New Tory Shoes

OK, I am finally getting to post pics of the Tory Burch shoes that I got during the Bloomingdale's Family&Friends event. I ended up keeping only one pair of shoes out of three that I had bought. I also returned the Lilly Pulitzer dress because it didn't fit as expected (it was much smaller than the one that I had tried in store) and I exchanged it with another dress that I am completely in love with and is much more weareable.

But first things first, and let's start with the shoes. These are the ones that I have decided to keep, the thumbled leather Reva in royal tan (size 7, the fit TTS):

They are extremely soft leather (I didn't even need to break them in) and the perfect color for early spring, but they can also be worn in the winter (when itsn't too cold) with tights. In fact I worn them right out of the box with the Sunnie and ribbed tights to take my daughter to a concert (I tend to wear the Sunnie with the Chalet boots, so I was happy to have a "milder weather" option):

I had also bought the patent leopard print ones in stores. These one run half a size smaller (because of the patent) IMO and I got a 7H. It was a tough decision to return them but I know that I would have worn them much less (they are more wintery and because of the pattern don't go with everything). However they are absolutely stunning in real life and it is the kind of shoes that don't go unnoticed in the street (they really tested my vanity). At least I have pictures:

Last pair, that I also returned because I didn't like them that much and I have already two pairs still in good conditions, are the Thora sandals in the same patent leopard-print. They are a little bit too dark for the summer for my test, even if they are perfect with safari-inspired outfits:

I couldn't reccomend the Thora sandals more, they are the most comfortable sandals that I own and they look stylish with everything (I own a pair in silver and a pair in a patent blue). But I will wait maybe next year to buy a new pair (I needed a ride-along for the free shipping anyway).

As I said I fell head over my heels for a new dress, but I am running late and it is worth a dedicated post.
Any questions let me know.

Styling the Wilder Dress

First, I want to thank everyone who read and left a comment to my last post. I really appreciate the prayers and condoliances, and also your opinion on fairy tales and child-raising. It was a hard call to publish that post, but I guess that I just needed to let everything out. I had made a rational decision of not mentioning my grandfater passing away on the blog. After all I didn't have to justify any absence from blogging, since I couldn't go to the funeral (my husband was travelling last week and I couldn't summon up the energy to drag my daughter on a 10-hour flight and back). I felt bad for that, I loved my grandfather dearly and he was the only grandparent that I had left. It is very strange to mourn from a distance and even stranger to think that someone whom you loved is being buried while you are sleeping (due to the time difference). So I guess that watching stupid Tangled made surface all those feelings that I was trying to repress and here you go.
I don't want to burden you any further but I felt that I owed you some explanations. Now I hope you don't think that I am a crazy person if I go back talking about clothes and similar frivolities.

So, at the end of my last "regular" post I mentionned that I took the Wilder dress home with me to try it with a few things that I have. I actually happened to find a size XS this weekend, while I was making a return at the Collection store but I decided to keep the S anyway (the XS looked more girlish on me). At least I won't regret not trying/looking for a XS.

The goal of the following try-ons was to see if I could wear this dress also in the city and not only as a cover-up (because I really don't need another cover-up). The length of the S compared to the XS is key here (the XS looked much less like a dress). Warning: I was in the vein of some wacky styling/pairing. Am I the only one to miss the over-the-top styling of last year catalogs? I find that this spring ones are really uninspiring. So be prepared ;-).

First I tried it with my new voile cotton tuxedo shirt, because I was also trying to figure out how to wear this shirt other than with jeans and a blazer. After all, why not over this dress?
This pairing has the advantage of covering up what has to be covered for city wearing and also solving the problem of the sheerness of the bottom part of the shirt:

I don't know if in real life I would go out and about in the outfit above but I would totally wear the next one. That is a Calypso striped popover over the dress (I would reccomend this popover but it appears to be an "outlet" item. If you are in NYC you should still be able to find it at the "Marche" store, where I bought it a few weeks ago. I am wearing a XS here):

Remember the ruffled knit vest from last year? It was one of my favorite purchase last spring and even if the ruffles are a little bit "passe" this year, I still like this vest. I feel like a little bird when I wear it, as my daughter never fails to point out when she sees me wearing this ("Mommy is a bird"). I think it looks lovely over the dress, all in serving the purpose of covering the exposed area:

The next two pairings are more conventional. Nothing easier than a dress and a little cardigan, right? If the cardigan is the Cadabra, that transformer of a cardigan, you can change your outfit just by pulling on a string. How cool is that? Here are two ways of wearing the Cadabra with the Wilder:

The last one is my fave. This Calypso sweater is really one of the best purchases that I made so far this year, I simply love it (and in fact I am wearing it today, yay!) and it is more versatile that one would think because the pattern mixes up well with other patterns, like the one on the dress:

What do you think of this "city version" of the Wilder dress? Which one is your favorite paring?
I will be back soon with a few more pics from the fitting room.

The Princess, the Mommy and the Witch

Ok, this is going to be a strange post and to be honest I don't know where it will end up. I am typing it on my phone, for a starter and I am a little bit tipsy. I wanted to write about this yesterday already but the usual inhibitors steered me from letting it go. If you don't have kids and don't want to hear about princesses and evil witches you can probably skip this post. It's going to be a little bit sad. And scary, as every fairy tale is.

You have to know that I have always obsessed about death, since I was very young and I blame it on Disney. At age 3 I was told the story of SnowWhite and I understood that there was more to the story than my parents wanted me to know. I felt mortality at age 3 and that feeling never abandoned me. Growing older I had frequent panic attacks and even now sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and feel mortal for a few minutes. It's an experience and you get it or you don't get it, it is what the religious of middle age called exstasis, with the difference that they experienced God and I experience mortality.

It is by natural instinct that I always wanted to protect my daughter from Disney princesses. I deliberately left her in the dark about SnowWhite, Aurora, Cinderella and co. Because there is always a witch and there is death everywhere. But she was becoming a weirdo. Her friends at school would talk constantly about sleeping beauty or Belle or Cinderella marrying the prince and she wouldn't understand. She was left out, so I had to do something. I started reading her some fairy tales (changing the story a little bit: nobody was going to die but just sleep forever). The next step would be watching a Disney princess DVD.

I rented "Tangled" by eliminating all the other Disney classic DVDs. thinking it would be a safe choice. It is popular and after all Rapunzel in the Disney version of the Grimm Brothers story is a modern princess, a feminist as they say.
Yes, Tangled is pretty special. The future prince is a thief, for a starter but most importantly mommy is the witch. Thank you Disney, I really needed that. Now my daughter probably thinks that I have kidnapped her when she was a baby and I am a witch. After all I scream at her too, right? I tried to tell her that she wasn't really a witch because she didn't have special powers and she couldn't cast a spell but all she could think of was witch. But wait, Rapunzel loves her! Yes, it's because she thinks she is her mommy. Crap! And you know when the witch dies at the end? My daughter wanted to know what she was doing like that on the floor (thank you Disney for leaving the witch's dead body at the bottom of the tower instead of making it disappear). I guess you can't really protect them from all this.

My grandfather died last Saturday in Italy. I didn't tell her, of course I wanted to protect her from such a thing. I didn't want to try to explain not because she is too young to understand but because she is too human not to understand. Disney will explain it all for me. Fairy tale after fairy tale, movie after movie.

My grandfather died last Saturday.
And I am the witch.
I am the witch.
I am the witch.

A Few Try-Ons and a Wilder Dress

Good morning! I know I have promised a post on my new Tory Burch shoes but I went to a JCrew yesterday to look for a few newly marked down items and I took some pics, so I thought I would post these first since the promo SUNNIE ends this weekend.

I will start with the few new arrivals that I tried on (there were a few more but they didn't appeal to me), then I will show you the two sales items that I brought home.

The first new arrival that I wanted to show you (because there is already a buzz about it and you might want to order it with the 20% off before the end of the weekend) is the Shrunken fisherman sweater. This is a beautiful "classic JCrew" sweater (maybe a little bit too much for my taste but I know that there are many of you who will fall for it) made of 100% cotton (I thought there was silk in it actually). The knit is chunky but manages not to be bulky and I found it very flattering. This is the bleechwood color in a XS:

I have no idea why they called this sweater "shrunken". It is very misleading as it isn't shrunken at all. I think that the white is a better color for summer than the bleechwood but it is a matter of what you want to wear it with. I personally don't wear crewnecks in the summer (especially chunky ones) so it is a pass for me but if you wear this kind of sweater, I will definitively give it a try with the 20% off as it will sell out fast, I think.

Second new arrival in stores, which isn't really new online but was very curious to see is the Wave tank. I absolutely swoon every time that I see the pic of this tank on Alexis' new banner. My store didn't have the tan color, only the black. This is a 0 (fits TTS to a little bit big. They didn't have the 00 to compare but I am wondering if it's going to be too short. The 0 isn't that big):

This is definitively on my sale watchlist, I loved it but it is silk so not something that I will wear that much to justify a full price purchase.

Next and last new arrival is the Washed chambrey shirtdress. Actually when I saw this I had a "WTF" moment because it really looked like a long shirt, but the I saw it styled on a mannequin and I decided to try it on.
This is the 0 not belted (I would never wear it like this):

And this is how I saw it styled, with the Clip elastic belt (I love this belt by the way, but it runs small. This is the S/M and I could only wear it at my waist):

Taller ladies will be sized out in this one, it is already pretty short on me, especially belted. It is way overpriced but it isn't even on my sale watchlist anyway.

The next one isn't a new arrival but I hadn't seen it/tried it on before. Finally a Lemlem tunic that is actually wearable (I found Lemlem offerings very hard to wear). It's the Elsa smocked shirt. It only comes in S and M and this is the S. Lemlem items would certainly sell better if they offered more sizes, the S was "okay" but I would never spend $188 is something that doesn't fit me perfectly (I know that it is meant to be worn at the beach but still. It was also a little bit itchy):

I also tried the Crisscross dress that was in the sale saction for $39.99. This is the seaweed green in a XS. What can I say? it was flattering but also frumpy. I felt a little bit like I had just escaped from a rapist (the belt was unraveling and the picot trim around the neckline looked liked someone had tried to pull on it). Maybe if I can find it for $19.99 and in perfect condition I will reconsider:

And now the two items that I took home. I went to the store specifically looking for the Voile tuxedo shirt after reading on the JCA that it was on sale for $49.99 in store. It was pretty much the only thing that I liked in the April catalog (very underwhelming catalog IMO), along with the gingham shorts(but my pledge this year is not to buy shorts until it is the season to wear them). At first I was worried by the sheerness but I was immediately smitten as soon as I tried it on (and thanks to the placked the bra wasn't showing (it is sheer from the end of the placket). I would say that it fits bigger than the perfect shirts, the 0 is a little bit roomy in the shoulders but not exagerately so. It is very Jenna, IMO:

The following pic doesn't do it justice (I was trying the Oxford scouts ina the blue color and it looks like I am going to a pajama party) but I want to show where it hits when it isn't tucked in:

The other item that I took home is the almost sold-out Wilder dress. This is completely sold-out in the XS in NYC stores (I did a search for it) even if it isn't on sale in stores. I tried the S because that was the smallest size available and surprisingly I didn't find it to be too big. In fact I don't know if the XS would fit in the chest (I am a little bit busty for my size). I got the measurements from CS this morning and the XS is 30" in the chest (length is 27.25") while the S is 32" in the chest (length is 28"). Granted, it is a little bit loose on the top but I can get away with it without alterations, especially if I wear it as beach/vacation dress. In case you are wondering, it is fully lined in cotton voile, so it can be worn in the city as well. What do you think, am I trying to convince myself?

In any case it is really growing on me. I tried it this morning with a few things and I am totally in love. For $48 (price with the Mickey card) I think I am going to keep it. I wanted to post the pics but I am running late, so you will have to wait for the next post.

Do you see anything that you like? What do you think of the Wilder dress on me?

OOTD (Or the Spring-ization of the Lolli Pant!)

Hello, I hope that you had a great weekend and you survived Monday (I know that it is not the same thing when you don't work, I still remember the stomachache waking up on Monday mornings and realizing that I had to go to the office, but it is a change of routine for us SAHMs too, not having daddy around and all).
I actually feel like I have survived spring break (do they give out medals for that?) My daughter goes back to school today after two weeks of iatus, yahoo (you know that I love her but we were going a little bit crazy here, especially since the weather didn't cooperate at all)!!!

And, dare I say that it is getting warmer and spring-ier? It is not spring in full bloom yet but I feel like the worst is behind us.
Yesterday I woke up with an irrisistible envy of wearing my Lolli pant, that I have worn only once (and only around the house) since I bought them before the holidays (you can blame it on the snow). I must admit that I almost put them up for sale on the Weekly Exchange because for some reason I categorized them as "holiday wear that won't be worn until the next holiday season if I still like it", until I browsed the previews of the next JCrew Fall Collection and I saw that they made pair that looks exactly the same (in fact, it looks like they recycled them). This made me change my mind about selling them because I know that when I see them styled in one of the Fall catalogs I will probably be taken by the urge to buy a pair, when I already had a pair just waiting to be worn in my closet. And that would be silly, wouldn't it?

I sold them I would have missed on the spring outfit that I wore yesterday morning, which turned out to be one of my favorite outfits ever. Absolutely speaking, the best color to wear with the Lolli is charcoal grey IMO but I was looking for something lighter when I scanned my clothes in search of something to wear with them. Then I realized that I could wear them with a neutral top and my watercolor pastiche scarf from last year, which is to my closet what cherry blossom is to nature: an ode to spring. I hope you agree!

Here you go (the tee is the cashmere tee in natural from a few seasons ago):

The belt is an important part of this outfit, it just ties everything together. This is the patent skinny belt in orchid shadow from spring 2010, that I bought on a popback last month. I don't have many colored belts, I tend to gravitate towards neutrals, but it is the perfect color for the Lolli:

Then I added my Gap blazer:

Here is another spring-y outfit with the Lolli and the suckered gingham shirt from last summer. I love this shirt and I am kicking myself for not buying more colors on sale (this was called light berry, I think?) I almost ruined it when I put it accidentally in the dryer but three ironing sessions later it is almost like before (in case you have it, DON'T PUT IT IN THE DRYER), just a little bit more ...suckered:

I have the perfect sweater to wear with this shirt, that was sent to me by a friend of mine with whom I swap clothes (we are the same size and we love the same brands). It is a Calypso sweater in a color almost identical to JCrew orchid shadow. I love that it is a short V-neck cardigan, perfect to wear with the Lolli:

And more formal, with the Gap blazer:

I hope that I gave you some ideas on how to wear the Lolli pants this spring.
Do you have the Lolli and if yes, are you still wearing them? Please share!

In my next post I will share pics of the Tory Burch shoes that I bought during the Bloomies F&F promo last week. Stay tuned!

Bloomingdales Family & Friends is Here!

So, in case you live in a cave and you never go shopping, you don't subscribe to every retailer's newsletter or you are actually more interested in the war in Lybia and you haven't heard, it's Bloomingdales Family and Friends this week, where you receive 20% off your purchase in store and online (code SPRINGFF, there is no minimum but free shipping is automatically applied to orders of $150 and more).

Bloomi F&F is my favorite of all the department stores F&F events because they have very few restrictions (very few brands, like Chanel and Coach are excluded), coupons are stackable (sign up for emails to receive a 10% off code that you can use on top of the F&F code!) and the store is only a subway station way from my apartment, so I can go to the store to see in person and make returns in case things don't work out. Not to mention that you can return any time for a full refund. My longtime followers will probably remember that last year I took advantage of the promo to buy a Marc Jacobs crossbody bag.

Now I know that there are a few Tory Burch fans among my readers and if you want my opinion, this is your best chance to buy a pair of classic Tory Burch Reva flats at a discounted price (I say classic because the patterned ones or the styles not in leather but in fabrics usually go on sale at the end of the season and are then discontinued). Tory Burch runs a F&F event too, where the discount is higher if I'm not wrong (30% off) but Revas are excluded. So it is Bloomingdales F&F or ebay (where you have to deal with fakes, high shipping rates and used pairs that sell like they were new).
You know that I like me some Tory, so I jumped on the promo and bought two pairs, one online (for $140 because I could stack two codes) and one in store (because they weren't available online). I think that I am going to keep only one pair, even if it will be a hard decision. Pics when he second pair is here!

My picks:

Reva Leather Flats. The classic. If you have to buy only one pair the black classic leather one with the goldtoned metal logo is a must. It goes with everything and you often see it in my outfit pics. I am actually surprised that these are still available in most sizes. They also come in silver, which is a versatile choice for summer.
Reva Tumbled Leather flats. I ordered these in the royal tan color for spring, but the white (bleach) looks great too!
Reva Patent Leather flats. This could be a good alternative to the classic black leather.

Size-wise, I go with my regular shoe size in Revas. People often size half up when buying shoes with the elastic, but honestly these are TTS and they would fall off your feet behind.
Of course there are other Tory Burch shoes than you can buy with this promo, like the Miller sandals (I have them in gold) and the Thora flip-flops (I have two pairs and they are possibly the most comfortable summer shoes that you will ever own. They are expensive, but they are totally worth it IMO and they look very stylish. They also hold up pretty well for flip-flops). I ordered the leopard patent version, but now I regret not ordering a pair of white ones instead (sold-out now). Maybe I will go back to the store by the end of the weekend. By the way, when I told the SA that I had a FF coupon but on my phone, not printed, she replied "Everybody has it, we are all friends at Bloomingdale's!" Don't you love that?

Taling about costumer service, I had an amazing costumer service experience the other day. I was tempted to order a Lilly Pulitzer dress along with the shoes (a dress that had been longtime on my wishlist and I had already tried in store), but in the end I talked myself out of it because even with the code it was still more than I wanted to pay for it. When I went to the store the day after, I saw the dress and it was 30% off in store but sold-out in my size. So when I came home I chatted with a CS agent online and told her that I wanted to order it but I had just saw it for 30% less in store. She said that if the store could confirm the sale price she would happily honor it. She called the store (all while chatting) and I could order it for the store price less the 20% off FF, for almost 50% off! Wouldn't it be great if "some other retailer" did the same for its coustomers?

This is the dress, BTW:

Lilly Pulitzer Whitaker Jersey Knit Dress

I almost bought this one too, for a wedding this summer, but it wasn't on sale and really too expensive right now (I don't know what it is but I like Lilly Pulitzer dresses this year). Plus, can you see a pattern? People will point at me as to "the lady who only wears one-shoulder dresses":

Lilly Pulitzer Teresa Silk One-Shoulder Dress

Are you going to take advantage of the Bloomingdales Family & Friend event?
Any question, let me know!

Happy weekend and happy shopping!

Rainy Days Outfit

Yesterday was yet another cold and rainy day here in NYC. It actually started like it was going to snow, so I should be happy that it was "only" raining (especially because it IS snowing today). My daughter was suffering a little bit from cabin fever and I had to go to the post office, so in the rain we went.

The following outfit has become my go-to "rainy days" outfit. I wore it and took these pics two weeks ago but the day after it was a beautiful, sunny day and I didn't feel like depressing you with a post about the rain. I remember exactly what day it was because for a strange law of physics (probably unknown to everyone but me) every Wednesday, when I have to schlep my daughter to ballet class (a twenty minutes walk from here), it rains. Call it Murphy law if you prefer. In any case, since I lost my waterproof coat on my way to the Caribbean last year (I know, how silly is that? I forgot the coat on the plane, didn't think about it for a whole week and only remembered that I had left home with a coat when I was about to land in snowy NY), I don't know what to wear when I have to walk in the rain with my daughter in the stroller. If you have ever tried pushing a stroller while holding an umbrella, you know what I mean. You can do that a block or two, but then you have to give up the umbrella. Also, because I am typically late, I end up running (while pushing the stroller! At least it's good for the arms!) and if I am too covered I am all sweaty when I arrive.

So, here is what I came up with: I wear my cloud puffer jacket, which is the only vaguely rainproof cold weather jacket that I have and the luminosa puffer vest under it. The luminosa puffer vest is lightweight and wouldn't make the cut as outwear here in NYC but under the coat it helps protecting my tummy from the wind, so I can leave my jacket open if I start sweating. I feel clever just for thinking of this ;-).

The funny thing is, I don't know if I really like the luminosa. I kept seeing it on people (= ladies who lunch) in the neighborhood and each time I thought it looked very classy, but on me? Meh! It is shorter than I would like it to be and it tends to puff when I zip it up. Anyway, I bought it for cheap enough and I found a greater purpose for it (greater than looking good), so until I buy another raincoat (which could take years) I will live with it. You can also see it on Rose who kind of inspired this post.

So here is how I wore it that Wednesday, with the tissue turtleneck in moss olive (I think) and a vintage Hermes scarf that happens to have the same colors in it:

The scarf (actually a "carre") is the only truly vintage thing that I have, directly from my mom's closet. It's a classic equestrian print (you can say that I love these colors because it blends with my furniture):

Speaking of equestrian, the boots that I am wearing are L'Aigle "dressage" boots (they used to be sold on the JCrew website and they still popback in the sale section). I bought them at the beginning of the season at the sample sale for a third of their retail price and they are awesome (they mimic a horseback riding boot and they look like real leather but they are 100% PVC and they are lined with Softex, that keeps the feet dry and warmer than regular rainboots, which means that you can wear them in the snow). If you can find them for a good price I highly reccomend them (sizing can be tricky though, so better if you can try them on. For reference I had to size one up because of the lining).

Yesterday I wore the luminosa over a simple black cotton turtleneck and my skinny jeans (but I have to say that the outfit looked much sharper with the boots on):

Do you have a typical rainy day outfit? Do you own/like the luminosa puffer vest?