J.Crew: Watercolor Floral Pencil Skirt Review

This is J.Crew's Watercolor Floral Pencil Skirt (item #14864).  The only color it comes in is warm shell, which is pictured on the model.  It retails for $88, and is numerically-sized.  J.Crew describes the skirt as such:

A crisp pencil skirt silhouette, in an alluring painterly floral print. Cotton. Sits at waist. Back zip. Back vent. Fully lined. 24" long. Import. Machine wash.

As many readers may know, I love skirts, and I love flowers (and floral prints).  I put this skirt on hold early in the week, and was the first thing I tried on during my appointment with my personal shopper.  I had read on other blogs that it ran big, and I tried it on in two different sizes.

This first size is the larger size, which is actually a size up from my regular J.Crew skirt size.  I found it to be pretty roomy.  It's 24" long, so it was also too long.

You can see from the side view how long it is.  This skirt was a bit too big, so I moved on to the smaller size.  I had also read on other blogs that the pink is much brighter in person than it appears online, but I didn't find that to be the case at all.  If anything, I think the pink flowers appear a bit brighter online (especially in the fourth picture).  This may be a result of the variation in skirt pattern based on the way the fabric was cut when making the skirt.  Notice that the pattern on the front of all three skirts (model and both of mine) is different.

This is the skirt in my regular J.Crew skirt size, and I actually found that this fits true-to-size.  I do think it is a bit roomier than other J.Crew pencil skirts in the same size, but I don't think I needed to size down.  I may try on a smaller size during our JCA outing tomorrow if it's available, just for comparison.

Sizing down also helps with the length.  I also noticed that the smaller size showed off the rear curves, if you will, much more than the larger size.  The fabric is a thicker cotton, with a more pronounced weave, which almost lends itself to a linen-like texture.  Even though it's a bit thicker material, it's not heavy or stiff, which is nice.

I love this skirt.  I knew I was going to take it home before I even went to the store.  I think it is a super fun skirt, and it fits really well.  I wasn't sure how to style it, but my personal shopper gave me some good hints, and I'll be posting those soon.  My advice for this skirt is that if you like it, you should definitely try it on in person, and judge the size and color for yourself.  I will post an update if I end up trying on the smaller version.

What do you think?  Do you like this skirt?  Do you own it?  What do you think of the floral pattern?