took a pair of tights with me):



In case you're wondering what's the tee-shirt that I'm wearing with the skirt, it's a new one with a small sequined rose (it also came in a dark slate). It is very sheer and not worth it the $45 (if I'm not wrong) price IMO. It looked like a bad knockoff of a Jcrew "rose" tee or an outlet tee:



I also tried a size 2 in the skirt, to compare the lengths. On me, the 2 sits much lower on the hips, but it still looks nice:



The tee is the new flower tee that made a brief appearance on the website last week (I'm not sure what happened with this tee, did I dream it or it sold out already?) It retails for $36.50 and it also comes in pewter. Here is a S (the XS was very fitted, I would size up in this one):



And here is the skirt without tights:


I think that the skirt would have worked in either size for me but I prefer the 0 because the 2 had more of a A-line shape that I don't like that much. The SAs also advised to go with the 0. However the 0 felt much more like a mini, while the 2 felt more like a regular above-the-knee skirt and if you live in a very conservative environment and you plan to wear this to go to Church for example, I would size up.

The 0 is on hold for me at the store but I wanted to listen to your comments before buying it.
Is this on your wishlist? Do you prefer the short version or the longer version on me?

JCrew New Arrivals: The Beaded Ribbon-Front Top

OK, so this is not one of those posts where you get to see many of the new arrivals but just one of them. I had my camera with me went I walked into the store but I didn't feel like trying a lot of stuff and taking pictures. Sorry dear readers, but I will probably go again over the weekend and try more stuff without my daughter. I didn't want her to fell "neglected" as this is a tough week for her with the start of nursery school (it didn't go that well with the separation yesterday), so I just tried the two items that I really wanted to and took her to the playground.

I saw the Beaded ribbon-front top (page 28 of the new catalog) on Monday when I briefly checked out the new arrivals and it was love at first sight. However, I couldn't try it on because the 0 that they had put on the racks was already gone and the other ones were still in the boxes, so the SA took my telephone number and promised to put one aside for me (along with two other items) once they had gone through all the boxes and call me when it was ready. Now, I know that I have developed an exaggerated anxiety that a coveted item would sell out in matter of minutes, but when I didn't receive the call yesterday I started to worry, so I went back first thing this morning hoping that my stuff would be there. Well, the SA that took my name wasn't in yet and nobody knew about it. When I showed the top (in a size 12, the only out) to the lovely SA that was helping me and she looked at me with a sad face saying "I don't even think that we have any left of those in your size" I almost had a heart attack. Luckily, she was wrong and they had my size in the back (fresh of plastic bag) but the whole thing upset me.
End of the story, I bought it even if it's pricey for a top ($128 plus tax, that if you live in NY and you haven't noticed yet, went up to %8.something again). But I'm 100% sure that I won't return it and I will wear it over and over, this top is SOOOO me!

Once home I couldn't wait for my daughter to nap and try it on again (you can tell that you really love something when you want to wear it immediately, right?)
For your enjoyment and to share a little bit of my happiness, I have styled it the best that I could. I apologize if some of the pics are a little bit blurred but we don't get a lot of light here (in the city and in my apartment) today.

The color is antique stone, but it also comes in black (although the black beaded applique is a little bit lost on it IMO). First, the fit is good, yay! Not too big or boxy and perfectly fitted around the underarms:



I don't think that you need to size down in this one or it will be too tight across the chest. Of course, being silk, it is a little bit flowy. Here is the detail of the beaded ribbon (simply gorgeous):



Tucked in my favorite jeans, with a skinny silver leather belt and last year crackle Mary-janes:



With a military jacket, downtown-style:



And back uptown, an opening night at the Guggenheim anyone?





Seriously I wouldn't have thought of pairing it with this skirt if I hadn't taken it out to try it with my other purchase of the day (the Frances, more on that later). It's a Marley chiffon skirt that I bought at Intermix along with my birthday party dress back in the summer. I got it for a ridiculous price (less than $90) and I thought that I would wear it in the fall-winter in this color (the other option was a very bright pink but I didn't dare). Should I call it the most flattering skirt ever? Detail of the chiffon pleats:



I have been looking for a top to wear with this skirt for a while and I almost bought a black Victoria cami on Ebay some time ago. But because I had never tried the Victoria cami on I was unsure that it would fit me, so I let it go. This morning I tried the new Kelsey top but I felt a little bit overwhelmed by the ruffles around the collar and I didn't like that the buttons go all the way down (less elegant, IMO), so I asked the SA to bring me a Frances in dark charcoal (that I had tried back in July) for comparison. Well, I really liked the Frances on me, especially after the Kelsey, so I brought it home, hoping that it would go well with this skirt. What do you think?



In any case I like it in itself, it kind of built up, and you know what? After all these ruffles I found out that I don't have any ruffled top in my closet! Time to make up for that!

Any now I need your help. I would like to buy a new cardigan to wear with the ribbon-front top for the evening. What color would you suggest with the antique stone? Before you let your imagination go free, I have to tell you that I'm not going to try any "bright colors". I was thinking of a grey but they tend to be opaque, so maybe the mohair one? What do you think? Ideally I would love one with some sparkle in it but I don't see any right now. Of course I can always throw on my Michelle in dark charcoal but I think that a lighter color would go better with this top. Any suggestion, my fab readers?

Is the beaded ribbon-front top on your wish list? Do you like it IRL or are disappointed?

The Minnie Pants IRL

OK, so Jcrew "stole" my idea for today's post with the email sent earlier on the Minnie pants, followed by the always timely post on the JCA by the wonderful Alexis. So maybe by now you have had your dose of Minnie pants for the week and beyond (if it's the case you can skip this post), but if you are on the fence of buying these you might still find useful a review with IRL pictures (I think that the pictures on the catalog and website give a wrong idea of the fit of these pants on not pre-teen body types. I mean, I'm proportioned and I can be considered slim but I'm not anorexic and I have some curbs) So, here it goes.

First, my verdict on the Minnie pants is "two thumbs up", they are really great pants and I hope that I will be able to show you why.
If you have been following this blog for a while maybe you remember that I had tried these pants when they came out in the first Fall rollout and I wasn't carried over, quite the opposite actually. I decided to give them another try after reading on Heidi's blog that the key was to size down in order to get a really fitted look. Great advice (as always Heidi!)
In fact this is how the 0 looked on me in the fitting room in August:



Awful, right? I thought that sizing down (these come in 00, and this size is available in the B&M as well) would only accentuate the "sausage effect" (I'm quoting Heidi), but I was wrong.
In fact the other day while I was at my local store to do some returns I saw the 00 on a table (in coal, they didn't have the black), took them in the fitting room (it was the day before the new arrivals and the store was quite picked over, so i didn't try anything else) and felt so good in them that I didn't want to take them off.

Here is how the 00 looks:



Quite an amazing difference from the previous pic, don't you think?
Now it' true that they are not "ankle" pants on me (let alone cropped) but as someone suggested they can be easily rolled up on the inside and secured with tape (if you don't want to have an alteration done).

This is their real length on me:




And this is with the "hem":



The weight is substantial, they are quite thick but as others mentioned the wool component doesn't make them itchy, only gives a nice feeling. They feel a little bit like snow pants to me.
The other thing that I want to say is that if you are going to buy these pants don't buy them only to cover them to the knees with long sweaters/cardigans or long tunics. If this is what you plan to do, you can get away with leggings for a fourth of the price or even less. I think that if you really want to rock these pants you have to be ready to show your butt and wear them with short sweaters/jackets and/or with a top tucked in, "a la Audrey".

Examples:





Also, they are the IDEAL pants to wear with short tunics, especially if belted, or long-sleeved tops with a low waistband because of the side zip. See it for yourself:





This is an authentic Marni top (it's cotton) that I bought some years ago (note to myself: I need to wear this more often) and the belt it's vintage (my mother's closet). My parents live 5 minutes away from the Marni outlet in Milan and it's one of my shopping destination while I'm there (although the clothes are so beautiful and expensive, even for an outlet, that I always end up spending more than I wanted to).

In my opinion when buying these pants the question that you have to ask yourself (if you feel comfortable enough in them) should be: do I really "need" them? I know that that's the question that one should always ask oneself but in this particular case I mean that you should ask yourself if you can't achieve the same look with skinny jeans or leggings that you already have. That's why as much as I like them I'm not 100% sure that I'm going to keep them.

What do you think of the Minnie IRL? Did you change your mind after reading this post? Would you wear them as showed in this post?