J.Crew: Cotton Poplin Sydney Dress Review

I fell in love with J.Crew's Cotton Poplin Sydney Dress (item #97372) when I saw it (online), but went back and forth about buying for a little while. After my tax return came, I decided to treat myself.

J.Crew describes the dress as such:

Our easy, all-occasion dress tailored to fit in comfortable, crisp cotton—it's a wardrobe essential. The fitted bodice boasts a scoopneck with pleating at the front and back, and a slight A-line skirt with two sets of pleats also at the front and back. It's a great piece to dress up or down. Sleeveless silhouette. Non-adjustable straps. Side-seam pockets. Back zip. Fully lined. Falls above knee; 21" from natural waist. Import. Machine wash.

The dress showed up a few days ago, and I have to say, I still love it! The fabric is nice and smooth, and also very light, which makes it a very nice spring and summer dress. I was kind of worried that the fabric might be too stiff, but that's definitely not the case. I will definitely be throwing a cardigan over this and wearing to work when the weather gets nicer!

I also love the color, which J.Crew calls pewter. It is a very pale grey, almost white, but I also feel like it has some blue undertones, and I just think it such a nice, light color.

As for the style, it is pretty true to what they show online. The bodice is very feminine looking, and while I'm normally not a fan of pleats, they are not too bad on this dress. I think the lightness of the fabric probably helps with that. As for the fit, it was a little looser on the top than expected/shown in the picture, but not so bad that I would consider returning it for a smaller size. This dress wasn't offered in petite, so it is just a shade longer on me than on the model.

IRL pictures below. (Don't mind the wrinkles - I had just taken it out of the bag!)

This dress also comes in navy and black.

Gap: New V-Neck Cardigan - IRL

One of my blog followers kindly requested that I post IRL pictures of Gap's New V-Neck Cardigan, so here they are!

As you can see from the picture on the left, the sleeves are pretty long, but I also have shorter arms. So, I push them up a little (picture on the right). Folding these sleeves to try to make a cuff doesn't really work, because they have a row of buttons on them.

Gap: New V-Neck Cardigan Review

According to the fashion gods, cardigans are "in" this season, which I am very excited about, because I have always loved cardigans, and have worn them ever since high school. I am so used to wearing a cardigan that I feel naked if I don't have long sleeves on, even in the summer. So I am glad to see labels coming out with lots of cardigans, which I consider a wardrobe staple, and own dozens and dozens of.

Gap's "twist" on the cardigan this season is their "New V-Neck Cardigan", which is a longer, V-neck cardigan, which comes in a wide variety of colors. Gap describes their product as such:

What do you get when you refresh the classic cardigan with superfine cotton, a slim fit, a deeper v-neckline, and stylish buttons at the cuff? Answer: an essential layering piece for Spring.

A lot of the mannequins in the store were wearing two cardigans over a tee, but I'll just stick to one cardigan. This sweater is a nice, spring sweater - the fabric is not very heavy at all (superfine, like they say). I think it could still be a good year-round sweater though.

As for the sizing, Gap does offer this sweater in petite, but in limited colors, so I bought all of mine in regular, so the sleeves are a little too long. The sleeves are also a little too tight, especially in the upper arm, for my liking, with virtually no difference between a small and a medium, but they stretch out all right after one wearing.

The sweater is also on the longer side, which can be good or bad - I guess it depends on the outfit you're wearing it with. I was afraid it was going to make me look really short, but it looked fine with the outfit I picked out in the end. I was also worried about it look too book-ish, or too much like the "boyfriend" cardigan, which I'm not really a fan of, but it didn't. I bought this cardigan to wear with a lot of tops I have that are longer, that hit at the hip, and that my other cardigans are too short to pair with.

As for the colors, I pretty much love them all, with a few exceptions. I actually went pretty overboard with buying these sweaters - I bought them in all of the colors below, and am even considering buying the orange one, in light of the 20% off coupon Gap offered recently. I'm sure this seems excessive, but cardigans are such a classic piece to me, and I love the length on these. (I also feel compelled to point out that I had coupons for many of these purchases!)

So what do you think? Did you buy any of Gap's V-Neck Cardis? Do you like them? Complete color palette and product details below.

J.Crew: Liza Patterned Peep Toe Review

Shortly before Valentine's Day, I somehow found myself on eBay, and I stumbled upon these Liza Patterned Peep Toes for sale. They were in a size 5.5, and I'm a size 6, so I debated bidding or not, but my feet are on the small side of 6, so I decided to take the plunge and try to get them. The Boyfriend heard me drooling over these shoes, and even offered to buy them for me!

As for the shoes, they are great! They fit wonderfully - not too tight as I thought they might, and they look so cute! I'm not usually a fan of orange, nor of orange and pink together, but I just love the orange and white polka dots, and I think the pink goes well with the pattern in this case.

I can't wait until the weather gets a little nicer and I don't have to worry about mud, and I will be wearing these every chance I get. I can picture wearing these with all kinds of outfits - jeans for a night out, work pants, work skirts, work dresses, day dresses...

Welcome!

Hello! However you've happened upon my blog, welcome! I'll be using this space to blog about my favorite clothing stores. I love fashion and clothes, maybe even a little too much, and I'm glad to share my passion with anyone who feels like stopping by!