OOTD: Orange, Gold and Grey

Good morning! I don't know you but this is typically a time of the year when I don't like to wear black, especially black tights. Once well into the summer I like black again, but now I find it just depressing. Especially on sunny days like we had earlier this week, I find myself craving for bright colors. My cerise cafe capris from two years ago are calling me but it is still too freaking cold to wear them. Luckely for me I bought recently the extremely cheerful Atomic tweed mini, that has the advantage of being very bright AND very toasty, as it is a thick mohair.
I really kicked myself for not buying this mini with all the off sale promos, and when it popped back in my size a couple of weeks ago I hesitated because it was basically still the first markdown price, final sale and there wasn't any % off. So I hold off until I got in touch with my ps (amazingly it stayed in my cart) and in the end she ordered it for me at the current store price ($49.99). By the way, this is one of the advantages of having a ps working in a store. Normally you don't get free shipping if you order a sale item from a store but besides the fact that the price is usually much lower in store and they will match it, which more than makes up for shipping charges, I was particularly lucky that day because I had free shipping on my account.
I had already tried it in store so I knew my size (I went with a 2 in this one because it is very short), even if the one that I received fits a little bit bigger than I remembered. Oh well!

I especially love this shade of orange with grey and/or gold. Gold can be tough to pull off in winter but I saw the skirt on a SA paired with a crips white shirt and a golden belt and I LOVED it. Here is my version of the look:

I want to point out that this belt is the Factory leather braided belt in gold. I had missed on the store version last summer (the damn belt was expensive and NEVER went on sale) and I have to say that this one is very well made. I highly recommend it if you need a ride-along, it is very good deal with the current % off (and yes, factory is open on weekdays too).
The problem with this outfit is that I don't have a pair of tights that go with it, besides nude ones (still too cold for those). I am tights challanged (I don't like to wear tights so I don't like to shop for them). If you have any suggestions, let me know!
I tried it with my honey tweed jacket that you know I love and I think that it works, maybe with another top instead of the shirt:

Grey is another color that and the advantage is that I have a lot of grey in my closet (and grey tights, yay!) On Tuesday I tried it first with the scalloped zipper cardigan (which is grey with gold hardware), but again it was a little bit too cold (I actually forgot to take a pic but I would have worn a Victoria tisuue cami under the cardigan). Again, if you have missed on this cardigan, you can buy the factory version here. I own the black retail version and I really wanted the heathered stone too. I don't see any difference with my retail version (the silk used for the trim is a little bit better quality in the retail version, I think, but I am not that picky). This is the XS:

But again, it was still too cold to wear a cotton blend cardigan, I needed a cozy top, so in the end I went with my trusty cashmere boatneck. The flats are the Kensington ballet flats in bright orange (watch for popbacks). They hurt a bit (they are half a size smaller than my usual size) but it is worth it, I got a lot of compliments!

Do you have this mini? How do you wear it it? Do you have something orange and toasty?

The Lighthouse Cardigan IRL

Let me start this post by saying that I had another title for it involving Ash Wednesday and the particular color of the sweater that I am going to review but it crossed my mind that some of my readers might be offended by it, so I decided to choose my readers'feelings over a good pun and censured myself (still, I think it was a great title!)
When I first arrived in the United States Ash Wednesday was actually one of the things that really struck me, I didn't expect the ritual to have such a following in the USA. I find it a great sign of civilization that catholics in the USA wear their cross sign at work and in the streets. I come from a traditionally catholic country and I don't remember people going around with the cross sign of ashes on their forefront (maybe we washed it away out of the Church? But that would be against the purpose of remembering for at least one day a year that "thou art dust, and to dust thou shalt return". I should know, since I was raised catholic and was a fervent practictioner until my confirmation, then I started to doubt and the faith never came back).

But I digress. I wanted to talk about white ash, which is, more trivially, one of the two colors the Lighthouse cardigan comes in (the funny thing is, the other color could be appropriately called "ash", while the white one has a slight pink undertone that really doesn't remind me of white ashes). I hadn't planned this post for today but I bought it yesterday and I want to share with you a few IRL pics of this cardigan in case you are considering it. This color is $79.99 in store and currently more expensive than if you buy it on the website with the 30% off promo; however, the advantage of buying it in store is that it is not final sale and before committing for life to it I wanted to try it with a few things that I have at home. Also, I didn't know if I should size up in this sweater or buy my regular size, as in real life it appears much shorter than on the model. In the end I bought my regular size XS, because it was more proportioned on my short figure but if you are taller you can size up. The sleeves in the XS are a little bit tight but I don't think that I am going to wear this one over a long-sleeve shirt anyway.

I was drawn to this cardigan because I have very few summer cardigans in the same weight and I thought that it would be a good one to throw on in the morning in our early summer, when the air is still crisp, and look put together. In particular, I though it would be a good one to wear with dresses and skirts. This is how it looks with the bell cotton skirt:

By the way, my folded bow tank (or whatever it was called last year) is exactly the same color of the skirt (faded black with black grosgrain belt for the skirt and same faded black with black trim and bows for the tank. I love when the colors match!):

But the real test for the cardigan was my Carly ruffled dress, that I wore very little last year because it is a tough one to wear with a topper (jacket or cardigan) and I find it a little bit too heavy to wear when it is really warm and could be worn alone.
The problem with this dress is that the ruffles and sleeves add bulk and will show through the fabric if the cardigan is not chunky enough. I tried almost everything in my closet and besides an old Theory open cardigan that I can only wear belted, nothing works.
This one isn't perfection (the sleeves still show through the cardigan) but I think that it's good enough. The other color, if a match would work even better because darker but I like the white one better in general:

Belted it looks more stylish but I can also throw it on unbelted if I am late (which is 99% of the time):

The only problem with the sweater is that it sheds off white lints and that can be a nightmare, especially if you wear it with darker color like in these pics. However, I hope that that will end after the first wash (finger crossed).

Are you a fan of this sweater?

PS
I am sorry if I am trying really hard to make my posts difficult to read with my typos but I can't find the spell check in the new version of Blogger!

More March New Arrivals

My "stripes spring dance" didn't work, it was freaking cold yesterday, maybe I should try flowery prints?

Anyway, as I had mentionned at the end of my post yesterday, I went to a store the other day to checkout the new markdowns and I took advantage of being in a big store without my daughter to try some more new arrivals that I hadn't seen or tried on yet (the most you can try before finale sale hits, the better).

Let's start with the Lady lace popover since it is part of the sweaters promo. Besides the price I didn't really consider this sweater when it came out because of the very boring color choices (I have tons of sweaters in black, heather grey and some variation of pale pink). Had it come in white, agate and blue I would have given it a try. If I really had to buy one, I would probably buy the grey or the soft dune but not the black because the lace detail is a little bit lost in the black.
In any case the fit is good (TTS) and the merino is very soft. No tight sleeves syndrome. I am trying the XS here:

Next, two new shirts. The first one is the Madras popover. I didn't like it much, the color was darker (more navy) than expected and it fit a little bit small in the shoulders IMO. This is the XS:

On the other side, I loved the Maxi-check perfect shirt in blue (I believe that the blue colorway is new of this rollout). Fits TTS and it is very lightweight and comfortable to wear in the summer (added to sale wishlist). Trying a 0 here:

The next one is the Oleander lace shift dress. This dress was at the top of my wishlist until I tried it on. I saw it styled with flat sandals, a straw hat and a brown belt in the window of the Collection store and I couldn't help seeing myself strolling in that outfit in a hot summer day. Power of styling. In reality this dress is ill-fitting. It bunches at the seam between the skirt and the bodice creating very unflattering bumps. It was also gaping horribly around the armholes on me, so it would need a major alteration in order to fit properly. Basically, it is not worth it unless it goes down to $49.99 or something like that. I tried a 0 (for what it's worth the fit is TTS). I know that it doesn't look that bad in these pics but it is, believe me:

The next one was a surprise. I tried it on for the blog only because a lot of people showed interest in this one but I loved it so much that I am considering buying it at full price (since my size is sold-out in all the colors except for spice olive on the website). It's the lovely Tulip ruffle cami. Insanely flattering, even if a little bit low-cut (not sure that it's office appropriate). I just have to figure out if I can wear it in my everyday life of SAHM. In these pics I'm trying a 0 in the dragonfly blue colorway (the jeans are the Toothpick zipper jean in lagoon wash, on sale for $49.99. I was trying a 27, one size up from my matchsticks, and I really liked them but they are too similar to my skinny Ernst Sewn. Maybe I will pick up for $20):

And the same cami with the Gingham mini and tied in the front:

To my surprise the mini was $19.99 and for that price I am ready to come to terms with age inappropriateness. I wanted to try it with a real outfit to see if I would wear it, so I grabbed a vintage cotton raglan tee and a belt (I can easily recreate the look at home with a painter tee and another belt). Isn't it a cute and fresh spring outfit? I had a hard time choosing between the 2 and the 4 (yes, 4!) but in the end I went with the 2 because it looked better without the belt (the 4 was flairing out more without being longer at all):

I also took home two crosstown tees, that are on sale (already!) in store ($19.99). I saw them on my way out so I didn't try them on because I was late. The stores don't carry the XXS and these are still full price online, so I thought that I would give the XS another try. Unfortunately the XS is really too big for me and I have already returned them. I tried the ivory with my JBrand cargos:

I'm torn between ordering it fp just to try it on and see if the xxs fits better or wait for it to go on super-sale and take my chance. After all it's only a tee.

The already popular Dorrie skirt didn't work on me. Granted, I tried it in the worst conditions, ie with my pants rolled down and my merino turtleneck rolled up (not exactly a spring-y outfit) but I think that the shape and the length don't work on me. I tried both a 2 and a 0 in the modern red color (a lovely bright orange) and tofee. This is the 0 in modern red (it was the day before, at the Collection store):

And this is the 2 in toffee (which I like better than the red one in terms of fit):

Maybe I will try it again later in the season if it doesn't sell out but I can certainly live without this skirt.

Last, I try a new pair of pant, the Canteen pant. These are incredibly comfortable and they look great, a little bit like a similar pair from last year that I can't remember the name of. I tried both a 00 and a 0 and I liked both (but I was a little bit more comfortable in the 0). This is the 00:

I hope that you enjoyed the pics. Did you see something that you like and are considering ordering? Any full price love? Any question, let me know!
Have a great weekend you all!

Rambling about the Oscars and S is for Stripes (or Spring)

Good morning ladies! Wow, we are almost at the end of week, time has flown for me.

Did you watch the Oscars on Sunday night? Through the end, I mean. I did, but boy, were they boring, and even if I could just watch James Franco over and over I must admit that he wasn't the best host (there is a fun thread over at Jezibel where people who "don't get James Franco" ask what's about him. Personally, besides the cuteness factor, I just like that his career went seamlessly from sweetheart to gay activist and stoned drug-dealer). I know that people think he looks stoned all the time but I think than Christian Bale looked even more stoned this award season (he takes something, right?)
Oh, and did you get Justin Timberlake joke ("I am Bansky")? Honestly, I had to Google it. I thought it was sme sort of sex joke directed towards his partner, the beautiful Mila Kunis whom Justin has been reported to aggressively court (she did looked a little bit pissed, didn't she?) That was the best moment of the show, along with Kirk Douglas pausing before giving away the Best Acress in a Supporting Role award (much better than the F word uttered by Oscar winner Melissa Leo).
Speaking of awards, I was soooo disappointed that "The King's Speech" won over "The Social Network" and that David Fincher didn't get an Oscar for Best Director (seriously!). I loved "The Social Network", it is an important movie for our times that perfectly describes in a very minimalistic way that technology and the shift to virtual relationships can't replace real friendship (BTW, yesterday night I watched another movie starring Andrew Garfield, who played Eduardo in the Social Network. The movie is "Never Let Me Go" and I really reccomend it, if you are up for some serious but meaningful sadness. Now I want to read the book by Kazuo Ishiguro, who, incidentally, also wrote another masterpiece brought to the screen years ago, "The Remains of the Day"). And what about "Inception" not getting best screenplay? Come on, Academy!

The Oscars were a little bit boring even from a fashion point of view, IMO. None of the dresses really wowed me, besides the Gwyneth Paltrow "liquid gold" Calvin Klein number (I would have totally worn that). Did you notice that there were much more sequins than at the Golden Globes? I thought that it would have been a good year to wear JCrew to the Oscars. I also really liked Annette Benning (I always like her and she is such an articulate speaker). My daughter (who watched the red carpet arrivals with me) liked Mandy Moore, she asked if she was a princess ;-).

Anyway, the following are two much less glamourous outfits that I wore this week. You know that I love stripes and my wearing stripes in this deceptively cold first week of March can be considered as an attempt to call for spring (a little bit like the opposite of a rain dance).
The first outfit is a Gap sweater that I bought on sale ($19) around the holidays (you have seen it in one of my Gap fitting room pics back in the Fall). I LOVE this sweater, it is a substantial cotton perfect for our spring weather and I wore it quite a lot around the house already but I broke it out for the first time last Tuesday, with a tissue turtleneck underneath (you can see I was ready for school, as I was wearing the school badge):

Yesterday I wore another striped top, the Loft hoodie that I bought before going on vacation in January. I love this one too and I got to wear it quite a lot already under my black cashmere henley, like yesterday:

Third striped top that I haven't worn yet because I bought it with the 30% off last week and was just delivered to my door is the striped painter tee. I really recommend this one now that it's on sale, it's extremely flattering (fits TTS). I tried it with another item that I received in the same order, the lovely cotton bell skirt in faded black. As a matter of fact I don't have a black casual skirt for the summer and I really liked this one in the two other colors when I tried it on, so I decided that $35 was a price that I was willing to pay and be in peace with even if it goes further down. I am glad that I did because it is still $49.50 in store and it is almost sold out in my size. Shopping at JCrew really feels like gambling these days. It is 17" long so I didn't have to size up and ordered my segular size 0. The striped tee is a XS:

Did you watch the Oscars? Do you agree with the Academy? Who was your personal best dressed? And, most and foremost, do you get James Franco?

I have more new arrivals pics (went back yesterday) including the lace lady popover and the Oleander lace dress. Stay tuned!

Calypso IRL Pics

Calypso is offering 20% off everything on the website TODAY FRIDAY 25th only (following a similar in-store only promotion yesterday) with code SPRING11A. The code is valid on sale and full price items, which is nice especially if you want to get free shipping (that is automatically applied if you spend more than $250).

I must say, I am spending much of my spring budget at Calypso and I want to share with you some pics that I took in the fitting rooms last week, as many of you can't try things on before ordering and Calypso clothes are kind of hit or miss. It is kind of difficult to take fitting room pics in their stores because the fitting rooms don't offer a lot of privacy and this one in particular was also very small.

Let's start with the Kimono dip dye dress. I tried the navy in XS. Fits TTS:

I loved this color but I didn't like the dress that much, it was adding a little bit of weight at the waist (plus this silk it's a little bit high maintenance) and I would consider this one only on super final sale.

The next dress is on sale for $99. It's the Tassel dress. Here is the XS in the beige colorway (I would have preferred the chambray one but my size was sold-out). It was too big on me:

The next one is on sale too. It's the Parachute dress, which is a cashmere knit dress. This is oversized on purpose. I get it but I wouldn't buy it (it is comfy though). Here is the XS on me:

Last dress, also on sale, the Romanian dress. This was insanely big in the body (I am trying the XS in navy). I apologize for the blurred pic:

Thankfully I could try the Blockprint tunic before buying it on sale (I thought that on super sale it could be a good alternative to the Dale shirt). But once again, it is giant on me. I get that it's a peasant style but you could hide a goat up one of those sleeves:

You are maybe starting to wonder why I am in love with Calypso. Well, as I said it is hit of miss. These were all misses but when I find something that fits me it is real love.
Like the Twill Die Cardi. I am "obsessed" with this cardigan, as they would say over at JCrew and it didn't disappoint IRL. It fits perfectly and it is soooo soft (it's 100% silk but feels like linen):

I went back yesterday to look around and I tried other pieces, like the beautiful Lace hem skirt (fits TTS but sizing it's tricky because they are Italian sizes. 38 corresponds to a 0-XS, 40 to a 2 etc. I tried the 40 and it fits well. The lace is just to die for but for that price I would have preferred it in white. Not that I am thinking about buying it) and the Twin Set Ikat dress (not my style, actually, and not superflattering) but I couldn't take pics for the reason mentionned above.

Also, I really reccomend their Funnel fur if you are not against fur. It's one of the softest things that you can wrap around your neck in the cold weather.

Are you taking advantage of this promo?

JCrew March Catalog New Arrivals: Part 2 (Skirts and Dresses)

Good morning! This is the second part of the March new arrivals fitting room pics post that I started yesterday. To see the first part (jackets and tops) click here. I tried fewer skirts and dresses than tops so this post is going to be shorter.

The item that I was really excited about in this rollout was the Chambray Eyelet skirt that the model was already wearing with some tees of the last rollout (like this one) even if the skirt had not been officially released yet. So when I saw it in the store I grabbed it immediately in the grey colorway.
This skirt was a disappointment. It looks so cute on the model but I found it very unflattering on me (especially compared to the Dolby skirt). The two layers of fabric made it pouf and the lenght in both the 0 (too short) and the 2 wasn't right.
Here is the 2

:

It probably looks better with a belt, like on the model. I will try it again when it goes on sale and we are more in the season to wear it but it is a pass for me at full price. I must say, I am very happy with my Dolby so I don't need this.

Next skirt, the Gingham mini. OK, this one is adorable if you are a 20 something but I think it's a little bit age-inappropriate for the ones over 30, not to mention the over 40 (BTW, I think that the outfit on the model looks nerdy). I was very tempted, especially because IT IS ALREADY ON SALE IN STORES FOR $39.99 if you can believe it, but I resisted. I am sorry I don't have a full pic, but in this one you can see the length on me (it's a size 2):

At first I didn't try any dress on, but then I saw one that I really liked and made a second round of try-ons. I was a little bit tired by then, so I didn't take my pants off. Apologies if in all the following pics you can see my pants rolled down!
OK, my absolute fave was the Boathouse dress. This dress is super-comfy. It is made in a cotton twill that feels like a knit. I think that it is the same fabric of the Sailor-stripe boy shirt, that I didn't see in my store.
In any case I really liked it: it's mommy-friendly and fits perfectly (some of you might find it a bit short though). This is the 0:

It has a front snap-buttons closure and a zipper at the skirt (very nice detail):

I was very tempted but besides the fact that I find it a little bit overpriced, the Carly dress fiasco from last year (that I bought FP early in the season and wore twice) still hurts. So I am going to think about it and maybe buy it later if a promo comes along (or, of course, if it goes on sale soon).

I really shouldn't show you the next one. It has to be the most unflattering dress that I ever tried on so you have to promise that you won't post these pics on Facebook and make fun of me ;-).
It isn't a new arrival on the website but it is in stores and I almost ordered it before my vacation: it looked like the perfect easy summer dress. It's the Chambray dress. I tried a XS in the ble stone color. I will let the pics speak for themselves:

I adjusted it a little bit but it was still a disaster:

On the other side, I wasn't expecting to like the Delaney Eyelet shift but it is very flattering. I tried a 0 and it fits perfectly, especially in the bust which is rare for a v-neck dress:

The skirt is fuller than I usually like and it poufs out a little bit but without make my hips look wider. I felt very pretty in this dress.
This dress is a winner but because it is not something that I would get a lot of wear out of (it's a going-out-to-the-restaurant-with-hubby kind of dress) I had put it on my sale wishlist. I was lucky enough to find a EUC one in my size and in white (the only color I was interested in) on the weekly exchange yesterday for less than half the price, so I am pretty happy. Thank you jcrewjunkie!

That's it for this first round of new arrivals try-ons. I will probably go back in a couple of days with a list of things to check-out/see in person after perusing the new catalog and the website and I will probably write up another post.

Did you see anything that you like?" What do you think of the skirts ad dresses from this rollout?