Current Obsession: Peter Pan Collar (And Zara Finds)

I am a little bit high today (a shopping high, that is) and I have plenty of stuff to blog about. So many in fact that I don't know where to start, so I will start by the beginning. Bear with me!

A while ago, when Bloomingdales had their F&F event, I bought a Sandro sweater that was one of the highlights of the Fall/Winter Sandro collection, as seen in this image from the ad campaign:

Many of you have probably never heard about Sandro (unless you read and remember my post here where I was already obsessing about peter pan collars and Sandro), because the brand just launched this fall in the US market, first with a standalone boutique at Bloomingdales and then with a store (just opened) on Bleeker Street, but it is well established brand in France and that image above is in every French magazine. The sweater with the leopard-print Peter Pan collar sold out in a blink (it was also available at net-a-porter) but I happened to be at Bloomingdales after someone had returned one in my size (and with 20% off on top of it). It was expensive, even with the 20% off, but it is very special with that leopard collar and felt so "me" that I thought that it was worth the splurge.

The sweater is a pretty substantial, almost boiled, wool and so far it has been too mild here to wear it, even if occasionally I wore it in front of the mirror (now this is strange, I thought I had taken pics but I just can't find them and I don't want to delay this post; in any case the sweater looks on me exactly like on the model, with the difference that I can't wear brogues and men's socks with a skirt).
I really love it but when I rationalize the purchase I have to admit that I love the leopard Peter Pan collar more than the sweater itself. It is a lot to pay for a Peter Pan collar and I started to look for alternatives to copy the look without spending the money on the sweater. I found at H&M a cheap peter pan collar tee and I tried it under my grey cashmere sweater by Zadig and Voltaire (for the French touch). The effect is pretty amazing:

This is the H&M tee and I wouldn't recommend it to wear it alone, it is quite shapeless/stretchy/bad quality:

So I tried to convince myself that I didn't need a $250 leopard-print peter pan collar and one day last week I took the Sandro sweater to Bloomingdale's determined to return it, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it (I even went to the register at the Sandro store and asked if it went on sale, hoping for a yes and a price adjustment. But no sale). That leopard Peter Pan collar was too hard to give up on!

This morning I had planned to checkout the JCrew sample sale that started today in NYC. But instead of going directly after dropoff I lingered at home and when I arrived there (still before the opening) the line was CRAZY. I took a peek inside and saw that it was classic hit or miss sample sale stuff, so I didn't bother (I guess that those who were first in the line got some great deals but it wasn't worth the wait to me).
Now, I am so happy that the line was so long that it scared me off because all of a sudden I had nowhere to go and I started to walk on Fifth Avenue, until I magically ended up in a Zara. I always forget to checkout Zara because I don't have one close to my place and I don't make special trips there, like I do for JCrew. Oh Zara, how could I forget thou? If you are looking for a knockoff or a trend that comes from Europe it's the first place to go. And in fact they had peter pan collars galore. I almost died when I saw this:

Zara blouse with Peter Pan collar (buy here)

That's exactly what I was looking for, the solution of my dilemma, and if you have ever experienced this you can understand that I was holding my breath while I frantically looked through the blouses on the rack for my size. I am typically a S in Zara, rarely a XS and while there was no XS, there were two blouses in a size S. I think that the XS would have pulled on my chest, so I happily bought the S.
This blouse is less easy to wear under a crewneck because the fabric is more substantial than the H&M tee (I can't wear it under my grey cashmere sweater for example, even if I tried it with the cashmere cable sweater by Jcrew and it works) but it is very pretty worn alone. Here it is:

While I was at Zara a zillion things caught my eye since I hadn't been there in a while but I ended up buying only the leopard collar blouse and this tie-neck blouse, vaguely reminiscent of the Jcrew Bonnie blouse (I can't find it online but check back if you are interested). The color is a deep bottle green, simply TDF (it is totally sheer, so I am wearing it with a nude cami):

If I am not wrong the Bonnie has a mandarin collar (which in general I don't like), while this one has a rounded collar, even if teeny (not sure if it can still be called Peter Pan in this case):

It has the same colors than my favorite jacket by JCrew, the Tatum tweed jacket from last year:

And the sexy-ness of undoing that tie? Priceless...

More Peter Pan collars opations at Zara:
Top with contrasting collar (I tried this one and it's very well made but the tulle sleeves are very skinny)
Horse print shirt I haven't tried this one but I saw it and it's beautiful
Blouse with Peter Pan collar This is the white/black version of the blouse that I bought. The material felt slightly different, more fluid. I tried the XS and fit perfectly withought being too tight on the chest (it wasn't sheer and it is a true white)
Combined dotted Swiss blouse This should fit the same, but I believe it is very sheer.

So I think that I will finally be able to return the Sandro sweater without regrets. What do you think that I should do with the H&M blouse? Keep it to wear it with my grey sweater like in the pictures above or return it?
Is there anybody else obsessed with Peter Pan collars out there?

The Blouson Dress, Polka-Dots Version

I had another post in mind for you today but I just recived in the mail the Blouson dress in polka dots, so I thought that I would write up a quick post about it in case some of you are considering it with the 25% off promo that ends tonight.
The funny thing is, I ordered this dress as soon as the promo came up (literally, a few minutes after midnight, I was up and browsing the website), then I had buyer's remorse because I have the Paisley one already and cancelled my order. Well, less than 12 hours later someone posted it on the JCA in my size and I ended up paying almost half the price that I would have paid the night before. That was a fortunate coincidence but I think that it is worth it for the current sale price less the 25% off.

When I first saw and tried this dress I found it very flattering but I also thought that it was the wrong season for it, at least here in the Northeast. Who wants to wear a spaghetti straps dress in winter? Also, to me black and white polka-dots are more of a winter than a spring/summer pattern so here we have a dress with a pattern that is better suited for winter but in a style that is better suited for summer. Basically, a no-go, at least at full price.
When the price dropped I reconsidered it because I missed on the stripe version of this dress already and for the price of a tee it was a no brainer.

So here it is. I got it in a size 0 (the 00 was too small at the elastic waist and lost its blouson-y effect which is what it makes it flattering):

The (other) funny thing is that we are having an ecxtremely mild season here and I could almost wear it with a simple jacket over it, like this:

But in case it gets cold before I have the occasion to wear it, my Boden cropped cardigan is perfect to cover up the cleavage:

The waist is almost empire (the model must have a VERY SHORT torso), so not all the belts work with it. I like my White House Black Market bow belt that can be adjusted in the back (if you miss my post on this belt, you can buy it here with 25% off and free shipping):

And also this Zara belt that has a faux-rhinestones pattern in the same colors (it is very festive):

I think it can be summerized a bit with patent platforms (these are Pradas) and a colorful belt:

All in all I recommend this dress to anyone with a small bust (because obviously it has 0 support) for the current price.

Do you own or are you considering the blouson dress in polka dots?

Surviving Black Friday and OOTD

I don't know you but I am SO happy that Black Friday is behind us. This year I felt the pressure much more than in years past, probably because almost all the retailers pushed up the start of the crazy deals to midnight while I usually sleep in too late for the good early birds specials. So I was on the computer at midnight and it took all my willpower to only order my husband's Xmas present at Bloomingdales.com (that in fact was having "early birds" or better "late owls" savings until 4 am).
If you live in a city like NY you have to decide where you want to spend your Black Friday money in advance because we don't have a mall where you can hop from one retailer to another in less than three hours. So I decided that I would spend my Black Friday money at the Loft for a number of reasons, the most important one being that I have a store at walking distance from my place (I hate taking the subway) and I knew that they were having a 50% off BF special until noon. The other reason why I went to the Loft is that I was there two days before for a return and I saw a lot of cute dresses. Last reason was that you can't risk to spend too much money at the Loft (unlike at Saks, that I have purposefully avoided). In any case I bought a bunch of stuff because of the 50% off but then I had buyer's remorse and returned almost everything a few hours later! Oh well, the important thing is to participate.
I took pics of everything I tried on and I will try to post them before the end of the weekend, since they are still having 40% off everything.
But now I only have the time for a quick OOTD and these:

Did you recognize them? Well, they are not the JCrew printed Valentinas but Nine West knockoffs. I had been eyeing them for a while and I was hoping for a better deal on BF, but they were "only" 30% off. I bought them anyway because I didn't want to miss on them at $55. You can buy them here (color is multi sy) but they look MUCH better IRL. They are TTS to slightly big IMO. They are also very comfortable to walk in and the heel is slightly lower than the Valentinas. They also have a flat version for a little bit cheaper and again, they are awesome (I would have bought the grey ones but they didn't have my size and half a size smaller was too small). I will probably end up ordering them since they have free shipping on any order for a limited time.
I really reccomend to check out Nine West if you are shopping this weekend, they have a suede Mona knockoff as well (that I can't find online) and a style very similar to the JCrew Juliets of a few seasons ago (here).

Now, on to my OOTD. I saw a woman wearing this outfit at JCrew yesterday and I had to copy it (the good thing about having a brand obsession is that you can immediately recognize the clothes when someone is wearing them without having to ask "where did you get that?" and chances are are that you have them too).
I didn't think of wearing my cashmere shell over my tartan shirt but it looked really classic with the whit-ish cords (these are the toothpicks in champagne from last year). So here you go, with the shell tucked in our out:

I added a necklace that I bought on ebay last year to wear with this shirt thinking that it was black (it came in crystal and black). In reality the black color is a quite clear petrol green but it works with the shirt anyway:

I have worn this shirt so much since I bought it last year around this time that I allowed myself to add another "tartan" item in my closet with the 25% off promo. Can you guess what it might be?
OK, that's it for today. I am curious to know how you spent Black Friday and what deals did you get, please share!

Dressing Down For Thanksgiving

As every year we are spending Thanksgiving with friends at their parents' in the Upper West Side. While they usually contact us just after Labor Day to ask us what we are doing for Thanksgiving and if we want to be their guests, this year I kind of "forced" the invitation (they had more family members coming down for the holidays than usual so I think that if I hadn't asked they wouldn't have invited us for lack of "available seats"). In the invitation email, the mom of my friend said that everybody will be wearing jeans so no need to dress up. Uhm... I don't know if I have to take this as an indication that I usually overdress (but honestly, last year I was wearing the tartan perfect shirt and my navy tootpick cords without any jewelry and I don't think that it was an extravagant outfit), but I am really going to try to dress down to the minimum.

Initially I had planned to wear the Talbots merino cardigan that I had bought a while ago during a 50% off one item promo. I still don't see it on the website, so it might be that this is store only (this is a P. I have to say that in general Talbots knits fit me well in P):

But now I think that even this might be too "festive". So instead I am going to go with an "unfestive striped tee". At least it is something new that I am excited to wear. It is the Boardwalk-stripe zipper tee. I had tried this tee as soon as it came out and I liked so much that I almost bought it FP. But that day I probably hadn't drunk my daily dose of Crewlade and could resist (the voice of the reason said "wait, it will go on sale"). So I bought it last week during the 30% off promo (Crewlade is more powerful when there is a sale). The first time around I had tried the XXS and it fit great except for the sleeves that were too short/tight at the zippers, so I went with a XS even if it is slouchier in the body:

I bought it mostly to wear in the spring (I love this color combination and I think that it has a lot of potential for spring) but with the weather being so mild I already wore it last Sunday to a kid's party and if tomorrow is too cold to wear it like this, I can wear a tissue turtleneck under it.

In other news, I started my Black Friday shopping in an unusual way: my grocery store is having a $0.99 sale on De Cecco pasta (which is the best Italian pasta and usually is very expensive at $2.69-2.99 a box). I especially love the Fusilli and my daughter loves the Racchette (that are shaped like tennis raquets), so I stocked up! Otherwise our "family tradition" on Black Friday is to hit Best Buy, where my husband, who is normally very retained, usually loses it (that's how we got a Wee, a Playstation 3 and an additional flat screen for our family room). But we just bought an iPad (even if we knew that they are going to have an iPad promo on Black Friday, but they are going to be sold-out in a nanosecond), so I don't know if this year we will spend more money on technology (I will go anyway for the deals on DVDs).

Are you dressing up or down for Thanksgiving? Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

Milly Love

At the end of my post on the JCrew holiday party collection I told you that I had already found my party dress and that it isn't a JCrew dress. Well, it is Milly. Some of you have probably seen my guest post on Gigi's blog some time ago with my Milly picks (see here). I have always loved Milly but this year she really got it right and if I had the budget I would have happily bought the entire Fall collection, it is so sophisticated and feminine, with a lot of references to YSL and the 70s. Also the quality of the Milly's clothes is outstanding (especially the fabrics, they look so luxurious IRL) and (listen to this) they are MADE IN THE USA. How many clothes are made in the western countries these days? So, it is more expensive than JCrew of course but if you wait for a sale you can get something of very high quality that will last in your closet and is made in the USA.

So, I waited and waited and waited and finally one of the items that I was eyeing went on sale during the Saks pre-sale a couple of weeks ago:

Milly Emily Wrap dress

I am typically a size 2 in Milly and not a 0, so I was ready to pull the trigger on the 2 but I happened to walk by the store (which is on Madison Avenue and is the only Milly store in the US so far) one day and I tried the spaghetti version of this dress in a size 0 and it fit perfectly. Only the 2 was available on the website so I went to Saks (I had to go anyway) and the only size that they had in stock was a 0. You know the end of the story.

The dress is the perfect cocktail/party dress, it is elegant but also a bit flirty and it has the right amount of sparkle in the fabric. I was a bit worried about the length because it looks super-short on the model but on me is knee-length which means that I can justify the purchase because I can still wear it when I am older and less comfortable with showing my legs (it turn out that the model is 5'11" so everything looks short on her).

The color is called eggplant but it reads as navy (is the same navy as the JCrew wild blackberry). The only purplish thing is the beautiful lining (alas, it isn't silk but a poly satin. It feels like silk though):

As you can see the wrap is a faux-wrap, which means that I don't have to worry about it opening when I walk.
I can wear this dress to a multitude of events and I am going to break it out in two weeks for my BF birthday party.
I also love the retro vibe of the Vivi rhinestones dress (this is teeny, I would need to size up to a 4) and the simplicity of this shoulder-bow dress. But there are just so many beautiful dresses to chose from and the spring collection is here and full of beautiful prints. Check it out here.

Do you like Milly?

JCrew Fitting Room Pics: Holiday Edition (Part 2)

Good afternoon! I hope that your Thanksgiving week is off to a good start!

As promised I am going to post some more fitting pics from the JCrew Holiday collection and since party season officially starts this weekend we are going to look at some of their party pieces! Unfortunately many of tthese are not on the website yet, so I can't provide links but in case any of you are interested I can find out the style number for you.

Let's start with the skirts.
The first one is a Collection midi navy skirt with an embroided organza overlay. It's a beautiful skirt but needs an occasion (like a wedding or something like that). Price is $295 or $298 and I think that the inside layer is not even silk but poly. This is the 0:

The second skirt is also store-only and it is a jaquard similar to the Siren dress but in different colors. This is a 0 (I would size up, it just fit and was a bit short for the style IMO):

The third skirt is another Collection skirt that retails for $295. It is a beautiful metallic tweed skirt and has rhinestones on the pockets (they don't look cheap). I would splurge on this one if I had anywhere to go. This is a 2:

Now, the dresses. The first one is the dress version of the cafe capri in leopard jaquard. Same pant, same dress and as the pants the dress was a disaster on me. One of the most unflattering things that I have tried in a long time. It doesn't show that much in these pics but the skirt potion was very poufy and added a lot of weight. It might be that it was too high-waisted on me. Anyway, this is the 0:

The next one is the Marla dress in Gardenia jaquard. I swooned when I first saw this one the website, but that was clicking on the picture of the back (I will let you find out), which half-ruined it for me already. In store they had a 00 and it was definitively too small, but I didn't like it as much so I didn't try the 0. My ps said that it was to '50s on me. She probably meant that it had a decent knee-length! The jaquard is beautiful, it is almost a crochet (the background is red and the roses are bright pink, which creates a 3D effect):

BTW, it also comes in black in store.
Last dress, the Jules dress in sequin stripes. This is much more "me" but it is VERY short and because of the slouchy fit, when you lift your arms, you also lift the dress. Defense or fixing your hair with this dress if you don't want to show your panties to the world. In case you haven't noticed, the white stripes are lace covered with sequins. This is the 0:

Last, they had just received this new blouse:

This wasn't my size but I wanted to show it to you because it is 100% silk. It is expensive though ($168) and unlined so I am not sure that it's worth it. This print also comes in a skirt with pleats on the front but I hadn't time to try it on (price was $198).

Did you like any of these party offerings?

I found the perfect party dress, not at JCrew, I will show it to you in another post. Thanks for reading!

Flair Skirt, Take Three

You were probably expecting the Part 2 of my Fitting Room Pics post, with the party dresses, but I don't have much time today and I prefer to blog about the Flair skirt that went on sale in stores in all the colors and you can get for $48 until the end of the day with the MUSTHAVE promo currently going on.

I have waited for the flair skirt to go on sale for what seems like forever. I refreined myself from ordering it with the recent 25% off because I knew that it would go on sale if I only could wait a little bit more. And it FINALLY did this week and went straight to $69.99.
Now the heather acorn was the color that I wanted from the beginning but I ended up getting the navy one too. The navy is different enough from the acorn, more elegant and I don't have any navy skirts except for the liquid silk one (which is an evening skirt and more spring-y).
I had tried this skirt at the beginning of the season in my usual size 0 and it fit perfectly, so when I went to the store to get it I made the mistake not to try it on. Once home I realized that it was teeeeeeny, I could barely button it. I am almost sure that it was a defective one because I didn't gain weight this Fall. Luckily I had bought it at the store where my ps works, so I explained the situation and they exchanged it for a size 2 even if it was final sale. I bought a 2 in the navy too, just to be on the safe side: I want to wear this skirt for years to come and better a little bit loose (which actually isn't) that too small.

In the following pics I am wearing the size 0. As you can see I can barely tuck my sweater in and breath:

I love the total navy look below, I mean LOVE (the belt is the leopard calf-hair belt in the grey colorway, currently on sale in stores for $39.99 and the shirt is ancient, it comes from my closet in Italy and it's an old Emporio Armani silk blouse that buttons in the back). Isn't it very elegant?

Now, you would think that two flair skirts are enough but I have been debating the printed roses one for a long time. The problem is I don't do florals that much and I was afraid that I would end up not wearing it. However when I saw it in store for $49.99 ($34.99 with the promo), it was a no-brainer. It is an easy way to dress up for a conservative environment like school for the holidays. I actually bought a 0 in the printed one, the fabric is less stiff than the solid one.
Keep in mind that this style loves cropped cardigans, so if you buy it you probably need to have something cropped to wear with it (unless you only want to tuck in a shirt). The Boden cropped cashmere cardigan is the perfect length (and you can buy it now with 25% off):

That's it for today, I hope you all have a lovely Sunday.

Do you own the flair skirt?