J'Adore These Stores

Like a Yo-Yo

2010-06-27T21:17:00.000-04:00

So after giving it some thought, I'm officially closing down this blog. I think this is the third time I've decided to take a break or close down the blog, so I apologize for all my yo-yo blogging. The thing is that a number of events have transpired and while I'm still very much interested in clothes and still VERY much a J.Crew fan, I'm making a conscious effort to stop shopping (or at least severely limit it) to focus on other things.

In addition, while I've really enjoyed sharing my outfits with you, it's just become a burden. I'm frequently running late in the morning and have a lot on my plate at work, so it's hard to squeeze in updating my blog.

I've enjoyed "meeting" all of you immensely (especially those I've met in person!), and would love to keep in touch! I keep a personal blog for family and friends (no fashion, sorry, but yes to recipes!), so if you'd like to read that, drop me a line (jadorethesestores AT gmail DOT com) and I'll let you know where to find it! You can also find me on Twitter. Thanks to everyone who has followed me (especially followed me from the start!) - it's been great being involved in this community - and I'll still be around as a reader. :)

Friday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday

2010-06-22T11:44:00.000-04:00

Hello! How was the weekend? Mine was fairly busy - on Saturday we headed up to New Hampshire to the Richard Petty driving school, where we got to be a passenger in a NASCAR car - a pretty neat experience! I spent the afternoon baking, and on Saturday night we headed out to our friend's birthday party. We got to see a bunch of our friends, and had a really great time, except for one incident.

One of our friends took public transportation to the party, and by the time things wound down, the buses/trains weren't running anymore...so he just assumed I was going to give him a ride home! And the worst part was, he didn't even really ask, he just sort of said, "Oh, hey, you're going home this way, right?", which we really weren't, and then he really had no way to get home. I was so irritated, especially because we had talked party transportation logistics previously, and he never brought up getting a ride home from me. I wouldn't care so much except that this is not the first or second time he's done this to me. On top of that, he didn't even really want to be at the party (kept reminding me that he was "making an appearance" because he was already going to be in the area, and kept letting me know how he was going to show up drunk).

But anyway, on Sunday we went to my parents' house for Father's Day dinner with my mom, dad, aunt, and grandparents. It was a nice dinner, and I always like hanging out with my family.

So here are some outfits from the weekend/week. First up is my outfit from Friday. The skirt is new, and has a cute zipper fly with a button tab at the waistband, so it has a different look than regular side or back zip skirts. I can't remember if the sweater is new though - I may have worn it before, but I'm not sure. After work, I swapped the heels out for a pair of pink flip-flops. I love the neutral colors with the bright pink of the sweater.

Skirt: Old Navy

Sweater: Gap (outlet)

Shoes: Jessica Simpson

This is what I wore to Father's Day dinner. I actually wore this dress to Father's Day brunch a couple of years ago, but I honestly don't think I've worn it since. I was planning on wearing another dress, but when I put it on, I saw it had a stain on it, so I went with this one. The sweater is new-ish - I may have worn it once before, but I can't remember.

I'm wearing my cream colored flower flats - I'm totally loving these shoes! They are a great neutral with a little something extra, and are great for casual or dressy outfits. They are quickly becoming my go-to flat, and for only $8, you really can't beat that!

Dress: J.Crew (outlet)

Sweater: Old Navy

Shoes: Dexter for Payless

Here's what I wore to work yesterday. The weather has been gorgeous lately, so I'm not really feeling pants, so I'm trying to do the dress/skirt thing for as long as I can. The dress is new - I bought it last year or the year before, and I love the print! I don't wear a lot of prints, but I think this one is fun enough but still not too crazy so I can wear it to the office. I layered a cami underneath because it has a pretty deep V. The color combination in the dress lends itself easily to a lot of different color options for a cardigan (I went with grey).

Dress: Banana Republic (outlet)

Sweater: Gap (outlet)

Cami: New York & Company

Shoes: Madeline

And lastly, here's what I'm wearing today. Today's new thing is my shoes - I love these shoes! When nude pumps become a big trend, I went on a hunt looking for the "perfect" pair, and I think these are it (for me, at least)! I paired it with my bright floral skirt and a pink sweater.

Skirt: Liz Claiborne

Sweater: Gap (outlet)

Cuff: New York & Company

Shoes: Franco Sarto

I'm not sure if these shoes are leather, but they're at least faux-leather, and they have a nice, rounded toe with a small platform. They are a solid, sturdy pair of heels, and I just love the neutral color and the little peek of red on the inside. I read online reviews that said they were a little small, but I took my regular size, and when the first pair came, I actually ordered a second pair because I love them so much. (And it's a good thing I did, because they haven't come back in stock!)

Tonight I'm SO excited because BF and I (and bad doggie) are going to see Toy Story 3 at a drive-in!! I've never been to a drive-in before, and I'm super excited to go. It's a double feature (Toy Story 3 and Prince of Persia), so hopefully I'll be able to stay awake for the whole thing. :)

Wednesday's Flowers and Fog

2010-06-17T10:42:00.000-04:00

Good morning everyone! Hope you're having a great Thursday - only one more day until the weekend! Tonight BF and I are supposed to get dinner at Red Robin with my cousins, but my little cousin is sick, so our plans are a little up in the air. I'm working at home today, so no outfit for today (unless you want to see my workout clothes and sweats), unless we end up going out, then I might take one.

Here's my outfit from yesterday. I wore the Lorelei patterned dress from last summer - I got this dress in green, and briefly considered getting it in pink, too, but I got the dip-dye Lorelei in pink instead. I paired it with a white sweater, and my cream-colored flower flats. My new piece for the day is the necklace. I'm not sure what it's called, but it's glass beads in a nice foggy color. I bought it from Ashley (shout out to my Boston shopping girl!!) last spring, and have tried to find a good top to pair it with, and I think it works well with this outfit, because there's nothing fighting with the neckline.

Dress: J.Crew

Sweater: Gap (outlet)

Shoes: Dexter for Payless

Necklace: J.Crew

Tuesday Brights

2010-06-16T13:38:00.000-04:00

So I have a confession to make: Monday's outfit didn't have anything new in it! I didn't realize that until later, but in all fairness, I was supposed to wear a new skirt, but then there was the whole steamer issue.

But anyway, Tuesday's outfit was all new! I snagged this dress of eBay last year some time. I think it's called the Allison dress or something like that. I wasn't really looking for it in particular, but was on an eBay buying spree, so picked it up. I was surprised by how bright blue it is, but I think it's a great shade of blue. I also love the length - it hits right above the knee, so a nice flattering length for a shorty like me. :)

Dress: J.Crew

Shoes: J.Crew

I paired the dress with the shoes that got me hooked on my eBay spree. I think these are the Liza peep-toes, and I totally love the pattern. I'm not normally an orange person, but I think they're so cute. I gave myself a little pat on the back for pairing them with the bright blue dress...I'm a pretty conservative dresser and don't consider myself very stylish or fashion-forward, and this dress would normally just have me reaching for a pair of flats. (And it paid off - a woman in the grocery store told me she loved my shoes!)

No outfit of the day pictures from today - BF had a small outpatient procedure done yesterday, so was lazing about in bed when I left. I'll try to post it tonight, but if not, tomorrow. Hope you all have a great day! :)

Programming Delay and FOR SALE!

2010-06-15T11:59:00.000-04:00

Hello all! Happy Tuesday...only one more day until we're halfway through the week, hooray! I am really looking forward to the latter half of this week! I am totally excited to share my outfit of the day with you...I love it, and have to say it's one of my favorites from recently. The only problem is I left my card reader at home today, so while I have the picture, I can't get it onto my computer. So this picture of my doggie will just have to do for now.

And speaking of dogs, and dachshunds in particular, please keep Kim's doggie Simon (from Anthroholic) in your thoughts!

I mentioned before that I'm trying to sell some of my clothes, and haven't had much luck yet. I posted a couple times on the the JCA blog, and I've listed a few items on eBay, so I thought I'd try on my blog again! Here's the details:

Shipping is $1 per item, unless otherwise noted. Some items are heavy so will require more shipping; contact me for details.
PayPal only. No returns unless item is not as described.
I'm open to best offers.
I'm really trying to get rid of these clothes, so please make me an offer if you're interested in something!
I treat all of my clothes very nicely, and most of these clothes are worn once or twice, and some are NWOT and NWT.

Thanks :)

Monday Navy Blues

2010-06-14T16:04:00.000-04:00

Hello all! Hope you had a great weekend! On Saturday I attended a meetup where we got a private tour of a Jim Henson muppet exhibit, and then had a private puppeteering workshop. Now, I'm a linguistics major, so I love language, and I especially love words, and how word choice can so drastically alter the meaning of something. Such as "puppeteering workshop" vs. "condescending third grade art class". I attended a private puppeteering workshop. Too bad it was run by an art teacher who talked to a room full of (mostly 30 year old and up) adults like we were children.

We had to "find a face" in regular objects, and parade them around in front of everyone else, giving them a signature "walk". One girl outright refused to participate (I should have done the same). Then, we had to get in pairs and bring a plastic bag to life. I almost walked out, honestly. I'm not opposed to this kind of stuff - but it's not my thing. And when I signed up for a private puppeteering workshop, I really thought it'd be more about the technical art of making puppets, and how they're constructed...not a bunch of tables strewn with homemade art supplies (empty yogurt containers, empty egg cartons, felt, old clothes, yarn, socks). I did, however, make a really cute dragon puppet, whom we've named George.

After that, we met up with BF's family for a dinner celebration for his brother. Dinner was okay, if not pretty boring. I don't have the best relationship with BF's family (mostly his mother), so luckily it was a fairly quick dinner. On Sunday I was pretty lazy and boring, but it was a nice and relaxing day.

Today I was back in the office. I had initially planned to wear a different pencil skirt (the frosted jacquard pencil skirt), but while the steamer was heating up, it dripped all over the back of the skirt, and I didn't feel like waiting for it to dry, so I went with the eyelet skirt from last summer instead. My shoes are a pretty close match to the color of the Frances cami, and I think they're a nice combination with the navy blue.

Skirt: J.Crew

Top: J.Crew

Sweater: Gap (outlet)

Shoes: Colin Stuart for Victoria's Secret

Pink scarf and pinker shoes for Friday

2010-06-11T14:25:00.000-04:00

Good afternoon! I am so glad it's Friday - I couldn't wait for this week to be over. BF and I are currently trying to figure if we want to go out tonight, and tomorrow morning I have am going to a meetup (does anyone else use meetup?). We don't have plans on Sunday, so I'll probably just end up running errands and cleaning up around the house.

Today I'm just in the office, and I've kind of given up wearing dress clothes to work on Fridays. When I was in a different department, I totally took advantage of casual Fridays, and wore jeans and even hoodies to work. Then for awhile, I stopped, and only wore business casual clothes to work every day, 5 days a week. I could go an entire day without seeing anyone at work, and certainly without seeing anyone I work with, so I decided to chill out a little and go a little more casual on Fridays now.

The scarf is the new piece for the day. More about that later. I went with a basic black knit turtleneck and my darker jeans (plus my favorite jeans are ripped at the bottom, so I wouldn't wear those to work anyway!). I decided to wear a pair of pink patterned peep-toes to complement the pink in the scarf.

Jeans: Express

Sweater: Gap (Outlet)

Shoes: J.Crew

Scarf: Margo Petitti

Here's a close up of my shoes. They are the Liza peep-toes (I think) in the cherry blossom print. I scored these off eBay for a very good price. I've worn them a couple times before, and they've finally stretched out enough (they're a half size too small)! Plus, I'll be sitting for most of the day. :)

So the scarf I'm wearing today is a Margo Petitti scarf. I've known Margo for a long time now (in fact, she may be my oldest (longest-known) friend!), and I'm excited to finally own one of her scarves! I just got my first one this past week - the current collection doesn't include any pinks or purples, but she had this pink from a past collection, so I bought it. (I also have my eye on the Celeste scarf that's part of the latest collection!). She has a lot of great patterns available that I think work with a lot of color palettes.

Margo designs all of the scarves herself in really pretty patterns and colors. The fabrics are really lovely, too - mine is a bamboo and silk/wool blend, which is good for me, because all-wool scarves really irritate my skin. I love the almost menswear vibe, and you can see that my scarf actually has a windowpane pattern in it, with light green-brown lines. The scarf is also reversible, so I can decide if I want to feature the cream or pink more.

I love this scarf, not just because my friend made it, but because it's a lot more polished than a lot of scarves I own. I own one from the Gap that BF calls my "Serena scarf" after Serena on Gossip Girl, and it's been my go-to scarf. It's nice, but it's all fringey at the end, and wrinkly to boot. I know scarves can be casual, but it's nice to have a nicer scarf to wear to work or for dressier occasions.

This scarf was definitely an "investment" piece, but BF was kind enough to make it my graduation gift. So thanks, BF! (And Margo!) :)

[And for complete disclosure, Margo doesn't even know I'm posting about her scarves, or that I have a blog even.]

Hope you have a great rest of the Friday and weekend!

Nice and simple: Jeans and basic colors

2010-06-10T19:09:00.000-04:00

I kept my outfit nice and simple for my visit to my cousin's house. My little cousin was good, so we would have gone to Red Robin, if I'd gotten there on time. I didn't realize/forgot that little kids eat on more of a schedule than adults, so didn't think anything of eating lunch around 1 PM. No matter though, because we rescheduled for dinner next Thursday, which also means BF will be able to join us!

It's always nice to see my cousin, his wife, and his son - we always have a good time. I finally finished the movie Cars, which is my little cousin's favorite movie. We watch it every time I'm there, but I'm yet to watch the whole thing end to end. The last time I was there, we stopped about an hour from the end, and today, I finally got to see the end! :)

As for what I wore, I just picked basics. I wanted a loose tee, and went with a sweater because I didn't feel like digging around for a hoodie. I didn't take a picture of them, but my socks are grey with light pink and light teal stripes, and I wore my favorite pair of jeans.

Jeans: Express
Tee: Ralph Lauren (might be Polo)
Sweater: Gap
Socks: American Eagle
Shoes: Etienne Aigner

My dog says: See you this afternoon!

2010-06-10T11:21:00.000-04:00

I'll be back with my OOTD later today! I'm actually still in my pajamas right now. :) (The joys of working from home!)

My uncle is in town, so I'm heading over to my cousin's house to visit with them, including my cousin's son, who's just so fun. I am trying to get my cousin to agree to go to Red Robin for lunch, and he said it depends on how his son is at school in the morning, so here's hoping my little cousin has a good morning at school!

In the meantime, here's a picture of my doggie getting some serious air as BF tries to open the sliding door onto our back deck. This is a daily occurrence. :)

The eBay Story

2010-06-09T14:47:00.000-04:00

Okay, so here's my eBay story. I'm putting it here mainly because I need to vent a little (to someone besides BF), and also because I'm interested in other people's opinion of the situation. (If I can convince you to stay away from this particular user, that's a bonus, too!)

So as I mentioned a little while ago, I'm trying to downsize my wardrobe, and so I started selling some items on eBay. eBay's a good vehicle for this, but I find their fees to be kind of high, so I started small. I sold some clothes from my first batch, and then decided to relist the clothes that didn't sell for 99 cents each, and give them one more chance. I was hoping that by pricing them so low, people would buy them, and I'd use the shipping cost to break even after the fees.

One of my items was an Eddie Bauer cotton cardigan - nothing special. It was midweight, so I priced it at 99 cents with $6 for shipping. Only one buyer bid on it, and she ended up winning. Most of my customers paid right away, and I didn't even have to send them an invoice. She waited a day or two, then sent me an e-mail asking me to look at the shipping cost again, because she was certain that it was too high. I didn't want to get in a big back and forth over it, so I said I'd lower the shipping to $5. She never responded, so I just invoiced her that amount, and a couple days later, she got around to paying for it.

Then, after she pays, she sends me another message, informing me that she's going out of town for the weekend, so I should wait until Friday or Saturday to put her package in the mail. At this point, I'm pretty frustrated, but I wait until Friday, delaying mailing about 5 other eBay orders (from prompt payers who didn't make all kinds of demands). The package goes out on Friday, and I don't really think anything else of it.

Fast forward to Monday morning, when I get another message from her saying that the sweater was nice, but she's very irritated with me because she specifically asked me not to mail her package until Friday, and I mailed it on Thursday. She said she hoped I understood that she couldn't give me all 5 stars.

The reason she thinks I mailed it on Thursday is because that's when I printed and paid for the shipping label. I let her know that, and also that not only did I accommodate her, but that I delayed mailing my other orders just to fulfill her request, and so she immediately comes back and starts calling me out for not e-mailing her. She said she had 5 or 6 other orders and that every single one of them e-mailed her back letting her know that they'd be waiting to mail her packages.

Now here's where I got really frustrated. So what is the issue then - that I allegedly mailed it when she told me not to, or that I didn't bother to e-mail her that I'd be following her orders? It seems to me that she realized she'd made a mistake getting angry (and giving me bad feedback without waiting for my response), and instead of admitting it, she's just finding something else to get upset about. Even in messages from her now, she continues to bring up how she told me not to mail it until Friday...which is great, because that's when I mailed it.

The best part of this is that in the midst of all our back and forth, she tells me how she's going to report me to eBay, I'm going to get a sanction for leaving her negative feedback (and don't even get me started on eBay's ridiculous buyer-sided feedback policy), and then goes on to claim that she's going to sell my sweater for more than what she paid for it ($5.99), and that she still managed to get the positive feedback out of me.

In her latest message, she's claiming that it's wrong of me to make $2 off of shipping (I made exactly 50 cents), and is still harping on the fact that I never e-mailed her and that "all" she asked was for me to make my shipping cost more reasonable and ship out on a specific day. Then she goes on to say if she'd known I was going to react this way, she would have just given me negative feedback to begin with.

I'll give her that it would have been courteous for me to let her know I received her e-mail; however, I didn't e-mail a single other customer when their package shipped, and none of them cared, presumably because they know how to read tracking information (especially for someone who uses eBay as much as she does). But on the same token, she never e-mailed me back, letting me know my final shipping offer was okay. She could have e-mailed me when she got the shipping notification to find out if I had actually shipped on Thursday.

What really bugs me about this situation is that she won the item, fair and square, which means I could have tried to force her to pay the $6 shipping, but I didn't. I tried to be fair and reduce the shipping by a dollar, then she wants to dictate my trips to the post office, and again, I comply, but somehow I end up being the bad guy in the whole thing because I didn't send her one e-mail?

So what does everyone think? I just started using eBay, so I realize now I should have e-mailed her and let her know, but I think she is way overreacting, and just using the e-mail as an excuse to stay mad because she can't stay mad about when I e-mailed the sweater, which was her initial (and ongoing) complaint. I'm almost tempted to buy the sweater back when she relists it, because I feel bad for it having to spend any time with such a petty person. ;)

If anyone is interested, her user name is "absolutelyaudrey" (poor Audrey Hepburn, to have to be associated with such a person), and she also sells under "24LavenderLane". The second account has some pretty amusing things for sale. The one that got me is the cosmetics bag that is obviously one of those freebies you get with a minimum purchase, with a bunch of random samples that she's starting at $5.99 and then charging almost $6 for shipping.

Sunday, Monday, and Hairdo

2010-06-09T09:18:00.000-04:00

Hello! Hope everyone is having a great Wednesday - halfway through the week! I have a short update on some recent outfits, and I'm happy to report I've been doing pretty well on my Wear New Things challenge. On Saturday I wore my Crewcuts striped cardigan to the grocery store (but took it off when I got home and had to prep food for the week). I found that I'm able to take some tops in a size 14, so I've been giving them a try. They're less pricey (especially for the mom-and-me matching items), and free shipping!

On Sunday, I went to an open market up in Boston. My friend had a booth there, so I stopped by to see her. After that, BF and I went to my friend's house for a little BBQ. I had thought there were going to be a lot of people there, but it actually ended up being only a small gathering, which I really liked. I wore my Frankie Dizzy dress. At first I wasn't sure I liked this dress, but after spending a whole day in it, it's definitely grown on me! The only bad part was that I spilled juice from my chicken shawarma wrap all over myself. :(

Dress: J.Crew

Flip flops: Old Navy

On Monday I just spent the day in the office. I grabbed the Elizabeth halter out of the closet, and steamed it so the collar looked nice and ruffle-y. I got this top off of eBay or from the JCA exchange (can't remember), and I have to say that I'm not sold on it at all. Which is bad news, as I own it in 3 other colors! I had this top altered to fit me, as it was too big, but I think it fits weird.

The button "loops" are just giant fabric loops, so don't actually hold the big buttons in tightly, which means that the top is prone to gaping up the front, giving everyone a peek at what's underneath. I found I either had to pull the top forward a bit (to give the fabric more slack), slouch, or just not move my arms backwards at all. So definitely a thumbs down in that regard.

Secondly, this blazer was not my first choice what to wear. I like this blazer enough, but as I've mentioned before, it attracts stuff to it like no tomorrow - always picking up lint and whatever else it can find. It's pretty frustrating. Plus I'm just not in love with the way it wears. It's a little stiff, and I have to roll the sleeves up INSIDE the sleeve so that it's actually wearable. I wanted to wear a sweater with it, but a regular cardigan didn't look right, and the V-neck cardigan was too long, so the proportions were off. So, I just went with the blazer.

Pants: The Limited

Top: J.Crew

Blazer: Old Navy

Shoes: Colin Stuart for Victoria's Secret

Lastly, I've figured out what to do with my hair in the meantime. I'll probably get it cut soon, but I've finally mastered a super high messy bun that keeps it from being too unruly.

Hope you're all having a great day! I'll be back with an eBay story later this afternoon!

Celosia Cardi and Flowered Shoes

2010-06-04T11:01:00.000-04:00

Good morning all! I am eagerly waiting for this day to be over, for a number of reasons (tired, too much stuff on the to-do list). Most importantly is because tonight I am heading north to get my FREE Chick-Fil-A new Spicy Chicken Sandwich!! I cannot wait. I am a HUGE fan of Chick-Fil-A, and sadly for me, the nearest one is almost an hour away, boo hoo. But today I made myself get up early so I could get to work early (or "on time" as they like to call it) so I could leave early so I can go get my SPICY CHICKEN SANDWICH!!!

Okay, but enough about that, I'm sure you didn't come here to read all about my love for fried chicken sandwiches (and waffle fries! Don't forget the waffle fries!!). Here's my outfit for today. I've been doing...OK...on my quest to wear something new every day.

Last Friday I wore new flip-flops, but BF, the apparent rulemaker, decided those didn't really count. (They did!) I wore a new bra one day, too, but you're not going to get a picture of that! And yesterday, I wore a new t-shirt, which got me extra points, because it was a work-at-home day, and thus didn't really fall under the terms of the challenge.

So today I went to work, and so I wore a nicer pair of jeans - nice dark color, very little wear, and no fraying at the edges. I paired it with the spring Celosia cardi (in one of the maaaaany colors I own it in) and some simple flats. I layered a white cami under the sweater, as the cardi can be a little sheer.

Jeans: Express

Cami: New York & Company

Sweater: J.Crew

Shoes: Dexter by Payless

Here's a picture of my shoes. They are a lovely cream color with these flowers on the toe. I wore them for my graduation (snagged them for only $8!), and am still breaking them in, which is code for "they still cut up my ankle a bit".

I don't have much planned for the weekend - BF and I are taking the dog out tomorrow morning for some exercise, and on Sunday I'm heading into Boston for an open-air market and to see my friend who has a booth there.

For Sale!!

2010-06-01T18:31:00.000-04:00

Hi all! No clothes post today (but I did manage to get in something new almost every day since I've last posted) - I was pretty busy over the weekend reorganizing and cleaning our whole apartment, so didn't have time to take pictures.

I mentioned in a post last week that I'm selling my clothes, and here they are! Feel free to take a look - I'm open to offers, and combine shipping!

Be back tomorrow with some clothes! Hope you all had a great long weekend. :)

May 25: Banana Bohemian (and should I get a haircut?)

2010-05-27T14:33:00.000-04:00

On to Day 3 of my new clothes challenge, and it was an easy one! (This is from yesterday. Normally I get BF to take my picture before we both leave for the day, but today he was out the door early, so I had to wait until the evening.)

Yesterday I had to go to work, and then I had a meeting with a professor at school, and was also participating in an info session for prospective students. I know I said I graduated, but I was very involved while I was at school, and occasionally get asked to help out still. I was running a little late, so I just dug through some of my dresses to find an unworn one (not hard, unfortunately), and came up with this one!

I bought this from the Banana Republic outlet...at least a year ago, possibly more. I'd always intended it to wear it with some knee-high boots, kind of 60s/70s go-go style, but that never happened for some reason. It's a great knit dress - fairly basic with some cute details. I love the big sleeves. I paired it with a simple pair of wooden slides (can't remember the brand).

The dress ties in the back, with the same fun pattern. So that's my outfit from yesterday - nice and simple!

Now on to the hair question! Here's a picture of my hair! I haven't had a real haircut in 3 years - I've had a couple of trims, but no real hair chopping. Every few years I go from what you see below to shoulder-length hair. My mom and the BG love the shoulder-length hair. My mom says it makes me look more adult, and BF just says he likes short hair better (which is a first).

Right now, I'm at the point where I might be ready to cut. I run (okay, was running, and will be running again) 5 days a week, and usually just throw my hair into a bun after my shower. As a result, my hair has taken on a semi wavy texture, but it's also fairly thick, so it's prone to frizz and flyaways. Additionally, I very rarely dry my hair with a blow dryer...maybe once every 6 months or so? It's really not worth it, as it's completely puffy after a blow dry, and I have to wait a day for it to settle down and be smooth...and by the time it's settled down, it's time to run again. So basically it's just in a bun ALL THE TIME.

I'm always torn about cutting my hair. I really love my long hair, and always always cry when I get it cut. I've made the big chop 3 times now (each time have donated 12+ inches to Locks of Love), and am considering it again. I half committed to getting it cut after I graduated, but now I'm not sure if I really want to go through with it. I may cut off enough to donate, but keep enough to at least have a short ponytail, but I don't know. Any suggestions?

Back with a challenge!

2010-05-25T13:11:00.000-04:00

A lot's happened since I last blogged! The biggest one is that I finished my graduate program. I've been done with classes and coursework for almost a month now, but I officially graduated about a week ago. It's been great to have some free time to just relax and do whatever I want.

A couple other big things happened (one that I won't get into) - including my beloved pet turtle's running away. I've had him since college, and we've been through 3 boyfriends together. Last week BF was cleaning his tank, and we haven't seen him since, even though we've ripped the apartment apart, looking in every possible place he could be (and some places he couldn't be), but it seems like he's journeyed off into the great green yonder.

But in the midst of all of these things, I realized how much STUFF I have. I've always been really unable to let go of stuff, but having to go through everything in my apartment made me realize how out of control it is.

So I have a couple challenges for myself. The first is to sell off as much of my stuff as I can bear to part with. This is especially true for clothes and shoes. I'm kind of embarrassed by the amount of clothes, especially brand new clothes, I have. Same for shoes. The second challenge is to try to wear something new every day (to work). And by "new", I mean that it's new to me...many of the things have been hanging around for awhile, possibly even years. I started this challenge yesterday, and managed to wear 3 new things yesterday!

So, onto my outfit for today. According to my friends' Facebook status updates, it's supposed to be really hot today. (And we all know this is the best source for stuff that matters!) I went with a skirt that I picked up last spring or summer. It's a petite, which I love, because that means it's actually the proper length to be flattering. I was originally going to pair the skirt with the spring Celosia cardigan from J.Crew in grey, but I went with this yellow sweater instead. The shoes are a darker nude peep-toe.

Skirt: Banana Republic (petites)

Sweater: Gap Outlet

Shoes: Jessica Simpson

Watch: Fossil

What's New: skirt, sweater, shoes

2010-04-26T15:27:00.000-04:00

Let me start by apologizing for disappearing for awhile. I had fully intended to continue blogging, and even had some pictures on my camera all ready to go.

Unfortunately, not long after the Gala post, I lost someone extremely close to me.

I was dealing with that for a couple of weeks, and now the end of the semester has crept up on me, so I'll be busy for the next couple of weeks. Once this semester ends, I'll be able to devote a lot more time to this blog, so please hang on until then!

My Gala Story

2010-03-30T13:03:00.000-04:00

[This post may be kind of long, because it's kind of two stores in one post.]

This past weekend I had a big school party to go to - our annual "Gala". I had seen a picture of the Waterfloral Pastiche cardigan that was coming out, and loved it, so I asked my personal shopper if there were any other clothes coming out in that pattern, and she told me about the Taryn dress, so I decided I would get that dress for the Gala, as this was my first time going. I ordered it the day it came out, and had them overnight it to me, but in the end, it didn't fit!

It was too small in the bust area, and I was bulging out of the top of the dress all over - not pretty AT ALL! BF tried to tell me that it looked okay, especially because I would probably be wearing a wrap or sweater, but I just couldn't wear it, knowing how it looked. I will admit, I cried for longer than I should have. I was really crushed - the dress is gorgeous, and it made me really upset that I couldn't wear it to the Gala. I even tried calling around to some of the bigger, higher-end local J.Crews to see if by any chance anyone had returned a size bigger, but no luck.

(And for those of you in the area: I got a nice girl from Copley, a very rude girl from Atrium (SHOCKER), and a very, very nice guy named Ed from Natick. I actually saw Ed last night when I was returning the dress, and made a point to tell him how nice he was, and how much I appreciated his help.)

So once I figured out that the J.Crew dress was a no-go, I had to find another one. I might have a small dress problem, in that I am prone to buy whatever pretty dress comes along, even if I don't have a real need for it. The good news was that this meant I had plenty of back-up dresses to pick from, and in the end, I went with a dress I picked up a couple years ago (but had never worn) from The Limited. It even matched my shoes that I had picked out specifically to go with the Taryn dress. BF actually said that he preferred the dress I ended up wearing over the Taryn dress.

On to the outfit! First, here is the coat I wore. It was actually chilly out the night of the Gala, so I dug this coat out of the closet, where it was languishing for a couple of years now, ready to be worn for the first time. (See, I told you I have a problem with wearing new things!) I love this coat - it's such a fun color, and I love the cut and design of it. It even matched my shoes!

Here is the dress I ended up wearing. As I said, it's from The Limited, and it's a couple years old, at least. I think I would have liked it if it were a tad bit shorter, and I felt really exposed (I don't usually wear things so low cut), but I really liked it. I love pastels, and it is a gorgeous shade of pale pink-purple, and the floaty chiffon is really lovely. It totally reminds me of ballerinas for some reason!

Here is the back of the dress. It crosses in the back, and is supposed to then tie in the back, but I wasn't able to tie it without it scrunching up the back, so I just wrapped the ties back around the front and tucked them down the front of the dress. I think it looks much cleaner this way. (Also, that is my loooong hair that appears to be sprouting from my armpit.)

Here's how I had my hair styled. I don't know if you can see it well, but I was trying to channel Emily Blunt's hair from these pictures. I rolled pieces of the hair back to create a sort of rolled "frame" on each side, and then I just pinned all my hair up in the back. It fell out later, and this picture is from the end of the night, otherwise I'd show you the back as well. (If you're friends with me on Facebook, you can see it from the front on there!) This picture also shows the earrings I wore.

This picture is hard to see, but here is my purse. I went with basic black clutch with some really pretty allover scalloped petals/ruffles. This clutch is cute, but it is very tiny. I brought my ID, debit card, camera, and my BlackBerry. My camera and BlackBerry are not that big, but I could only fit one in the bag at a time, so it's definitely more form over function!

Lastly, here are the shoes. I ordered these shoes on sale from Nordstrom, planning to wear them with the Taryn dress. I thought the bright pink would match well with the pink in the dress. I think they went well with the dress I wore, but I also think they were a bit too clunky for the dress. I think a daintier shoe might have worked better. Plus the shoes came with a big black stain on the them.

The Gala itself was a lot of fun! It was the first one I've been to, and I had a lot of fun hanging out with my friends from school.

Here's the deets on the outfit!

Dress: The Limited

Coat: Express

Shoes: Nordstrom (forget the brand)

Earrings: Express

Clutch: Lela Rose for Payless

Ring: Tiffany

Nail Polish: Maybelline on fingers and OPI on toes

Weekend outfits

2010-03-30T11:41:00.000-04:00

You know you're getting old when you have a hard time remembering what you did over the weekend, especially when it was a fairly eventful one!

Usually I do a long run on Sunday mornings, but we had plans on Sunday, so I moved my long run to Saturday (9 miles, oof), and then in the afternoon, I ran a few errands at the mall. I had a party ("Gala") to attend on Saturday night, and I had ordered a J.Crew dress for it, but it didn't fit (more about that in another post), so I had to find another dress. Luckily I have boxes and boxes of dresses to pick from, so that part was pretty easy, but I had to make a trip to Victoria's Secret for some more appropriate, er, underclothes. While I was there, I picked up a gift for my brother's birthday, and also picked up some Keurig K-Cups for the BF.

I threw on this outfit pretty much just for going to the mall, so I just grabbed whatever was handy and looked presentable!

Jeans: Express

Shirt: Gap

Sweatshirt: Target

Shoes: Old Navy

Sunday morning we attended a meet-up with one of our Meetup groups. The meet-up was a rock climbing trip, and was a ton of fun. BF and I had been rock climbing a couple of years ago on a cruise, but have never been besides that. There were about 20 of us, split into 2 different groups. We met and got a brief intro to tying knots and how to belay, and then just got to climb as long as we wanted. It's a great workout - I was definitely feeling it on Monday, and I'm looking forward to going back!

People wore all kinds of things rock climbing - jeans, shorts, workout and yoga pants, etc. I went with something looser, but I'll probably wear some yoga pants next time.

Pants: J.Crew

Tee: Old Navy

Sweatshirt: Brand unknown (Patriots logo)

Shoes: Old Navy

This is a picture of the shoes I wore both days - basic pair of black flip-flops from Old Navy. You really can't beat their flip-flop deals!

Please hold!

2010-03-25T15:06:00.004-04:00

Sorry for no OOTD for today. I'm working from home, and my outfits so far have been: jammies, haphazardly thrown on sweats to take the dog to daycare, running clothes, and bathrobe. Nothing really exciting, and definitely not blog-worthy. I'm going out later tonight to a charity bowling tournament, so I'll post my outfit from that!

In the meantime, a short review of yesterday's outfit.

Definitely consider sizing down in the sweater from the Gap, if only because it has a good amount of stretch in it. I pushed the sleeves up about halfway, and when I pulled them down at the end of the night, they were horribly stretched out and all flopping around. Not pretty!

Second, this skirt is not made for sitting down. Yesterday I was sitting all day at my desk, sitting during a meeting, and then sitting in class. This is what my skirt looked like at the end of the day when I got home - yikes! I'd say wear this skirt if you're going to something where you'll be standing up most of the time (An art gallery opening? A trip to the museum? A trip to the zoo, even?), but if you're going to be sitting most of the day, this may not be the best choice.

Red Coast shoes make their debut!

2010-03-24T10:53:00.006-04:00

It's chilly and windy here today, but it's not raining, so I busted out my outfit that I was planning on wearing yesterday! (Well, kind of - the sweater arrived yesterday, so I would have worn a different sweater.)

I based this outfit around mah shoes. (Yes, that's how I say it in real life, too. I'm a geek, now you know!) So I'm switching it up today and showing you the shoes first today! They are from Payless, from the Christian Siriano-designed line. He was not my favorite contestant on Project Runway by a long shot, but I can't deny that he designs some really beautiful things. I have purchased a number of his shoe designs from Payless.

I snagged these shoes in the red/orange print as well as the gorgeous green/blue print during a BOGO promotion. (Little tip: If you don't need your shoes right away, have them shipped to your local store for free!) I love the print, and they are a pretty comfortable height. They have a small platform, and a cute, rounded toe. They are a little on the shinier side, too.

After I got the shoes, I figured I would wear them with some neutral color, maybe a grey or a white (and I probably still will), but then someone was selling this gorgeous J.Crew skirt on the weekly exchange, so I snapped it up. Normally I stay away from orange - it's not that I don't like it, but I think it can be hard to wear, and more importantly, I think it's kind of limiting in the colors you can pair it with, especially if you're a more conservative dresser like I am. However, I knew this skirt would go great with my shoes!

I paired it with a simple navy cardigan (the Ultimate cardigan that I ordered during the Gap Give & Get promotion). I played with some other shades of blue, but this one definitely worked the best, in my opinion. Quick review of the sweater: consider sizing down (reviews on their website will tell you that too), but the fabric is lovely. It's a medium weight, but very soft. If you are looking for a nice, basic cardigan, I would highly recommend this one.

Skirt: J.Crew
Cardigan: Gap
Cami: New York & Company (under sweater)
Shoes: Christian Siriano for Payless
Watch: Fossil

Black and blue on a rainy day

2010-03-23T12:17:00.002-04:00

I had planned a cute orange-themed outfit for today (orange the color, not the fruit), but it's raining pretty heavily, so I had to forgo that for a different outfit. When it's raining out, I tend to gravitate more towards flats, mostly because I own very few heels of a sensible height, aka, less than 3 or 3.5 inches. (Hey, when you are only 5 feet tall, you will take all the height you can get!)

So in the end, I opted for this blue and black patterned skirt, and paired it with some black tights. I had initially but on a deep blue button-down (short sleeve) with a black shell over it, but I wasn't really feeling it, so I went with this black sweater instead. I have had this sweater for years, but rarely wear it, so I'm glad it's getting some use!

I tend to gravitate towards black, especially when I'm in a hurry, and I don't think you can really have too many black tops (especially cardigans) or black shoes. They are so easy to pair with whatever you're wearing (except maybe orange), so I think they are great classic, go-to pieces.

Skirt: The Limited
Sweater: Unknown
Tights: The Limited
Shoes: Gap Outlet
Watch: Fossil

I really like these flats. I stumbled across them by chance once at my local Gap Outlet. I'd had a pair of basic black flats from Old Navy for years, and I loved them...until I was wearing them when I stepped in chicken poo in Poland! When I tried to clean them, the material tightened up a little, and now they are a little too tight for me. I like these flats better though, because they are very basic (the ON ones had little ties on them), and I can throw them on with anything - dresses, skirts, pants, jeans!

The first time I wore them, they cut up my feet really badly though - blisters everywhere. After a couple more wearings though, they've stretched out a bit, and are super comfy!

Honeycomb for spring

2010-03-22T11:03:00.002-04:00

We had gorgeous weather around here this weekend, but I heard the beginning of this week is going to be kind of crummy. That's not going to stop me from wearing skirts though - in my mind, spring is officially here!

I've been meaning to wear this green skirt for a while now. It's been hanging on my clothes rack for at least a month now! Today I'm pairing it with this silk honeycomb-patterned top I picked up from Banana Republic back in January. They were running a promotion where you got 40% off any regular-priced item every Wednesday in January, so I used it to score some cute silk tops for work.

Skirt: Banana Republic Outlet
Top: Banana Republic
Sweater: J.Crew Outlet
Shoes: J.Crew

Here's a picture of the outfit without the sweater on. I'll probably leave the sweater on for most of the day, but this is a better picture of the top. It's a pretty loose fitting top, and has a ruched neckline with flutter sleeves. The silk is a really nice, light weight, and it's a great spring top.

I paired this outfit with my patent Cate slingbacks in light brown from J.Crew. These are a half size up from my normal size, and I think the color works well with the light brown in the pattern of my top.

Pink Stripes, Pink Shorts, and Pink Sandals!

2010-03-21T21:43:00.004-04:00

It was a pink sort of weekend, and I didn't even plan it that way! On Friday night, BF and I went on a double date with my friend and her boyfriend. We had a lot of fun - especially a certain incident where BF bet me I couldn't get our cute waiter's phone number! (And technically I didn't get it myself - my friend's boyfriend bluntly told him I wanted it.) I forgot to take a picture of my outfit on Friday night, but it was schlumpy, so you're better off not seeing it, and it is pretty similar to Saturday's outfit anyway!

On Saturday, I had to go into Boston for a meeting in the afternoon. It was a pretty laid-back meeting, so I wore jeans, a striped tee, and a cardigan. Hoodies are my go-to top layer pieces, but I have decided to try to get out of my hoodie rut...plus I just noticed my favorite hoodie has a small hole in it. So sad. :(

Jeans: Express

Tee: Express

Cardigan: Gap Outlet

Belt: Express

Shoes: Reebok EasyTone

Nails: Mink Muffs by Essie

I decided to wear my EasyTones into Boston, because I had a bit of walking to do. I haven't decided yet if these shoes work or not, but they are very comfortable, and not totally awful looking, so I wear them whenever I can, as long as it's appropriate. I like this pair of EasyTones because they look like fairly normal sneakers. Some of the EasyTones are kind of ugly!

This morning was a long run day, and just last night BF treated me to some new running clothes! He knows I have been training faithfully, so bought me some new pants, shorts, and a tee as a gift, and the weather was perfect to wear the shorts and tee today! I'm holding my fuel belt in the picture below - if you're a runner, I highly recommend these. Just make sure you get the right size - I have one in every size because I initially bought a size too small, then overcompensated by buying a size too big, and BF ended up buying me the right size. (And the saga of my fuel belt always reminds me of Goldilocks and the Three Bears!)

Tee: Under Armour (Loose fit)

Shorts: Under Armour

Socks: Under Armour liners (with arch support!)

Shoes: NIKE Structure 13 Triax

These are my other pair of NIKE running shoes. After I had been training consistently for awhile, I decided it was time to get fitted for some proper shoes, and I ended up with this pair (and another pair from a different brand, but I'm breaking in the NIKEs first). I love these shoes!

Lastly, here's my outfit from the rest of today. BF and I went to a friend's house for an Easter/spring party. Because I had just come from running (and had even gotten a slight tan from running), I way overestimated how warm it was outside, and went hunting for my shorts. Okay, well, I actually went hunting for my capri pants, but couldn't find them, so settled for these shorts...and paid the price for the rest of the day by being cold. Oh well! The party was a lot of fun, so I didn't really mind.

Shorts: Old Navy

Tee: Gap Outlet

Shoes: Birkenstock Papillio

Nails: Mink Muffs by Essie (say good-bye to this color for now!!)

I've had these shoes since college, and I absolutely love them. My mother got them for me during our trip to Colonial Williamsburg - I had only brought along those cheap Old Navy flip-flops (because I was obviously way too cool to wear SNEAKERS in the warm weather ;)), and my feet get really dry, so they were cracking and bleeding and I was in a lot of pain. The only store around sold Birkenstocks, so I picked out this pair. They are great because they really mold to the shape of your foot and how you walk, and are incredibly comfortable. Plus I love the cute pattern on them! (I know they visually cut off my legs and make me look shorter, but they are so comfortable in the warm weather.)

Gap Give & Get, and Can we have some consistency, please?

2010-03-20T08:52:00.003-04:00

First up, my Gap Give & Get picks. I didn't want to go nuts during the promotion just because it's 30% off. The couple things from Gap brands that I had been wanting were some new short sleeve work shirts and another cardigan.

These are the Cap-Sleeve Shirts from Old Navy. They're available in a number of colors, and I actually own some of the other colors, but in a larger size, so I figured this was a good time to get some basic colors in a size that actually fits. I went with black, dark gray, and dark pink. I have the blue and green colors in a different size, and they're very nice, too. These are some of my favorite work shirts for warmer weather!

As for styling, I'm already pairing (in my head) the grey and pink shirts with my J.Crew gladiola print skirt from last spring/summer! I may pair any of these with my J.Crew Turkish jacquard skirt, and I think the dark pink would look nice with my J.Crew Waterfloral Pastiche pencil skirt. (Do you notice a theme here? I love J.Crew pencil skirts!)

I also picked up this Ultimate Cardigan in navy from the Gap. I don't typically gravitate towards navy, but I love the stripes, and I can pair this with a number of cute patterned skirts I own. I remember a few years ago when THE big color combinations were a mix of bright yellow, navy, and white. I'm not sure if that's still in style, but I love those colors together!

All in all, I only paid $8 for everything I purchased ($19.50 for each shirt plus $29.99 for the cardigan), as I combined the Gap Give & Get promotion with a Gap Rewards Card for $10, and a $50 gift card that BF had given me about a year and a half ago!

Now on to the second thing (and this could get long): this is a somewhat minor gripe, but I wish retailers would be consistent (within their own stores, not amongst the entire industry) about using promotions. I'm not really talking about J.Crew and their student discount, because I feel like that policy is outlined pretty well (the discount is only available on full-priced items, and cannot be combined with order-wide discounts, but it can be combined with item-specific promotions). Sometimes you get lucky and you're allowed to use it on sale items, but I'm talking about another kind of inconsistency.

I was at Express last night, looking to use up my rewards cards (two $15 cards) as they were expiring soon. I also had a $20 off jeans coupon, and a $30 off $75 purchase/$15 off $30 purchase. The jeans were buy 1 get 1 half off as well, so I was excited to score a really good deal!

My jeans were $59.50 each, so $119 in total, then half off the lowest price one brought it down to $89.25. I wasn't able to use the $20 off jeans coupon because the fine print listed about 20 different style numbers, and my pairs of jeans weren't on it. Now in my experience, next you would use the $30 off $75, which would have brought my total down to $59.25, and then applied my two rewards cards, bringing the final total down to $29.25.

However, the cashier went on to tell me that she has to apply the rewards cards first, and then IF my total is still about $75, she can use the $30 off promotion. Has anyone heard of this before? I have been shopping at Express for years, and I have NEVER had my rewards cards applied BEFORE a coupon. She went on to give me a hard time, saying she's not even supposed to be letting me combine the $30 off coupon with the rewards cards, because they're both coupons.

Since when is a rewards card a coupon? Apparently it says on the back of rewards cards that "Coupon must be surrendered at time of purchase" or something like that, but I have never ever EVER had an issue using a rewards card with a coupon, and I definitely have never had them apply my rewards cards before applying any other coupons.

Has this happened to anyone else? Of all the retailers I've shopped at, I would say Express and The Limited are probably the worst for this kind of thing. It's not uncommon for me to get pushback at The Limited if I want to use a coupon with a rewards card. Victoria's Secret, on the other hand, let me use 3 different coupons PLUS my rewards card without blinking an eye!

Check Yourself!

2010-03-19T09:55:00.005-04:00

We headed up to the North Shore last night to play some bar trivia with our friends. I love doing bar trivia, but it's hard with school, so I pretty much always go when I am on spring break. We typically play in the Boston area, but one of our friends lives up in New Hampshire, so we tried to meet in the middle. (Although in the end, it didn't really end up being any closer for him than Boston.)

In my opinion, coming up with a team name is the hardest part of playing trivia. We seriously spend 15 to 20 minutes every time we play trying to think of a good name! Our name last night was Sloths' First Win, and we were hoping it would bring us some winning luck (it didn't :)). One of the other teams playing called themselves Oh My Effing Cod, which I found really funny for some reason (especially because we were in Gloucester).

So here's what I wore. I got this scarf recently, and I love the pattern, but it's a little rougher fabric than I would normally like around my neck, as I have really sensitive skin. I actually ended up taking the scarf off about halfway through dinner.

Shirt: Gap Outlet
Jeans: Express (Sarula, from 2003/2004)
Scarf: J.Crew
Socks: Gap Outlet
Shoes: Etienne Aigner (from TJMaxx)
Nails: Mink Muffs by Essie

A couple months ago, I updated my casual sock wardrobe as I became more serious about running. I hit up the local outlets to pick up some cute, casual patterned socks. I went to J.Crew Outlet first, knowing that I'd had luck with socks there previously, but I thought the prices were just a bit much - almost $10 for a single pair of socks! By contrast, I was able to get a two-pack with complementary designs from Gap Outlet for about $7, so I stocked up there instead.

These are my socks and shoes from last night. I love these shoes - they are my go-to shoes when I need to be a bit more dressed up, but don't need to wear heels and shouldn't wear sneakers.

Quick Morning Run Outfit

2010-03-18T11:56:00.004-04:00

Today is a work from home day, so this means lazy, loungy clothes all day long! Well, at least for most of the day, as we are going out tonight to play trivia with our friends. I'm currently training for a half marathon, so my daily routine typically includes some type of run, so here's what I wore to run this morning. The nice thing about today is that it was nice and warm outside, so I was able to switch from the cold-weather tights to some lighter capris.

Running Capris: Under Armour
Shirt: Under Armour (you can't see it in this picture, but it's pink!)
Jacket: LL Bean
Socks: Old Navy
Shoes: NIKE+ Air Pegasus

And here is the promised picture of today's shoes. I love these running sneakers! They are my very first pair of "real" running shoes. I picked them up at the sports store (because to be honest, they were one of the cheaper, non-ugly pairs they had that were NIKE+), and we have been together for over 300 miles now. On average, you're supposed to run about 500 miles in a given pair of shoes, so I'll be retiring these soon!

I'll post my going-out outfit tomorrow morning! Hope you all have a great rest of the day!

Pink Liberty

2010-03-17T13:45:00.001-04:00

On Sunday, BF and I went out to do some errands (including lunch at IKEA!!!!!), and on the way home, we stopped at Target. BF needed a new windshield wiper. Not wipers, but a single wiper. (He is obsessed with having a clean, streak-free windshield, and is constantly cleaning the inside and the outside windshield.)

I needed something from Target, too, but of course as soon as we got there, I completely forgot what I was looking for. I did, however, bump into the Liberty of London section, so I browsed around a bit. I love florals and prints, so I really wanted to like everything there, but I really only liked this dress. (I was almost tempted by the peacock halter top as well, especially because I just scored a fab pair of J.Crew Juliet heels in peacock!)

This morning when I woke up, there was frost all over the cars and the lawn, but by the time I finished my morning run and packed lunches for the day, it was nice and mild out, so I went with the dress. I added the blazer because I like to have something to cover up my arms. I don't love it with the blazer, but I sit at my desk all day, so no biggie.

The one thing I don't like about the blazer is it attracts...things...to it like no other. I have to do some major lint rolling ALL over it every time I wear it. And there's a LOT of lint on it. Every time!

Here's the dress without the blazer.

Dress: Liberty of London for Target
Blazer: Old Navy
Shoes: Auburn by Dexter from Payless
Watch: Fossil
Nail Polish: Mink Muffs by Essie

Aaaand, a close-up of the shoes. I'm way into my {slightly-out-of-control} shoe collection right now, so for the time being, I'm going to show you a close-up of my shoes every day!

Don't Step on My Blue (Patent) Shoes!

2010-03-17T11:56:00.003-04:00

And off we go!

This is my outfit from yesterday. Pretty simple and basic - I had to go to the office and then I had a couple meetings at school in the evening. A normal Tuesday, except that this week is spring break, and the last place I really felt like being during spring break is school!

This outfit is notable only for the fact that this is the first time I've worn the shirt and sweater...and they haven't been sitting in my closet for a year! (Does anyone else do this? Please, tell me someone else does this.)

Shirt: New York & Company
Sweater: New York & Company
Pants: Express
Shoes: Moda Spana
Nail Polish: Mink Muffs by Essie

A close-up of the shoes. They are your standard, midheel, pointy-toe patent shoes in this pretty cobalt blue. I got them quite a while ago, and I can't remember where, either. I do remember that I picked them up with a pair of red patent heels that have also seen very little of the world outside their box. Poor red shoes. :(

I didn't forget (I promise).

2010-03-16T17:55:00.002-04:00

So, hmmmm. Tomorrow was what, 5 days ago? Looks I missed that boat!

(I had a busy weekend. Normally I'd say "sorry" - as in, sorry for leaving you in the lurch, but it was a fun weekend, too. I'm not going to apologize for having non-blog fun!)

I was all set to post today. Woke up BF to take my OOTD picture. Even took a picture of mah shoes. Too bad I got to work and realized I didn't have my card reader, rendering my pictures for-the-moment-obsolete.

Oh, well. Tomorrow. Real tomorrow this time, not fake, 5-days-later tomorrow.

I PROMISE.

...aaaaand I'm back!

2010-03-10T11:58:00.001-05:00

Well, not today.

Tomorrow.

(Hopefully.)

So long, farewell!

2009-11-11T12:51:00.004-05:00

Hello to anyone out there who's still stopping by.

I'm moving - permanently, this time - to a different blog. Maybe when things in general calm down for me, I'll take up this blog again, but for now, I'll no longer be posting here.

You can come check me out at Girl.Dog.Kitchen. I can't promise you'll see anything fashion-related over there, but it's a much more personal blog, and thus much closer to my heart than clothes (and a blog about clothes) can ever be.

J.Crew: Wool Herringbone Bucket Hat Review

2009-08-16T19:45:00.002-04:00

Here's J.Crew's Wool Herringbone Bucket Hat (item #17901). It comes in two sizes: S/M and M/L, and four different colors. I'm wearing the hat in the butterscotch color.

So regarding the size, I'm wearing a size S/M, which is 56 cm (basically 22 inches) around. By comparison, the M/L is 58 cm (basically 23 inches (slightly smaller - 22.8)) around. I debated on sizes for awhile, as I will admit I have a pretty big head. :) I ended up going with the S/M after my measuring my head a bunch of times, comparing the different ways I'd wear it (at an angle, straight up and down, etc.), and eventually settled on the S/M. I'm happy with the fit. I think i would have worked fine with a M/L as well, but I think it would have been just a smidge too big if I were wearing it straight up and down, but would have worked well if I were wearing it at an angle.

The wool herringbone is really nice and soft. It's midweight I'd say, and is a nice thickness. I'd say that it's a really nice fall hat. It's cute and fairly stylish, and is availabe in some really nice, neutral colors. The hat has a band that goes around the front which is attached with buttons on either side and adds a nice detail to an otherwise basic hat.

J.Crew: Silk Frances Cami Review

2009-08-16T19:38:00.001-04:00

This is J.Crew's Silk Frances Cami (item #17428), which is also available in petites (item #17932), which retails for $88. It's alpha-sized, and is available in a number of different colors. This is the deep rose color.

I ordered the cami in a petite 2 after e-mailing back and forth with my PS about the sizing several times (including asking for sizing for several other camis as comparison). The P2 fits, but I have wider shoulders, so it's a bit tight in the back sometimes (depending on how I move my arms). It's not tight enough that I'd return these for a P4, but I'd recommend trying on if you can, and if you have broader shoulders, then perhaps you might want to size up. The sizing is very comparable to the Victoria cami.

The silk is a nice, light silk. I would say the sheen on the cami is more like what you see in my pictures, as opposed to a bit more matte finish on the website. I actually ordered this red color based on a catalog picture that my PS sent me, and the red was a bit more red-orange in real life than it was in the catalog picture, but I'd say it's pretty true-to-life to what you see on the website. The other colors I ordered are also true-to-life to the website.

Below is a close-up of the ruffles. These came flattened out from packing, and I have not steamed or fluffed them since the top arrived. They were packed with 6 or 8 little balls of tissue undernearth the ruffles in an attempt to keep them a bit more fluffed up, but they would still need to be steamed or something to look they way they do in pictures.

Gap: Rolled Henley Sweater Review

2009-07-21T11:30:00.001-04:00

This is Gap's Rolled Henley Sweater (style #635778), which retailed for $39.50. It was alpha-sized, and was available in a number of different colors, a couple of brights and some neutrals. I tried this on in a small, and found that it fits true-to-size, maybe even a bit large, depending on how you would want to wear it. If you're looking for a more fitted look and are on the smaller end of your size, you could consider sizing down in this sweater. If you want a looser, more casual look, then I'd start with your regular size and size down if necessary.

The sweater is made out of 100% cotton, and is a nice, soft knit. It's a nice, breathable fabric for a spring and summer sweater. The sweater itself is lightweight, and it is on the sheer side, at least in this color.

It's a pretty straightforward design - it has 3/4 sleeves, and fairly deep V-neck with buttons. There is a thin strip of trim on the front, faux-cuffs on the sleeves, and a rolled hem on both the sleeves and the bottom hem. Overall, a basic, but somewhat casual sweater.

I liked this sweater, but left it behind. I wasn't crazy about it, although I will say that it was super comfortable on.

What do you think? Do you like this sweater? Do you own it or have you tried it on?

J.Crew FO: Printed Jessie Blouse Review

2009-07-20T08:22:00.000-04:00

This is the Printed Jessie Blouse (item #12576) from the J.Crew Outlet. I believe this top was out last summer from retail, and I see it pop up from time to time in the sale section on J.Crew's website. This blouse is numerically sized, and retailed for $54.50. It was available in several different patterns.

I tried this top on in a size 4, and I'm not sure what the actual name of this color is. The top fits fairly true-to-size, but there is no/not much stretch in the fabric, so if you have broader shoulders or a larger chest, you may need to consider sizing up. As always, I would suggest starting with your regular size, and sizing up depending on how comfortable you feel.

The fabric is a lightweight cotton (or possibly cotton blend). It's a nice, somewhat thin fabric that is good for a casual summer top. It's not see-through, but I think this might be in part because of the darker colors and pattern. I picked up this same top in a light yellow, and it's a bit more see through.

The top has an empire waist with a self-tie that helps create a little bit of high waist definition. The bottom half of the shirt flares out a bit to hide your stomach area (if desired) and also slim your waist. The blouse is like the Jessie dress offered last year at regular J.Crew - it has ruffles around the neckline and down the front to the waist, with a few fabric-covered buttons at the bodice. There is a little bit of notching on the sleeves. I like the details on this shirt - I think they work well together.

I left this shirt behind, as I'd already picked one up in a different yellow pattern that I prefer to this pattern. I also like this pattern, but didn't love this shirt enough to get it in two different patterns.

What do you think? Do you like this blouse? Do you own it or have you tried it on? Do you think the outlet version stands up to the retail version?

Gap: Eyelet Sleeve Tee Review

2009-07-16T15:52:00.000-04:00

This is Gap's Eyelet Sleeve Tee (style #655036), which originally retailed for $29.95, and is currently on sale. The tee is available in a few different colors (white, red-orange, light brown, and this light blue color), and is alpha-sized.

I tried this on in a size small, and I'd say that the tee runs a little on the bigger size. I did go back and one point and tried this on in an extra small, and that would have been the size I would get. If, however, you want to wear this tee pretty loose and casual, then you could try sticking with your regular size.

This tee is 100% cotton, and is a really nice, soft jersey-like fabric. I really love Gap's knit tees, as they are wonderfully soft and smooth. It moves and hangs very nicely. The tee is meant as a casual, more flowy top, and nice and roomy, especially at the bottom.

The tee is fairly basic, with a U-neck, some slight shirring at the neckline, and some contrast banding at the neckline and sleeves. The sleeves themselves have a floral embroidered eyelet pattern with scalloping at the edges. I think it's a pretty, feminine detail that works well with the casualness of the rest of the tee.

I really like this tee. I didn't pick it up when it was full price, but I was very tempted when I saw it on sale for $14.99. In the end, I decided I have enough tees for now, and left this one behind.

What do you think? Do you like this tee? Do you own it or have you seen it or tried it on? Which colors do you like?

J.Crew FO: Pique Strapless Dress Review

2009-07-16T10:22:00.000-04:00

This is a dress from the J.Crew Outlet that I'm calling the Pique Strapless Dress (item #15039). It retailed for $59.50, and was numerically sized. It may have come in other colors, but I honestly can't remember right now, as I tried this on awhile ago (sorry :().

I tried this dress on in a size 4, and I thought it fit a bit small. It was a little tight around the chest area, so I would suggest starting with your regular size, but getting a size up for comparison if you can.

The dress is made out of a pique fabric which also has a bit of stretch to it. I wasn't a huge fan of the fabric, as it was a bit coarser than what I typically like, but it was a nice, casual fabric, and worked well with the dress itself. The fabric moves fairly well, but the cut of the dress doesn't really lend itself to a lot of movement.

The dress has a thin band at the top of the bust, and a wider band at the waistline. The dress helps to create a bit of definition at the waist. The skirt is fairly straight, but nips in a bit at the waist, and can easily hide any problem areas on the lower half, but doesn't add much volume. The bottom half of the dress has some shirring at the waistline as well as curved, off-seam pockets.

You could probably dress this dress up a bit with the right accessories, but keep in mind that the pique fabric is a bit more on the casual side. I would probably stick with neutral color pairings for this dress.

I left this dress behind because I thought it was just okay. I didn't hate it, but I didn't think it was really anything special, either.

What do you think? Do you like this dress? Have you seen it or tried it on? Do you own it? What do you think of pique fabric dresses?

J.Crew FO: Circle Sequin Trim Strapless Top Review

2009-07-15T11:12:00.000-04:00

This strapless top is from the J.Crew Outlet. It's item #12646, and retails for $54.50 (the white was on sale for $39.99 when I tried these on). It is numerically sized, and was also available in a white color (at bottom of post). It is the same style as the Floral Eyelet top I reviewed a few months back.

I tried this top on in a size 4, and it fits true-to-size. It's a pretty comfortable fit, with an empire waist and a bit of a flared bottom. Sizing is based on your bust size, and the rest of the top is slightly looser and comfortable. There are some darts to give you some shape in the middle.

I believe the fabric is cotton, but it's a bit of a rougher feel, almost like linen. The circle pattern is a mix of embroidery and sequins, and goes all the way around the top. I prefer the pattern on the blue top, simply because the colors work well with the each other (the white top's circle pattern is all in white).

The length is nice - on the longer side, hitting at mid-hip, and the top has side vents at the bottom to allow for a bit more movement.

I like this top because it's nice and simple, but still has some interesting details. I think the circle pattern is a nice touch that adds some pretty details to what might otherwise be a boring top. This top is easy to dress up or down, and can easily be paired with a lot of different colors, especially the white.

I left these tops behind because I don't wear a lot of strapless tops. I preferred the blue top to the white (even though I think the white is more versatile), and couldn't be swayed by the price.

What do you think? Do you like this top? Have you seen it or tried it on? Do you own it? Which color do you prefer?

Anthropologie: Above-A-Blue-Sky Skirt Review

2009-07-14T17:49:00.001-04:00

This is Anthropologie's Above-A-Blue-Sky skirt (style #920067), which retails for $68. It is alpha-sized, and is available in this one pattern, multi. It is available in petites and regular. The skirt is by Edme and Esyllte, and Anthropologie describes it as such:

In Edme & Esyllte's topsy-turvy paradise, wildflowers flourish atop the deep turquoise heavens.
Side pockets
Pull-on styling
Cotton; cotton lining
Machine wash
Regular: 18"L
Petite: 16.5"L

I was instantly in love with this skirt when I saw it. I tried it on in a size small, and it fits true-to-size. There is some flexibility in the sizing, as there is elasticizing smocking at the back waistband which gives you some stretch in the waist. The size small fit me comfortably, so if you are on the small end of a medium or higher end of an extra small, you could also try a small.

The fabric on this skirt is a nice, light cotton. The skirt is lined in cotton as well, and the skirt moves pretty well. It's pretty forgiving on your bottom half without adding a lot of volume, and I think it's a pretty flattering shape overall. I tried this skirt on in the regular, and I like the length, as it hits just at the knees.

The skirt has an overall sort of wildflower/meadow pattern, with a wide teal band on the bottom. I think the pattern is really fun and whimsical, and is really colorful, so can work with a ton of top colors. For the most part, I think this is a casual skirt.

This was my first (and so far only) trip to Anthropologie, and this was one of many really cute things I tried on, but one of only two things I ended up taking home. I love Anthropologie's stuff, but a lot of it is pretty pricey, in my opinion. I do think it is a nice place to get some really feminine, pretty pieces and can't wait to check it out again!

What do you think? Do you like this skirt? Have you seen it or tried it on? Do you own it? What do you think of offering it in petite and regular, but not tall?

J.Crew: Printed Silk Chiffon Whitney Short Dress Review

2009-07-14T14:59:00.000-04:00

This is J.Crew's Printed Silk Chiffon Whitney Short Dress (item #11440), which originally retailed for $225, and has been on promotion for $159.99 for quite awhile now. This dress is numerically-sized, and is available in this one color, sweet cantaloupe. J.Crew describes the dress as such:

Whether it's for a wedding or a warm-weather getaway, this dress is a sensational choice for any special occasion. Crafted from lightweight silk chiffon with a delicate crinkled texture, its strapless silhouette features a fitted bodice with knot detail at the center front, a slight sweetheart neckline and a pretty lettuce edged hem at the waist. A-line skirt. Back zip. Interior corset for added support. Fully lined. Falls to knee; 25" from natural waist. Import. Dry clean. Catalog/jcrew.com only.

I picked up this dress in a size 4, which is my normal size in J.Crew dresses. The dress fits true-to-size, and is a nice, comfortable fit. The fit is based on your bust and waist measurements.

The dress is fairly straight. From the bust to the waist is a straight line, then the skirt flares out a bit in an A-line shape. I wouldn't say that the dress creates a lot of waist definition, but I think it's a nice silhouette overall. I like the length, but wouldn't have minded if it were a couple of inches shorter, so that it didn't go past the knees as much.

Brief tangent on sizing: Normally I might say that I wish it had been offered in petites, but lately I've noticed that I've had some issues with the petite "equivalent" size dresses being a tad bit smaller than the regular sizes. For example, a P6 strapless dress will be just a tad bit tighter around the bust than the regular 4, and can potentially lead to the dreaded bust/armpit bulge (yuck).

The dress is lined in white, with a really nice silk chiffon overlay with a pretty light orange and white floral print. The silk chiffon is a really nice fabric - it's light, thin, and really soft. It moves and flows incredibly well, and is a really pretty spring and summer dress. There is some nice crinkly detail at the bust and waistline.

I'm not sure how casual you could make this dress, as it seems pretty dressy. I think you could wear it in a lot of different places, but I think for the most part, it'd be for more dressy occasions. I also think it would have been nice to see this dress offered in other spring or summer colors, like a light purple, pink, light green, or even a red or cobalt blue.

What do you think? Do you like this dress? Have you seen it or tried it on? Do you own it? Are there any other colors you would have liked to see it in? Do you prefer the short dress or the longer version?

Old Navy: Smocked Jersey Maxi Dress

2009-07-14T11:11:00.000-04:00

This is Old Navy's Smocked Jersey Maxi Dress (style #633407), which retails for $29.50. It is alpha-sized, and is available in black, blue, purple, pink stripes, and navy stripes. I had been resisting the maxi dress trend all year, but finally caved and tried one on when Old Navy was running a special on skirts and dresses (picked this one up for just $15), and was surprised to find that I actually liked it.

This is a size small, which is the size I normally wear in Old Navy dresses. I think the dress fits true-to-size. It's definitely too long, but the dress is also available in petites (and talls) online. The jersey fabric is a nice, medium weight fabric. It's soft and smooth, and moves and flows very nicely.

The dress has a medium V-neck with a triangle top and spaghetti straps. It has an empire waist with a band of elasticized smocking underneath, which adds some nice detail to the dress as well as a bit of definition. The dress flares out just a bit from the empire waist, and falls in a fairly straight line.

I think the dress creates a fairly flattering shape with a bit of a slimming effect, and I was honestly surprised at how much I liked it. I had expected it to make me look incredibly short, but when I tried it on in-store, I thought it actually had the opposite effect, which is nice. I would wear this dress mainly as a casual dress, and think it's a nice, basic piece. You can easily change the look of this dress with the right accessories, and the solids will work well with a lot of different colors.

J.Crew: Silk Indigo Floral Skirt

2009-07-14T08:56:00.000-04:00

This is J.Crew's Silk Indigo Floral Skirt (item #16701). It is numerically-sized, and originally retailed for $128. It only came in "regular" sizes. J.Crew describes the skirt as such:

A soft silk pencil skirt makes an elegantly feminine statement in a gorgeous dark, floral print. Sits at waist. Curved pockets. Back zip. Back vent. Fully lined. 22 1/2" long. Import. Dry clean. Catalog/jcrew.com only.

I am not usually a fan of brown (a running discussion between Boyfriend and me), but I love the way it is paired with the shades of blue in this skirt. I pre-ordered this skirt, and am really glad I did, as it appears to be sold out already.

I ordered this skirt in a size 4, and I believe that it fits true-to-size - I definitely wouldn't have tried this in a smaller size. If you're taller and looking for some length, you may consider sizing up to wear it lower on the waist/hips. It's a very comfortable fit, but there's not a lot (if any) stretch in it as there is some other pencil skirts. I would order in your regular pencil skirt size to start. I love the length on the skirt - it works really well even for a real shorty like me.

The fabric is incredibly soft and smooth, but has more weight to it than I expected, but I like that. It makes the skirt just a bit less delicate, which I think is a plus (I know I'm always on pins and needles wearing something that is super delicate in terms of fabric). It is a standard pencil skirt shape - fairly straight up and down. It nips in a bit more at the waist, so you get a little bit of definition there. There are curved off-seam pockets which are a nice touch, and not super noticeable or out-of-place.

I'm not really sure how much you could dress down this skirt. I know that J.Crew styled it on their website with a half tucked-in shirt, a bigger necklace, and some T-strap sandals, but I think the fabric and overall pattern makes this skirt more dressy than casual. I plan on pairing this skirt with neutrals to keep the attention just on the skirt.

What do you think? Do you like this skirt? Have you seen it or tried it on? Do you own it? What do you think of the pattern and the colors? How would you style it?

Check Out Another Review

A Bigger Closet - includes some really nice styling options

J.Crew FO: Marguerite Dress

2009-07-13T17:09:00.000-04:00

This is the Marguerite Dress from J.Crew Outlet. I picked both dresses up about a month ago. The dress retails for $79.50, but I was able to get it for about $47 after promotions and discounts. The dress is numerically sized, and was available first in the navy floral pattern, and then in the black polka dot pattern. I don't believe that these patterns were both available at the same time at my local outlet.

I picked up both dresses in a size 4, and I believe the dress fits true-to-size. It's a very comfortable fit. Size is mainly determined based on your bust size, as it is an empire waist with a more voluminous skirt.

The neckline is a thick, twisted rope-like neckband, and is a nice detail, in my opinion. The fabric is a stiffer material, and I believe it's cotton. The fabric is very smooth, and the skirt has two layers of fabric. Because the material is a bit stiffer, the skirt doesn't move or flow really well, but I don't think it's meant to be a flowy dress. The skirt itself is a bit voluminous, owing to the shirring at the waistband.

The dress itself is very comfortable. It doesn't create too much of a waist, but it is very forgiving on your lower half. If you're uncomfortable with poufiness or extra volume on the bottom, then you should definitely try it on yourself to see how it looks in person. I personally like this dress silhouette, but I know that it's not for everyone.

I think this dress works well as both a casual dress and a more dressy one. I think you could leave it as-is and throw on some casual sandals for a dressed-down look, or dress it up with a wrap or a pretty sweater and the right accessories and shoes.

What do you think? Do you like this dress? Which pattern do you prefer? Have you seen it or tried it on? Do you own it yourself?

New York & Company: CityStretch Tiered Colorblock Dress

2009-07-13T14:55:00.002-04:00

This is a dress I picked up this weekend at New York & Company. I'm not positive on the name, but the same style is available online in a print. It is alpha-sized, and was also available in a bright teal/green/yellow combination in-store, which I really liked, but was not available in my size. I also saw the same style dress in some solid colors (white, black, coral). The dress originally retailed for $42.95, but was on sale during the summer clearance, so I snagged it for about $21! I cannot find this exact dress online, but there are a couple of other options: CityStretch Tiered Printed Dress (#07448645) and CityStretch Color-Block Flounce Dress (#07465709).

I tried this dress on in a size XS, and it fit all right, but I would have liked to try it on in a size small just for comparison. There were no smalls available in any color in my store, and because the XS fit, I just went with that. Because the dress has a lot of stretch and is really only fitted at the bust, you can definitely try a size down if you like.

This is a knit dress, made out of a jersey material with some stretch in it. It has a crossover V-neck empire waist, and wide band sleeves that work as basically cap sleeves. I think you could also probably tuck these sleeves under your bra straps to do a more sleeveless look, but I haven't tried it yet. The jersey material is nice and solid - the dress has some weight to it. It flows and moves very nicely, and is extremely comfortable.

I really like the color combinations in both dresses - they are really fun and summery. I think you could dress up this dress a bit with some nice accessories - maybe some nice metallics or a neutral colored cardigan.

I am a big fan of knit dresses, and I'm glad I was able to snag this one!

What do you think? Do you like this dress? Have you seen it or tried it on? Do you like any of the other alternative options that are available online?

Update: This dress is online. It's called CityStretch Tiered Colorblock Dress. It is style #07448644.

J.Crew: Dressy Jersey Empire Dress

2009-07-13T11:14:00.000-04:00

This is J.Crew's Dressy Jersey Empire Dress (item #12564). I'm not sure what the original price was, but I picked it up when it was marked down to $39.99. It is alpha-sized, and came in this tea rose color, and I believe it also came in at least a light heather grey and a dark grey.

I'm wearing the dress in a size small, and I think it fits mostly true to size. The dressy jersey fabric is just like the other dressy jersey dresses - nice weight, very soft and smooth, flows and moves very nicely. I'd say it fits fairly snugly at the top, but there is plenty of stretch in the fabric as well.

There is a bit of fan pleating at the bust, and this pleating sort of flows down the front of the dress, and adds some movement to the dress. The dress itself is a fairly straight line. You don't get a lot of waist definition with this dress, given the empire waist and then the line of the bottom half. On the plus side, the bottom half of the dress would be good at hiding any lower half problem areas without adding volume.

Overall, it's a very nice dress. You can easily dress it up or down with the right accessories.

What do you think? Do you like this dress? Have you tried it on or do you own it? Which colors would you like to see this dress in? What do you think of J.Crew's dressy jersey dresses?

Gap: Knit and Cotton Tank Dress

2009-07-13T07:45:00.000-04:00

I cannot find this dress on Gap's website, but I'm pretty sure it is style #655030. It is alpha-sized, and retailed for $39.50. It was available in a number of saturated colors, including bright pink and bright blue. This is a rich, purple color in size small.

This dress has a knit tank with a pocket for the top, and a cotton skirt bottom. The skirt itself is very light, and the top is like wearing a really comfortable knit top. There are tiny pleats all around the waist. The dress itself moves all right, but is not super flowy, owing to lightweight cotton and the straighter shape of the skirt. I think the dress looks better from the front though - looking at the picture below, it looks kind of weird from the side, as it's not distributed evenly from front to back.

The dress fits true-to-size, and fits based on your top and waist size. There is a lot of room to hide any problem areas in your lower half, without adding extra weight. To me, this dress is a really great alternative to J.Crew's Cottage dress from earlier this season (in fact, I prefer it to J.Crew's).

The dress is a really comfortable casual dress. I think you could dress it up a bit with the right accessories, but I'm not sure that you could dress it up too much. Overall a really nice, summer dress, but I think you should try it on if you can to see how you like the skirt.

I was tempted to pick this one up, on more than one occasion. The first time I tried it on, and another time I almost grabbed it in the pink color, but I resisted both times.

What do you think? Do you like this dress? Have you seen it or tried it on? Which color would you pick it up in?

Daily Dinner: Wannabe Southwestern Chicken Empanadas (But Really Just Kind-of Chicken Pot Pies)

2009-07-07T20:31:00.000-04:00

Boyfriend and I have decided to try to eat at home more often. When I was at school three nights a week, it became really easy just to go out to eat every night (Chili's Happy Hour!), but now we're trying to cut back and get back to eating at home. It's cheaper, and to be honest, we like it better. (Except for the dishes. Why would I want to do dishes?) Since the beginning of the year, we've tried to reduce the amount of red meat in our diets, so we eat a lot of chicken.

So tonight for dinner, I decided to try at "What can I make from items in my pantry" exercise. I was kind of feeling some Southwestern-style chicken dish, so I settled on a sort of empanada. I already had the chicken, the puff pastry, the cheese, and all the ingredients for a Béchamel (white) sauce. I was going to add some black beans and corn to the filling, but decided to forgo the beans, and honestly, just forgot about the corn.

I thought these little wannabe-empanadas were pretty tasty, but could have used a lot more flavoring, a.k.a. spices. I went easy on the spices to start, because Boyfriend and I don't like overly spicy things. In the end, the wannabes reminded me more of just a miniature chicken pot pie than they did empanadas. The good news is that this means the recipe is easily adaptable to whatever flavors you're craving.

Regarding the recipe, measurements are approximate. I don't think I've ever measured my cream or milk for a Béchamel sauce, so I'm not going to be much help in that department. I used 2 sheets of puff pastry, so essentially doubled this recipe; the ingredients and measurements I'm listing are approximate, as I'm trying to halve the recipe.

Ingredients

1 sheet of puff pastry

1 large boneless, skinless chicken breast

1 tbsp unsalted butter

1 tbsp all-purpose flour

heavy cream or milk (at least 2%)

1/8 tsp chili powder

1/8 tsp ground coriander

1/4 - 1/2 pre-packaged nacho/taco cheese mix

Kosher salt

Directions

1. Fill a saute pan with a couple of inches of water. Salt the water, and bring to a boil. Add the chicken breast and cover the pan. Reduce heat to medium-high, and let cook for approximately 7-10 minutes. (This will cook the chicken and keep it nice and juicy.)

2. While the chicken is cooking, make the Béchamel sauce. Melt butter over medium heat and then whisk in flour until fully incorporated. Add heavy cream or milk (start small - 1/2 cup to start, then add more as you go), and continue to stir until sauce has thickened. Sauce should be thicker, but not really thick or heavy. Whisk in chili powder over the heat.

3. Using 2 forks, shred the chicken and place in small bowl. Sprinkle kosher salt and coriander over chicken and stir.

4. Pour Béchamel sauce over the chicken and stir. You want the chicken to be lightly coated, not drenched in sauce. Add cheese to bowl and stir. Set aside.

5. Roll out puff pastry to 12" x 12" square. Cut square into either 9 or 6 squares, depending on how full you want the little pies to be. Place equal amount in the center of each square.

6. Seal each square into a triangle. You can wet your fingertip and run it along the edge of the square to help seal the pies. Use a fork to crimp the edges. I would also recommend using a knife to cut a small slit in the top of each pie to allow steam to escape during baking.

7. Bake pies on aluminum foil-lined baking sheet for 15 minutes at 400 degrees F, or until golden brown on top.

If you want more flavor, I would definitely increase the spices, or add some stronger ones. In addition, for a more southwestern flavor, I might add in some tomato paste or chipotle peppers to the Béchamel sauce. You could also try the following variations:

Italian - crushed tomatos, basil, oregano, Parmesan cheese
Asian - soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger, shredded veggies
Other - caramelized onions, thyme, Cheddar cheese

OOTD: June 21, 22, 23, and 27, 2009

2009-06-28T11:41:00.000-04:00

June 21: For Father's Day we went to my uncle's house for dinner. I wore:

Yellow print dress (Eddie Bauer) [Heavily tailored]
Black sweater with white faux-pearl buttons (Vintage, from my mom)
Black Jinger sandals (Payless)

June 22: Went to work and school. I wore:

Black Publicist pants (Express)
Black beaded cami (Gap Outlet)
Red tie-front sweater (Banana Republic Outlet)
Black chunky boots (Mudd)

June 23: I went to work and school. I wore:

Pink cotton pants (Banana Republic via JCA Exchange)
Black fine rib turtleneck (Gap Outlet)
Pink flower necklace (J.Crew Outlet)
Black Judy round-toe pumps (Payless)

June 27: I had to go to school for the day to work on a school project. I wore:

Dark purple tee (The Limited)
Khaki chino shorts (J.Crew)
Light purple flip-flops (Old Navy)

I have another OOTD from Friday night, but it's on another camera, so I'll post it later!

Gap: Pintucked Drawstring Shorts Review

2009-06-28T10:36:00.000-04:00

These are a pair of shorts from the Gap, the Pintucked Drawstring Shorts (style #620780). The shorts are alpha-sized, and originally retailed for $39.50, with colors on sale online for $19.99 through $34.99. [Again, if you happen to like these shorts, check a local store if you can, as they may be cheaper there.] This is the rolling bay blue color.

I tried these shorts on in a size small. They fit true-to-size, although to be fair, I don't wear a lot of alpha-sized bottoms that aren't skirts; however, I fit into Gap's numerical equivalents to a size small, so I think you'd be safe going with your regular size. If you are on the smaller end of your size range, you could potentially considering sizing down, as the shorts have an elastic waist with a drawstring.

The shorts are a cotton/viscose rayon blend, and they are pretty soft. They're fairly comfortable, with a more relaxed fit and cut. The shorts themselves are also very comfortable - the leg holes are cut very comfortably, and they are a nice lounge/very casual pair of shorts. The fabric is a tad bit on the wrinkly side, but not overly wrinkly.

As I said, these shorts are pretty casual. I don't think there's a really wide range of styling options for these shorts. If you get them in a more neutral color, I think you have some more room to play with color pairings and dressing them up or down a bit more, but in the end, the details and fabric are pretty casual, and don't lend themselves too easily to being dressed up.

The waist is elasticized with a drawstring. There is pleating on the front with slant pockets in the front, and button flap pockets in the back. I don't like the waist detail - there is too much going on for me.

So I left these shorts behind because all I can see when I look at them is gym shorts. They remind me of the pair of shorts I would bring to school once a year, put in my gym locker, and then wear with shame once a week while I attempted to be athletic. I don't mind gym shorts, but I mainly keep them to inside the house (and SCUBA diving - you can wear whatever you want when you go SCUBA diving :)), and I already have a lot of "around the house" shorts.

What do you think? Do you like these shorts? Have you seen them or do you own them? Would you consider picking them up now that they are on sale?

Boyfriend's Current Obsession

2009-06-27T11:49:00.003-04:00

Our local grocery store was running a buy one, get one free special on Sobe's Lifewater. So Boyfriend took advantage of it and stocked up.

J.Crew: Navy Jakarta Shorts Review

2009-06-24T01:41:00.000-04:00

These are J.Crew's Jakarta Shorts (item #15012), which retail for $58. This is the only color they come in (navy). J.Crew notes that they have an "abbreviated fit", are city rise, and have a 3" inseam. They are machine washable. I've included an online picture of the pattern above, as my pictures came out a little blurry.

I tried these on in a size 6. I really liked the fit - I thought it was very comfortable, and fit very true to size. I would not have sized down in them, especially because the size 6 lets me where them just a tiny bit lower on the waist, and get a few more inches of coverage in the leg area.

The fabric is a nice, thick cotton. It isn't quite as stiff as some of other J.Crew's heavily patterned shorts from this eason. I'd liken it to a canvas feelm but a bit softer. It's just a rather basic pair of slightly-sturdier cotton shorts, so not much else to say. There are on-seam pockets, which I like. They work well with the overall design (including pattern) of the shorts.

As for the pattern, I much prefer it on the shorts than on the cardigan or skirt. I think that because the fabric is heavier, the pattern appears a bit more saturated, and I think that really works, especially with the navy color. The color is a nice, rich, dark navy, so that allows you to play with a lot of different color combinations. I think the pattern is pretty versatile, too - you can really dress up these shorts, or keep them casual.

I left these shorts behind because I've already picked up a few pairs this season, and I have realized that I don't really have that many places to wear shorts. If these ever go on sale, I would definitely consider them though!

What do you think? Do you like these shorts? Have you seen them or tried them on? What do you think of the pattern? What do you prefer it in (shorts, sweater, skirt)?

Gap: Eyelet Cami Review

2009-06-23T13:51:00.001-04:00

**So I'm making another change to the reviews, at least for now. I'll be including less or no pictures from the store websites with the reviews. I'll only be including them if I think that the website pictures are misleading or really pretty.**

This is Gap's Eyelet Cami (style #587410), which originally retailed for $54.50, and is on sale online for $48.99 now. [HERE IS A GOOD TIP: If you see something on sale on Gap's website, always always always check out your local Gap, if you can. See this tank? $48.99 online, and I saw it for $17.99 in-store just a couple weekends ago.] Anyway, this tank is alpha-sized, and is available in petite and tall online. It comes in this blue color, white, and a bright yellow.

The sizing on this tank is weird. (Also, if you're looking for it on the website, it's not under "Camis", which is weird, because it's called a cami. It's under "Tops".) I tried this on in a size extra small, because that is what I have been wearing in Gap's tops lately. Everything on this top fit except for the top-most band around the top of the bust. It was pretty tight. I tried this on in a small during another trip, and it was less tight, but still not very comfortable. In the end, I would have gotten this in a medium - I tried that on when it was on sale, and that was the most comfortable fit. The fit of the rest of the top didn't change too much from size to size, so that is a plus.

The fabric is a nice, medium weight cotton. It's actually a bit on the heavier side (for a tank), because there is a lot of embroidery detail, and there are a couple of layers to this tank. That being said, the fabric is a nice, soft cotton. It doesn't move terribly well, but I think part of that is due to the eyelet detailing on the tank.

The silhouette is iffy for me. I think it looks nice from the front, but adds too much volume from the side. It's also pretty long. It hit me on my low hip, but that might be a good length for some of you taller ladies out there.

I thought the allover detailing was nice. There is trim at the bust, along with a little bit of pleating, and then there is an embroidered pattern on the bottom hem that goes about 1/3 up the tank. I like the details, but I can see how they might be too doily-like or old-fashioned for others. I think the white especially would work well as a layering piece or on its own, and would work with a lot of different outfits. If you styled it correctly, you could easily dress this tank up or down.

I left this tank at the store. I was really tempted to pick up the blue and the white when it was $17.99, but in the end, I just wasn't totally in love with it - but I was pretty close to it. I kept getting hung up on the boxy-ish cut coupled with the length, which made the top look a little overwhelming in person.

What do you think? Do you like this top? Do you own it or have you tried it on? What would you pair it with?

J.Crew: Cotton-Silk Strapless Top with Flower Review

2009-06-22T17:19:00.000-04:00

This is J.Crew's Cotton-Silk Strapless Top With Flower (item #16188), which retails for $128. It is numerically sized, and is available in white and bright coral. J.Crew describes the top as such:

A textured blend of cotton and silk beautifully designed into one of our most versatile summer tops. Wear it sassy with jeans and heels or sweet and feminine with a skirt. The detachable silk flower can be pinned onto the bodice or placed in your hair for special occasions. Inside you'll find a corset for extra support. Fitted. Strapless. Exposed back zip. Straight hem. Fully lined. Hits at hip. Import. Dry clean.

I tried this on in a size 4, in the white color. I was a bit iffy on the fit. It took forever to get on correctly (and you wouldn't really think so, right?), and the whole time, it felt like it was going to be too loose and fall off, but in the end, after all the adjusting and whatnot, I think it fit fine. I would have liked to have tried on a size 2 for comparison, but this one was at the tail end of this visit, and it did feel all right in the 4, so I didn't bother. I would say that it mostly fits true to size, but if you are on the smaller end of your size, then you may want to consider sizing down.

The fabric was a really nice, cotton-silk blend (73% cotton, 27% silk). The top is lined in 100% cotton, and is a tad bit on the sheer side. Note that in the picture above, you can just sort of see the shorts through the shirt. This could also be because it was the white color; I'm not sure if you'd have the same issue in the bright coral. The fabric itself is very soft and smooth, and also very light. It is definitely a nice fabric for a late spring/summer top.

The back of this top has an exposed metal zipper, which I was just okay with. It detracts (in my opinion) from the overall light and feminine vibe of this top. I didn't really care for that, but other people may like it, as it sort of adds some "toughness" so to speak to the top. There is "corset" (not really) inside, which is basically just another layer of fabric that zips up the back. This was nice to have, but made the top more difficult to get on (at least get on without help). The length on the top was nice for me, but may be a problem for some of you taller ladies out there.

The flowers are very pretty in real life - I think they photograph pretty true to life, but I don't think they look as big in real life as they do in the model pictures. Maybe the model had hers fluffed or something right before the shoot. The front of the top has a criss-cross pattern with some pleating, which adds some nice detail to the top. The flowers are initially pinned on to the side, but you can remove them and move them to wherever (or remove them altogether).

I like the overall style of the top - it's simple but with some nice details. It would work well on its own, or as a layering piece (probably without the flowers though in that case). I think you can easily dress this piece up or down.

However, my biggest issue with this piece is the price. I'm sure J.Crew has a reason to justify such a steep price, but it is a basic light, white, strapless top. I didn't really note anything particularly special about this top, in the fabric, design, details, quality, etc., that would make it worth $128, but that is just my opinion.

I left this one behind, but only because of the price. If this top were more reasonably priced (and I mean a lot more reasonably priced), I would probably pick one up in each color. I always reasoned with myself that I could just buy a nice white tank and some flowers, and have almost the same thing.

What do you think? Do you like this top? Do you own it (lucky you!) or have you seen it or tried it on? What do you think is a reasonable price point for this top? How much would you pay for it?

Anthropologie: Esmee Dress Review

2009-06-18T13:32:00.000-04:00

This is Anthropologie's Esmee Dress (style #933094), which retails for $98. It is numerically-sized, and is only available in this color, white. Anthropologie describes the dress as such:

Delicate eyelet embroidery and subtle pintucks fill Maeve's breezy voile silhouette.
Side pockets
Side zip
Cotton; cotton lining
Machine wash
36"L
Imported

I tried this dress on in a size 4, and I'll be honest, I was in love with this dress as soon as I saw it on the hanger. The dress fits true-to-size, and fits very comfortably. I'm probably biased, but this dress fit perfectly. I wouldn't have considered sizing up or down in this one.

The fabric is a wonderful cotton that is both soft and light, almost airy. It is a nice, comfortable cotton for the summer. Because of the cotton-on-cotton (due to the cotton lining), the dress itself isn't flowy at all, but the cotton on its own does move fairly well.

I think the dress itself has a nice shape - more fitted on top with a band to accentuate the waist, and then a slight flare in the skirt with a bunch of shirring at the waistline. I think it creates a fairly nice shape from the front, and an okay shape from the side. I also like the length - just about knee-length (so it may be shorter on you taller ladies). The dress also has side, on-seam pockets, which I really like.

The dress has a number of details - pleating on the bodice and again on the hem, as well as some ruffles and embroidered lace-like material. I think these details work well with the overall style of the dress, and especially work because they are all the same color. This way the details don't overwhelm the dress, and it looks a bit more interesting, without being over the top. I know there will be some (including Boyfriend probably) who think that this dress is too old-fashioned looking, but I like that look sometimes.

I like the color on this dress as well. It's a sort of off-white, like a light cream color. I actually prefer that to the white for this dress. I think it works well with the design. I think dress could be a casual dress on its own or with very casual accessories, but I think the cut and details make it a little bit more on the dressy side. The lighter color makes it pretty easy to pair with other colors. I would probably stick to lighter pastels or very dark neutrals for this one.

I took this one home (thank you, Boyfriend!). I haven't worn it out anywhere yet, but the summer weather is hopefully breaking through soon (after 10 days of rain), so I'm sure it will be making an appearance shortly!

What do you think? Do you like this dress? Have you seen it or tried it on? What do you think of the details? Would you like to see this dress in another color?

OOTD: June 18, 2009

2009-06-18T13:03:00.002-04:00

Today's outfit is super simple. Today I'm wearing:

Navy Swiss-dot Fontana dress (J.Crew)
Navy/green/white flat sandals (Merona/Target)
Gold skinny twisted bangle (J.Crew Outlet)

J.Crew: Soft Tee Ruffle Top Review

2009-06-17T16:50:00.000-04:00

This is J.Crew's Soft Tee Ruffle Top (itme #16068), which retails for $39.50. It is available in the following colors: black, navy, heather light grey, fresh melon, natural, heather graphite, weathered stone, and warm blush. This top is alpha-sized. J.Crew describes the top as such:

A sweet ruffled style that's as soft as your most comfy broken-in tee. Pima cotton/lightweight Modal® rayon. Scoopneck. Fitted at chest. Self ruffles across chest. Import. Machine wash.

I tried this top on in a size small in the fresh melon color. I would say that this top runs on the bigger size, but I also think it is made to be loose. I did not try on an extra small for comparison, but I would say that if you don't want it super loose, then try to size down if you can. The small itself fit comfortably and fit well, especially in the bust and shoulders, where it is most fitted.

The fabric on this top is really light - it was much lighter than I was expecting. I was actually thinking that this was going to be more like a somewhat-lightweight jersey fabric, but it is much lighter than that. It is also very soft. This color was not sheer, but you might want to watch out for that if you are trying it in the lighter colors. The fabric moves and drapes very nicely. It's a very loose and flowy top.

The cut of this top is very generous. The most fitted part of the top is around the bust and the shoulder straps, and even that is not very fitted. There is a lot of fabric here, and even though it is light, it still an extremely loose-fitting top. I would say that the cut is fairly forgiving on the middle, but I also think it looks best on straighter figures. As you can see in my pictures, the bottom of it bunches up at my hips, whereas on the model, it stays pretty straight. This is probably due to a combination of the length and my hips.

As for the top ruffle, I think it's okay. I think it actually minimizes the bust (again, might be a combination of the ruffle and the cut of the top), but not sure if this would hold true for all sizes. There is one very large ruffle on the front, and a couple rows of smaller ruffles. I think it's a cute enough detail, but I kind of don't get it.

That being said, I do think it's a pretty cute top, and I think it would work well with a lot of different outfits. I especially think that you could do a lot with the neutral colors, in terms of color pairings and outfit stylings. As for dressing it up and down, it looks like a fairly casual top to me. They've managed to style it on the model so that it looks dressy enough, but I think the pictures are a bit misleading, to be honest.

I left this top behind because I wasn't in love with it. I really liked the fabric, and I would love to pick up some tees in that fabric, but the top just didn't really do it for me.

What do you think? Do you like this top? Have you seen it or do you own it? Which color do you prefer? How would you style it?

OOTD: June 17, 2009

2009-06-17T11:14:00.001-04:00

Today I'm wearing:

Blue-stripe plaid Editor pants (Express)
White button-down shirt (New York & Company)
Blue V-neck cardigan (Gap)
Black square-toe pumps (Payless)

J.Crew: Linen Getaway Dress Review

2009-06-16T13:08:00.000-04:00

This is J.Crew's Linen Getaway Dress (item #15610), which originally retailed for $49.50, with current colors on sale for $39.50. This dress is available in caspian blue, bright citron, dark charcoal, warm desert, fresh melon, sweet papaya, and white. This dress is alpha-sized. J.Crew describes the dress as such:

Simply slip on and go straight from beach to bistro. Linen. Straight bodice. Straight skirt. Tied keyhole. Adjustable ties at neck and waist. Sleeveless. Falls to midthigh. Import. Machine wash.

I tried this dress on in a small, in the fresh melon color. I think the dress fits true-to-size. I didn't try this in the extra small, so I can't comment on whether or not it really runs large or is more true-to-size. I will say that the small was very loose and flowy, but I think that is the cut of the dress. I would recommend starting with your regular size and sizing down for a more fitted shape.

The fabric is a very light linen. It's very breathable and a nice weight for the summer. It moves and flows fairly well. I think that is a combination of the fabric and the cut of the dress. The linen is also a bit on the thin side. It's not sheer in this color, but I would be curious if it were more sheer in the lighter colors.

The cut of the dress is fairly shapeless. It's sort of an A-line shape I would say, with its being a little more fitted at the top, and flaring out towards the bottom. You could maybe size down if you wanted to get a more fitted shape out of this dress, but overall, it is very loose and flowy. I wouldn't look to this dress to get a lot of definition out of it.

The dress does have a tie around the middle that creates a sort of drop waist. It also has a neckline tie that creates a sort of halter/keyhole neckline. I think tying both of these makes the dress look a bit more pulled together (I guess literally and figuratively), and is a nice option to have, as the untied look is extremely casual. I don't think tying the waist really creates that much more definition, but it does help break up the line of the dress a bit.

Personally, I see this dress as a really casual dress, and maybe even as a beach cover-up. The length was fine on me, but it might be on the shorter side for some of the taller ladies out there. I don't know that I would ever really wear this as a dress - maybe as a tunic-like top, say over a pair of shorts, but that is just my personal style. I think it comes in a nice range of colors that are fairly neutral, and will allow you to play with color combinations a lot. Unfortunately, I don't think there is a lot you can do to dress up this dress, given the material, weight, cut, and style of it. I think you can certainly style it a lot of different ways, but I'm just not sure it's up to the task of being dressy.

Here is a close-up of the neckline tie. The tie itself goes around to the back, and creates the same silhouette in the back. The tie itself is very thin.

I left this one behind. I thought it was cute and all, but I know I wouldn't wear it. I would consider it if it went on sale for a beach cover-up though...if I ever went to the beach, that is. :)

What do you think? Do you like this dress? Do you own it or have you tried it on? Which color do you prefer? How would you style it?

J.Crew: Ruffled-Hem Dress

2009-06-16T11:07:00.000-04:00

This is J.Crew's Ruffled-Hem Dress (item #15341), which retails for $78. It is available in nut, caspian blue, and heather cloud. The dress is alpha-sized. J.Crew describes the dress as such:

A ladylike silhouette in our refined, sophisticated viscose jersey. Ruffles at hem. Sleeveless silhouette. V-neck with fitted bodice. Self-tie at empire waist. Falls below knee; 23" from natural waist. Import. Machine wash.

I tried this dress on in a size extra small, in the caspian blue color. I think the dress runs a bit large - I usually wear a size small, and I was able to size down in this dress comfortably. The fit itself is fairly comfortable. I would size this dress primarily based on your bust size, as this is where the dress is most fitted.

The fabric on this dress is a midweight, substantial jersey, which is very soft, but also felt a little less smooth than say the dressy jersey. It's not rough by any means, but it feels a bit more worn and less polished. I actually think that fabric fits this dress really well. The dress was a bit heavier than I expected it to be (just from looking at it), but I wouldn't say that the fabric is heavy, and it definitely doesn't weigh you down.

I think the shape itself is fairly flattering. The empire waist and the tie under the bust helps to create a bit more definition for your midsection. Other than that, the dress hangs in a pretty straight line, but I would say it flares out just a tiny bit at the bottom, but not enough to be noticeable or anything. The dress does move and flow very well, mainly because of the fabric.

One thing I would note about the bust is that it is a little low-cut. I think this is a result of two things, which are related to each other. The tie on the bust did not hit below my bust (ribcage), but actually a little bit on the bust. So thus when I tied below my bust, it may have pulled the front down a bit. And that gets into size a bit - maybe if I wore my regular size, I wouldn't have run into this issue. However, the rest of the dress fit just fine, so you should make this call yourself.

I thought the dress was a bit long, keeping in mind that it is past knee-length on the model even. As for the bottom of the dress, it has three layers of ruffles (two shorter, one longer), and additional rows of trim. I didn't really like the bottom when I saw it in pictures online, but I warmed up to it once I saw it in person. I don't think the bottom is as stiff and heavy-looking in real life as it does online (at least to me).

I think the dress is available in a great palette - a couple of darker neutrals and a light neutral. I think the blue would work with a variety of colors. Personally, I would probably pair the blue with brighter colors, or other light-colored neutrals. This dress strikes me as mostly a casual dress, but I think with the right accessories, you could dress it up a bit.

While I liked this dress, I didn't totally love it, and I know that I would not wear it, so I left it behind.

What do you think? Do you like this dress? Are there any other colors you would have liked to have seen it in? What do you think of the ruffle hem?

OOTD: June 16, 2009

2009-06-16T10:34:00.002-04:00

Psycho Dog says "hello", in the middle of giving his toy fox a good thrashing. Today I'm wearing:

Dark pink Amelia tank (J.Crew)
Light pink ruffle-color cardigan (Old Navy)
Grey pants with light pink stripe (The Limited)
Silver disc necklace (New York & Company)
Black Judy round-toe pumps (Payless)

J.Crew: Navy Ikat Print Mini Skirt Review

2009-06-15T20:07:00.000-04:00

This is the navy print mini skirt from J.Crew that I'm calling the Navy Ikat Print Mini Skirt (item #16577). It retails for $65, and was only available in this color, navy, from what I recall. This skirt is numerically-sized.

I tried this skirt on in a size 8, because that was the smallest size they had in-store. So I cannot really comment on the sizing too much. I actually liked the fit on the 8. It sat lower on my waist (closer to my hips), and the length was a nice, knee-length for me.

The fabric is a lot lighter than most of J.Crew's pencil or mini skirts this season. It's a fairly lightweight and smooth fabric. I want to say it's a cotton, but I'm not positive. I would liken it to a very lightweight cotton sateen, but with a smoother, silkier finish, as opposed to the cotton sateen, which has a bit of a brushed texture. The fabric does not really move or flow that well, but that is mostly because of the cut of the skirt itself. It is a very nice fabric for a slightly dressier summer skirt.

I really liked the fit on this skirt. I can really only comment on it wearing a size that is technically 2 sizes larger than I would normally wear in a mini skirt, but as most of you know, I love my clothes on the looser side, so this one made me very happy, especially because it helped with the length. The skirt itself is a standard mini skirt fit - very straight cut down, pretty much no movement overall.

The skirt has an overall navy and white pattern, which I like. I have to say that I prefer this print on the skirt over the cardigan, but I'm not sure why, as they are the same. I think the pattern works well in this color combination, and allows you to pair the skirt with a wide range of colors. I would keep the top simple, and I think the right accessories would dress this skirt up or down.

I left this skirt behind because I don't have a lot of places to wear it. I liked the feel of it, and though the pattern was cute, but I know I wouldn't wear it much, especially for the price. (If I were to cave and get any of the items in this pattern, it would be the shorts!)

What do you think? Do you own t his skirt? Have you seen it or tried it on? Do you prefer this skirt or the cardigan? How often do you think you would wear this pattern?

Introducing: He Said She Said

2009-06-15T12:00:00.000-04:00

I am extremely excited to announce a new feature on this blog, called He Said She Said. I realize that I'm very lucky to have a boyfriend who will give me incredibly honest feedback on the clothes I like and that I'm trying on. He even spits out a few gems here and there. Some ladies are not as lucky (or unlucky, depending on how you look at it) to have male feedback on clothes or fashion trends.

How many times have you thought something looked great, only to find out the men in your life think it looks less than wonderful? Or have you ever wanted to know what guys really think about women's fashion trends? (My answers: yes and yes.)

So I am very happy to announce that this blog will be partnering with Men's Fashion Deals (have you checked out this blog? If not, you should!) to give you reviews, commentary, and just a general discussion on clothes, fashion trends - basically anything fashion related - from both a female and a male perspective (including features on his blog)!

OOTD: June 15, 2009

2009-06-15T10:55:00.002-04:00

Today I'm wearing:

Light brown heather Editor pants (Express)
Light purple polka-dot lace cami (Gap)
Purple V-neck cardigan (Gap Outlet)
Gold and silver colored circles cuff (New York & Company)
Black Judy round-toe pumps (Payless)

J.Crew: Lightweight Peasant Top Review

2009-06-14T14:11:00.000-04:00

This is a white top from J.Crew that I'm calling the Lightweight Peasant Top (item #17028), which retails for $69.50. It was available in this color, white, and I cannot recall if it was available in other colors (I want to say no, though). It is alpha-sized.

I tried this top on in a size small. I believe this top runs on the bigger size, and would have liked to have tried this on in an extra small. I believe that the fit is supposed to be pretty loose and flowy, but I still think it ran a bit big in my regular size. I would recommend starting with a size smaller, and sizing back up to your regular size if you need/want to.

The fabric on this top is incredibly light, and very, very comfortable. I believe it's cotton, and is very soft to the touch. However, it's also a bit sheer. I think it's a nice, very lightweight fabric for summer, but it feels a bit on the too light size. The fabric hangs very nicely, and moves and flows nicely as well.

The fit is also very comfortable. The sleeves and the body of the top are cut very generously, and the top is very roomy. This top goes on over the head, and goes on and off very easily. The top itself is fairly shapeless, given that it is so loose, and sizing down may help with that. I don't think the top adds too much volume to the midsection from the front, but I think it adds a bit from the side. I think this is partly because of the very loose cut of this top as well, and not necessarily that it is an unflattering fit.

The top has a couple little details near the neckline. There is a bit of smocking right at the neckline, with a tad bit of shirring underneath, which sort of draws the neckline to the center. In addition, there are two sort of shoulder "patches", which are made out of a cream-colored embroidered lace-like material. The "patches" are cream colored, and are see-through (there is no white fabric underneath them). I actually really liked these little details, but I can see how some people might think it makes the top look a little dated.

I personally don't think you can do a ton with this top, in terms of dressing it up or down. I think you can play around with accessories and colors a lot to create a lot of different looks for this top, but because it is so light and casual, I don't know that you could really dress it up very much.

In the end, I left this top behind because again, I wasn't shopping. :) I really like this top, but I think it's a bit overpriced for such a light, breezy top, even in light of the details. I would consider picking this one up on sale though.

What do you think? Do you like this top? Have you seen it or tried it on? How would you style it? Do you think it is worth the price? What other colors would you like to see it in?

J.Crew: Alhambra Petal Cami Review

2009-06-14T12:01:00.000-04:00

This is J.Crew's Alhambra Petal Cami (item #16681), which retails for $78. (Thanks to AppGal over at Musings on the Mountain for the product name information!) This was the only color I recall seeing for this cami (color code CHO (maybe chocolate?), and it is numerically-sized.

I tried this cami on in a size 0, and I believe that it fits true-to-size. On the hanger, the neckline looks a bit more fitted around the neck, but it is actually wider set. Why am I telling you this? I grabbed a 0 in this top because of how the neckline appeared on the hanger, but I think in the end, I would have gone up to a size 2 because of two reasons (below). So my advice would be to start with your regular size to see how you like it, and size up if necessary.

While I think this tank fits fairly true-to-size, I found it to be a bit fitted in the armhole and bust area, so I would have sized up for that reason. Secondly, the neckhole was a little small, especially when trying to get this top off (it didn't help that my hair got stuck in the buttons, too. That was quite a sight - I'm telling you!). Other than that though, the tank was a very nice silhouette. It is a fairly straight cut, but still flattering.

The fabric itself is a nice, light cotton, which is soft to the touch. The cotton is nice and airy, and is a great fabric for a summer tank. The fabric moves fairly well, but because of the cut of the tank and the fact that it's lined, there is not an opportunity for a lot of movement or flow.

As for the pattern/decoration on the tank, I really like it. As someone who likes the napkins on the front of the Tuxedo-Front Cami, I really like these petals on the front of this cami. I think they're a very cute and feminine detail, and because they're the same pattern as the rest of the tank, they don't stand out from the rest of the tank too much to be distracting. The petals are made of the same light fabric, and are not super big - more of a medium-sized petal that add an an interesting detail to the front of the top.

I also like the overall pattern. I am not normally drawn to browns and blues, but I think this combination works very well, especially in this pattern, which is sort of a tile-like pattern. The tiles themselves are pretty small, and make a nice, allover pattern, but I don't think they look very busy, which is a plus. Because of the fairly neutral colors, you can easily pair this tank with a lot of other colors. I think you can also easily dress this tank up and down, which is always nice. I am curious if pairing this tank with a cardigan would detract too much from the petals. I would probably pair this with a V-neck cardigan if I were to layer it.

The neckline itself is also very pretty. It is a 4-string neckline that circles the neck, and hooks in the back with two hook-and-ball fabric closures. I think the neckline details work very well with the feel of the rest of this tank.

I really like this tank, but was trying to be good and not shop on this trip, so I left this one behind. I thought the price was fairly reasonable for the wear I would get out of it, but I will probably wait for this one to go on sale (especially because there are some other pieces I would shell out for over this one at the moment).

What do you think? Do you like this tank? Have you seen it or do you own it? What do you think of the pattern and details? Are there any other color combinations you think this might look nice in?

J.Crew: Pleated Cotton Strati Tank Review

2009-06-14T10:03:00.000-04:00

This is J.Crew's Pleated Cotton Strati Tank (item #16711), which is also available in petites (item #16712) and tall (item #16714). It retails for $88, and is available in dark mushroom, ivory, and warm shell. It is numerically-sized. J.Crew describes the tank as such:

Layers of horizontal pleats add character and texture to this simple tank silhouette. Completely flattering with a classic fit—we love it dressed up or down. Cotton. Sleeveless. Hits at hip. Import. Machine wash.

I tried this top on in a size 0, mainly for a fit comparison, as I tried on the metallic version of this tank in a size 2. As mentioned in the review of the metallic version, I usually wear a size 0 or 2 in sleeveless tanks, and I found that this one fit more true to size. As a reference, I wear a size 2 in the Tuxedo-Front Cotton Cami.

I liked the fit of this tank much better than that of the metallic tank. It was still fairly difficult to get on and off, and is also still fairly fitted at the bottom, but the fit is not as shapeless. It is definitely more fitted on the bust, but not uncomfortably so. The armholes on the size 0 are shorter than those on the size 2, and I think teh overall fit is just a bit cleaner. There is some shape at the bust area, and the cut is a bit more flattering on the midsection, in my opinion.

I think that the side zipper/inability to tuck in this shirt is a bit less noticeable in the smaller size, and while it is still fitted at the bottom, because the fabric is not as stiff, the tank lies a little better on the body.

The fabric itself is a very nice, light cotton, similar to that of the Tuxedo-Front Cami. This fabric is soft to the touch, and is thin enough to make the detailing delicate, but without being sheer or see-through (plus the tank is lined, which is always a plus).

As mentioned before, I like the pattern on this tank. I have to say that I prefer it in the non-metallic pattern, but I that is just my personal taste. As with the metallic tank, I think you can easily dress this tank up or down, and all of the colors it's offered in a nice neutrals, so you can pair it with a lot of colors and styles.

I left this tank behind because I already have a few of the Tuxedo-Front Camis from earlier this season, and I've learned my lesson now that they are all on sale! I will consider picking this one up if it does on sale later at some point though, as I think it's a pretty cute and versatile tank.

What do you think? Do you like this tank? Have you seen it or tried it on? Which colors do you like it in? Do you prefer this style or the metallic one?

J.Crew: Metallic Pleated Cotton Strati Tank Review

2009-06-14T08:59:00.000-04:00

This is J.Crew's Metallic Pleated Cotton Strati Tank (item #15695), which retails for $110. It is available in soft seashell, metallic khaki, and blueberry, and is numerically-sized. J.Crew describes the tank as such:

Layers of horizontal pleats add character and texture to this simple tank silhouette (not to mention the shimmering metallic cotton oxford that really makes it dazzle). Completely flattering with a classic fit—we love it dressed up or down. Sleeveless. Fully lined. Hits at hip. Import. Machine wash.

I tried this on in a size 2, in the soft seashell color. I usually take a size 0 or 2 in sleeveless tops, and I think tank fits fairly true-to-size. I tried the non-metallic tank in a size 0, and liked that fit a bit better, as it was slightly more fitted, but I think the size 2 works as well. I thought the 2 was a bit more comfortable, fit-wise, than the size 0, but I think a lot of it depends on how fitted you want the tank to be.

The fabric on this tank is a medium weight cotton tank, but it is a bit on the stiff side. The fabric itself is fairly stiff, and does not allow for much movement at all, if any. The metallic fabric itself is pretty light, but still does not move very well.

This tank has a side zipper, and it is a bit more fitted on the botttom, which I think lends itself to a little bit of fit problems. It was very difficult for me to get the tank on and off because there is no stretch in the fabric, and the bottom of the tank was more fitted than I would have liked.

As for the silhouette, the tank is fairly shapeless. It has a straight cut overall, and doesn't do much to define your waist. I personally don't like the shape around the bust. I think it makes me look pretty flat-chested, but a little bit bulky (in terms of overall shape) at the same time. I think most of this has to do with the cut of the tank in combination with the stiff fabric. As you can see from this side view, the armholes were a little long in the size 2.

I like the pattern itself, but I was just okay with the metallic color. The seashell color was a warm, muted neutral pink, and I think it worked very well with the metallic sheen of this tank. I don't think the tank is as shiny in real life as it appears in the model pictures, and I think you could easily dress this tank up or down, and that it would work with a wide variety of colors and outfits.

I left this tank behind because I thought the fit was a little weird. I prefer tops that are not a struggle to get in and out of, and this one was a little too much work for me. As pretty as the top is, I also just don't really see myself wearing it that often, and could not justify the price for this tank.

What do you think? Do you like this tank? Have you seen it or tried it on? Do you own it? Which color do you prefer it in? How do you find the sizing on this tank?

J.Crew: Blue Paisley Mini Skirt Review

2009-06-13T19:10:00.000-04:00

This is a mini skirt from J.Crew that I'm calling the Blue Paisley Mini Skirt (item #14856), which retails for $65. I only saw it in this one color, which had the color code BPA, which is where I got the blue paisley color from. I suppose it could also stand for black paisley, as well. It is numerically sized.

I tried this skirt on in a size 4. I found that it fits true to size, and is a fairly comfortable fit. The size 4 is fairly fitted through the hips, so if you are looking for a more relaxed fit, I would go up a size.

The skirt is a fairly standard mini skirt silhouette, with a straight cut down, based on the fit at the hips. I think this skirt was a bit more fitted than some of the other mini skirts I've tried on this season, such as the Owl-Eye Mini Skirt. I think it's a fairly flattering silhouette. It doesn't cling to your lower half, and it doesn't add volume either.

The fabric felt like a nice, midweight cotton sateen. It was a fairly solid, somewhat heavier weight cotton, and definitely had that smooth, sort of velvety texture of cotton sateen. The fabric was a bit on the stiffer side, and didn't move or flow incredibly well, but that may also be due to the shape of the skirt itself.

I thought the length on the skirt was very nice, but taller ladies may find that it's a bit too short. This came to a little bit above my knees.

The pattern was a saturated, cobalt blue background with a black paisley-like allover print. The print itself is fairly large, and I think the black works nicely with the blue color. It provides a contrast, but it's not a jarring or overwhelming color difference. I think you could probably wear a lot of different colors with this skirt, and I think you could easily style it as a fairly casual or more dressy piece (depending on the situation, of course). However, it's a fairly eye-catching pattern with a very solid blue color, so I think it would be best paired with simpler tops and accessories.

I left this skirt behind. I know I wouldn't really wear this skirt that much, both because of the length, and because of the pattern. While I know that the skirt would work with a lot of different options, I'd be reluctant to wear this skirt often because the pattern is so noticeable, but this is just my personal style. I think the colors on this skirt are very pretty, and it is a gorgeous design overall. I would have been interested in seeing this skirt in some other, lighter color combinations as well (say a light pink or purple with cream).

What do you think? Do you like this skirt? What would you pair it with? Are there any other colors you would like to see it in? Are there any other garments you would like to see this pattern on?

J.Crew: Boatneck Microstripe Long-Sleeve Tee Review

2009-06-13T17:58:00.000-04:00

This is a long-sleeve tee from J.Crew that I'm calling the Boatneck Microstripe Long-Sleeve Tee (item #16863), which retails for $29.50. It is available in this white and navy microstripe pattern, as well as a white and light grey microstripe. It is alpha-sized.

I tried this on in a size small, in the navy stripe pattern. I actually prefer the grey stripe pattern, but I tried it on in the navy stripe because I thought it might photograph better. I found that this tee fits true-to-size, with a very comfortable fit. However, I think it's a bit tighter around the middle, and is pretty fitted in that area, so if you're looking for a more relaxed or forgiving fit, I would go a size up. I think the sleeves are supposed to be 3/4, but on me, they are almost full-length.

The fabric is a nice, comfortable jersey knit, with a decent amount of stretch. I think this tee has a bit more stretch than some of J.Crew's other tees, and I found this tee to be a bit clingier than other tees I've tried on this season. This might have a bit to do with the fabric as well, as jersey/knits are naturally a bit stretchier. The fabric is very smooth and cool, and is a nice, somewhat lightweight fabric.

The fabric is not very forgiving, in my opinion. The shirt itself isn't that tight, but because of the fairly clingy fabric, it does not help you hide anything. I really like boatneck necklines, but this one was really hard to get it to sit properly. I think a combination of the neckline and the fabric made the tee a little difficult to easily arrange it on your body. I remember fiddling around with it for what felt like way too long to get the tee to lie smoothly and get the boatneck to sit properly.

The nice thing about this boatneck is that it is not super wide, so you can still get away with wearing a regular bra (as opposed to one with wider-set straps).

I like the pattern on this shirt, and I think the microstripe is very flattering. It doesn't make you look wider the way some wider stripes do. To me, this tee is more for a casual look. I know you could dress this tee up with the right accessories, but the combination of the fabric and pattern lend itself to a more casual look (in my opinion).

I like this tee, but I would have preferred it if it were a little less clingy. I thought the pattern was nice and classic, and was at a very reasonable price point. In the end however, I wasn't really on a trip for buying, so I left this one behind. If I ever did pick it up, I would size up (for my comfort level), and probably buy this in the grey stripe color.

What do you think? Do you like this tee? Which color do you prefer? Are there any other colors you would like to see? What would you pair this tee with?

J.Crew: Stone Bead Tee Review

2009-06-13T16:09:00.000-04:00

This is a new tee from J.Crew, which I'm calling the Stone Bead Tee (item #16636). It is available in this color, which I believe is mineral grey, as well as an ivory colored tee with blue stones. It retails for $58, and is alpha-sized.

I tried this tee on in a size medium, because they did not have any size smalls in this pattern in the store, and I really wanted to try it in the grey color. I believe this tee fits true-to-size. The medium was a bit loose on me (and is honestly the way I prefer to wear tees), so I would say that you should probably try your regular size in this tee.

I believe that the fabric is a ringspun cotton, and it felt a bit softer and more refined than some of the other ringspun cotton tees I've tried on this season, which were a bit rougher. It definitely was not a slub or tissue cotton. The fabric was nice and soft, and has a bit of stretch in it.

I would imagine that the shape would be more fitted in the smaller size, and would accentuate your shape more. I like the more relaxed look of the medium, and I prefer shirts where I don't have to worry about overeating at lunch. :) Either way, I would imagine that this shirt fits similar to other ringspun and decorated tees from this season (meaning pretty true-to-fit, but with a more fitted silhouette), but I cannot say for certain.

The tee has a spray of stone beads on the upper left shoulder. Other than that, the tee is plain. I think this allows to the tee to be a pretty versatile piece. I think you could easily wear it casually or dress it up a bit. I think the beading is very pretty, and I think the colors work together very well.

However, I think the beads are pretty heavy. They don't weight down the tee or anything, but they are pretty substantial. They are not really like some of J.Crew's other embellished tees where the decoration was noticeable, but very light feeling. You can definitely feel these stones through the shoulder.

Here is a close-up of the beads. I think they are laid out in a very pretty pattern, and are a combination of light pink, white, and clear beads.

I ended up leaving this tee behind because of the weight of the tee and the price. I have already splurged on a few of J.Crew's embellished tees this season, and while I think the tee is very cute and versatile, I don't know how often I would wear it.

What do you think? Do you like this tee? Have you seen it or tried it on? Which color do you prefer? Are there other color combinations you would have liked to see this tee in?

J.Crew: Poplin Cargo Jacket Review

2009-06-13T13:35:00.001-04:00

This is J.Crew's Poplin Cargo Jacket (item #14962), which retails for $98. It is alpha-sized, and is available in two colors, utility green and bronzed sand. J.Crew describes the jacket as such:

A stylish update on a utilitarian silhouette, in cotton paper poplin, with a chic cinch tie at the waist. Classic fit. Straight shape. Hooded, with zipper and snap closure. Long sleeves. Functional buttons at cuffs. Chest pocket, patch pockets. Stitching details on jacket. Unlined. Hits at low hip. Import. Machine wash.

I tried this jacket on in a size small, but I think it runs a little on the larger size. I looked at a size extra small on the hanger, and initially thought I should try that size, but I am not the best judge of sizes on hangers, and I'm lazy, so I just went with the small. The size small was a bit too big. I think your regular size might be okay if you were wearing a lot of clothes underneath or were going for a much looser, relaxed fit, but if you want a bit more fitted shape, then I would size down in this one.

The fabric is a light cotton, that I would say almost has a papery feel to it. It's a pretty smooth fabric on its own, but I think it has purposely sort of rumpled look to it. The fabric is very comfortable, and is extremely light, both in texture and in actual weight. It's a great fabric for a summer coat.

The fit of the coat is very generous, with a fairly shapeless silhouette. However, there is a drawstring around the waist that allows you to cinch the coat and create a nice, relaxed shape. At the same time, I wouldn't look to this coat to be super shape-defining, as it seems like it's more meant to be a casual jacket. I like the length of the coat, as it hits at the top of the thigh for me The coat zips up the front, and snaps closed. Even though the ran a bit big and was pretty loose, it doesn't add much bulk around the middle, which is a plus.

The coat itself includes a hood and a bunch of pockets on the front. I thought the pockets were okay, and actually didn't notice them that much. I don't know how functional they would be, as the fabric is very light, and if you put a lot of things in the pockets, they would look bulky and/or weighed down. I did not try this on with the hood on, but it's the same fabric as the rest of the coat.

The green color is pretty true to the picture in real life, and in the way its depicted online. It's a warm, green-grey color that works with a variety of other colors.

I'll be honest - I really expected to dislike this coat, but I actually think it is kind of cute. I think it works well as both types of jackets - a layering jacket (similar to a blazer), and an outdoor, worn-for-the-weather jacket. But I also think it's a bit pricey for such a lightweight jacket, and I know I probably wouldn't end up wearing it that much. To be honest, if I were to get a jacket like this, I would probably pick up the military jacket from earlier this season.

What do you think? Do you like this jacket? Do you own it or have you tried it on? Which color do you prefer?

J.Crew: Navy Ikat Print Cardigan Review

2009-06-13T10:54:00.001-04:00

This is a new sweater from J.Crew that I'm calling the Navy Ikat Print Cardigan (item #16919), which retails for $88. It is available in this one color, navy, and is alpha-sized.

I tried this sweater on in a size small. I would say that it fits true-to-size, and is a fairly comfortable fit - not too tight, and not too loose. This sweater was almost long sleeved on me, so I think maybe it is supposed to be a three-quarter length sweater. The shape is a fairly standard cardigan shape, and doesn't create much waist definition.

The fabric itself is a lightweight cotton, I believe. It has a silkier texture than some of the other lightweight sweaters J.Crew has introduced this season. It is very smooth, and nice to the touch. It has a little bit of stretch to it, too.

As for the pattern, I think it is pretty, and definitely eye-catching. This isn't a sweater you could get away with wearing multiple days in a week, but because of the navy color, which is a darker navy, this sweater can easily be paired with a lot of different colors. However, it's also a pretty busy pattern, so I would mostly see this with simpler pieces.

I left this sweater behind because while I think the pattern is pretty, I don't think I would wear it that much. The pattern is a little too much for me on top, but that is just my personal taste. I think you could easily dress up or dress down this cardigan, depending on how you style it. Another reason I left this sweater behind is because of the price, especially knowing that I would hardly ever wear it.

What do you think? Do you like this sweater? Have you seen it or tried it on? Do you own it? What would you pair it with?

J.Crew: Ink Dot Printed Claudine Dress Review

2009-06-13T06:09:00.000-04:00

This is J.Crew's Printed Claudine Dress (item #15194), which retails for $148. I've added Ink Dot to the front of the name because the pattern is sort of reminiscent of that, and is a bit more descriptive than just "Printed Claudine Dress", which is what my PS told me the name of this dress is. The dress is also available in petite sizes. This navy is the only color that the dress is available in, and the dress is alpha-sized.

I tried this dress on in a size 2, as I heard some early reports that the dress runs a bit on the larger size. I found this to be mostly true, but as I did not try on a size 4, I cannot really comment on true-to-size the dress is. The main measurements for this dress are the bust and the waist, so ladies with a larger bust may find that their regular size fits just fine. I would recommend starting with a smaller size, and grabbing both the smaller and your regular size if you can.

In addition, there is a tiny bit of elastic in the waist, so that gives you a bit more room to play with in the waist, as it stretches very nicely. Just to give you a bit more detail on the sizing with regards to the elastic in the waist, there was still a bit of stretch in the size 2 for me (and trust me, I am not a size 2 in the waist).

The dress is made of a very nice, lightweight cotton fabric. The cotton is very airy, and moves very nicely. It is soft to the touch, and is a nice weight for a spring and summer dress.

The design of this dress is a more fitted bodice and a fuller skirt. There is a bunch of pleating on the bodice, as well as on the skirt. There is also a fabric covered belt in the same pattern as the dress, which is included with the dress. The dress has the very thin, belt loops for the belt, which helps to cinch and define the waist. I didn't find that the skirt of the dress adds a tremendous amount of volume, but I also prefer fuller skirts, so I am probably a little biased. :)

The dress has a bit of a retro vibe to me, given the overall shape (fuller on top, narrower at the waist, and fuller skirt), and has a very nice silhouette. I think the pattern itself is very pretty, as the dots appear in a somewhat random pattern, and have a bit of a blur effect to them on the edges. I think it's a fun pattern, and I think it works very well in the navy. Again, I am also biased here because I love polka dots. The navy is a pretty dark navy, very close to black, so I think you could easily pair this dress with many different colors.

The straps on this dress were just a tiny bit too long, but I thought the overall length of the dress was very nice. It hit just below my knees, so it would be a bit shorter on those taller than me (which I think is most people). The straps have those bra strap holder loops that allow you to sort of "clip" your bra to the straps of the dress and prevent slippage. The armholes are a very generous cut, and are very comfortable as well. The neckline is a nice, modest scoopneck.

I unfortunately do not think this dress is super versatile. While you can certainly pair this dress with the right accessories to make it more on the casual side, I think the silhouette and allover pattern make it a bit more dressy. I see this dress at a summer garden or cocktail party, maybe paired with a light cardigan and some strappy sandals. I'm not sure, however, that you could really pair this with much to dress it down much more than that.

I absolutely love this dress. I love dresses with this silhouette, and I think the pattern is very pretty and classy. I did not, however, take this dress home, because I've already pre-ordered it in petites. I'm hoping that this will help with the strap length and how long the dress is. While I love the navy color, I would have loved to see this dress available in a pastel print as well (although my wallet is glad it's not). Even though this isn't the most versatile dress, and isn't super inexpensive, I really love it!

What do you think? Do you like this dress? Do you like the silhouette? Are there any other colors you would like to see it in? What would you pair it with?

J.Crew: Lightweight Short-Sleeve Cardigan Review

2009-06-12T10:30:00.000-04:00

This is a cardigan from J.Crew that I'm calling Lightweight Short-Sleeve Cardigan (item #16932), which retails for $49.50. I saw this in-store in this color, stone, and I don't recall seeing any other ones (but admittedly, I didn't really look for any). This sweater is alpha-sized. I tried this sweater on in a size small, in the stone color.

This sweater fit true-to-size, but I thought the fit itself was a bit weird. The buttons pulled at each other, and it almost looked like the sweater was too small if you were just to look at the buttons. I think this might have been a result of the fabric itself being so light and sort of clinging to the tee underneath.

The fabric is pretty leightweight, and I am pretty sure it is a cotton. The fabric is not as light as the featherweight cardigans with the jewel-like beads that were out earlier this season - the fabric is most like that of the Beaded Etoile Cardigan. It is very light and smooth, and will be very comfortable in the summer. Like other lightweight cotton cardigans, the fabric is fairly soft.

I think the color of this cardigan is a very nice neutral, and would work with pretty much any other color, so that is always nice.

The cardigan itself is a fairly standard short-sleeve cardigan, with small rib trim on the sleeves and the hem. This cardigan also has two small pockets on the front of the sweater, which also have small rib trim. I go back and forth on pockets on sweaters, but these are on the smaller side, and blend in very well with the rest of the sweater. As you can see in the picture below, the buttons were already pulling again by the time I got to this picture.

I think the design of the sweater is simple enough that it will work with many different outfits, and will work dressed up or dressed down. If you are in the market for a lightweight, simple, neutral sweater for the summer, this one is probably worth checking out, especially for the price.

I left this sweater behind because I was not on a buying trip. I wasn't a huge fan of the way the buttons pulled, but other than that, I liked this sweater. It is a nice, lightweight sweater that can be styled various ways, and is reasonably priced, especially for J.Crew.

What do you think? Do you like this sweater? Have you seen it or tried it on in-store? What other colors would you like to see this in?

Psycho Dog Friday: Oops, He Blinked! and Video Fun

2009-06-12T08:22:00.000-04:00

Psycho Dog often blinks when I'm taking his picture, and I think it's just so cute!

Here's a video below of some scenes from Purina's Incredible Dog Challenge, which is really fun to watch. The national competition was on ESPN last night, and some (okay, all) of these dogs are amazing to watch. Kuds to the dedicated handlers/owners/trainers who make this show so fun! My favorite event is probably the Jack Russell terrier hurdle race, which starts around the 1:05 mark. Keep an eye out though, it's very quick! The diving dogs event is also very cute. Enjoy! :)

OOTD: June 11, 2009

2009-06-11T22:28:00.001-04:00

Today I'm wearing:

"Sarula" jeans (Express) [These are at least 5 years old, and are my absolute favorite pair of jeans)
Perfect fit V-neck tee in breeze (J.Crew)
Open knit cardigan in black (Old Navy)
Black flip-flops (Old Navy)

OOTD: June 10, 2009

2009-06-10T13:40:00.000-04:00

Today is a little rainy and overcast, and I'm wearing:

Black Publicist pants (Express) [hemmed for flats]
Blue sweater (Banana Republic Outlet)
Grey/blue plaid pointy-toe ballet flats (Target)

I also wore my hair down for the first time in probably months (trust me, this is big!).

OOTD: June 9, 2009

2009-06-10T13:30:00.001-04:00

Here is yesterday's OOTD:

Light grey silk dupioni skirt (J.Crew)
Black knit cami (Gap Outlet)
Lemon pewter sorbet-stripe cardigan (J.Crew)
White and grey flower sash (J.Crew Outlet)
Black "Jinger" sandals (Payless)

Gap: The Dip-Dyed Summer T Review

2009-06-10T11:53:00.000-04:00

This is Gap's Dip-Dyed Summer T (style #655031), which retails for $18.50. (At the time of this review, Gap is running a promotion on "Summer Deals", and this tee is on sale for $15.) This tee is available in petite and tall (only petite is showing up right now), and is available in a few different colors, but only cocoa is showing up online. [You will probably have better luck in-store for this tee.] Gap describes the tee as such:

Look no further for the perfect warm weather T. Ours is light and irresistibly soft to the touch--plus it comes in a rainbow of saturated shades. Each one has a unique personality thanks to the cool ombre effect.

I tried this tee on in a size small. I think it fits true-to-size, and would not have sized down in this one. I would have sized up if I were going for a more relaxed fit (my preferred), but my regular size worked out fine.

The fabric on this tee is a slightly coarser cotton (a slub cotton, they say), but it is not rough or uncomfortable. There is a bit of stretch in this tee, and it is a bit clingy, so if there are any problem areas (especially in the middle) that you want to hide, this tee is probably not the best candidate for the job.

The tee is a tad on the sheer side, but luckily, the obmre pattern helps hide most of the sheerness on the top. At least it did with the color I tried on - it may vary by color. I like the ombre/dip-dye pattern, but I wish that the transition had been a tiny bit more subtle. The shirt goes from such a saturated to non-saturated shade of blue, and it all sort of seems to transition right under the bust. I would have liked to have seen a more gradual change in color, but oh well.

I think the tee would work well for a variety of casual bottoms, and even some slightly dressier bottoms, but I would see myself mainly wearing this out and about, pairing it with jeans, shorts, or maybe a cute skirt. It's certainly more interesting than your plain old tee, and having the multiple shades of a single color allows you to be creative when pairing it with other colors (at least in mind).

I left this tee at the store because I have too many tees, and don't really need another one. I also prefer softer, jersey tees, to "textured" ones, if you will. However, I do think this is a nice way to jazz up a regular tee, and you can get a lot of wear out of this one. At $15 or $18.50, I think it's a fairly reasonable price, too. (And to be honest, if I were going to buy a dip-dye tee, I'd probably go with Express's, as I love the fabric.)

What do you think? Do you like this tee? What do you think of the dip-dye/ombre pattern showing up more this season? What colors would you like to see this tee in?

Gap: White Chevron-Striped A-Line Dress Review

2009-06-10T09:44:00.000-04:00

This is Gap's White Chevron-Striped A-line Dress (style #620797), which retails for $59.50. It is numerically sized, and is also available in petite and tall. It is available in this one pattern, railroad. (However, the same style is available in black/pinstripe as style #620794.) Gap describes the dress as such:

An understated chevron print seamlessly highlights a flattering A-line silhouette, making for an elegant dress that you can count on for any occasion.

I tried this dress on in a size 6, as it was the only one close to my normal size 4 that they had in store. The size 6 fit very well, and was a very comfortable fit. It was just tiniest bit loose in the bust, so I would have liked to have tried on a size 4 for comparison, but the 6 definitely worked. Because I wasn't able to try on my regular size, I can't make a judgment call on how true-to-size this is. I would suggest starting with your regular size, and then potentially sizing up based on how it feels in the bust.

The fabric is a really nice, midweight cotton, almost like a twill or chino fabric. It is fairly soft, and moves very nicely. The A-line shape in combination with the empire waist and the band underneat the bust helps to create some shape, while still allowing the dress to move and flow.

The pattern is a very pretty pale grey all-over chevron stripe. It reminds me of seersucker stripes, but without the texture. Only the bottom half of the dress is really chevron though, meeting in the middle and creating a line down the front. The rest of the dress has the stripes either horizontally or vertically, and usually in a contrasting direction to the adjacent parts of the dress (if that makes sense). Overall, I think it's a pretty cute pattern. The monochrome allows you to do a lot in terms of accessorizing this dress with colors, and with dressing it up and down.

The bodice of the dress has 3 patterned buttons down the front, which are also a cute little touch. I like that they are also done in the same pattern, keeping with the contrasting look, because it's a cute enough detail on its own to make the dress interesting, but still subtle enough that it can be worked into however you style it.

The dress was a tad too long for me for a summer dress; I would have preferred it a couple of inches shorter. (I know, I know, ongoing issue.)

Here are the product details. I am almost always a fan of topstitching in casual clothing.

I think this dress is very cute. I didn't try it on with the strap because it was all curled up in the little envelope and I was getting tired of trying on clothes this trip, but it does look cute with the strap on the model. Even though this dress was a pretty good deal and I had a coupon, I left this one behind because I just know I probably wouldn't wear it that much.

On a separate note, I also would have liked to be able to try this on in a petite, just to see how it differed in fit from the regular size, especially in the length.

What do you think? Do you like this dress? Have you seen it or tried it on? Do you own it? Are there any other colors you would have liked it in?

J.Crew: Sunbleached Crinkle Flower Tee Review

2009-06-10T09:30:00.000-04:00

This is J.Crew's Sunbleached Crinkle Flower Tee (item #19095), which retails for $42.50. It is alpha-sized, and is available in ivory and caspian blue. J.Crew describes the tee as such:

Soft, airy ringspun cotton with an addictive texture and a light, cool handfeel, embellished with darling flowers in silk habotai (which means "light as feathers"). Fitted. Crewneck. Short sleeves. Straight hem. Hits at hip. Import. Machine wash.

I tried this on in a size small in the caspian blue color. I think the fit is true-to-size, and it's a fairly comfortable fit. The shirt has some stretch to it, so it's a bit on the clingy size, but I think it still fits. I would have liked it to be a bit looser on the arms, and I would not size down in this one. If you're looking for a more relaxed fit, then you can definitely try sizing up.

The fabric is the standard ringspun fabric, so a light to medium weight cotton with a bit of stretch and texture. I wouldn't go so far as to say that it's a coarse feel, but I also wouldn't call it smooth, either. The fabric isn't super thin or super thick - it's probably somewhere in the middle, but closer to the thin side, I would say - and the caspian blue tee is not see through, which is always nice.

I think the pattern is...interesting. I am honestly not such a fan, but I think that's because I'm not really taken with darker colors like this. I would have liked to have tried this on in the ivory color, to see if that makes a difference. The flower pattern is very nice to the touch, and is done very well. The texture of the pattern and the pattern itself work fairly well with the tee, I think.

Because the pattern is fairly simple (in terms of color and design), and sticks with a dark palette, I think you could easily pair this with a number of different bottoms and layering pieces, in a variety of colors.

I left this tee behind because I am not crazy about the pattern. I have seen others in the blog circle totally pulling off this tee, but I am not super into the pattern for myself. I know that I could not justify paying so much for a tee I would pretty much never wear.

What do you think? Do you like this tee? Do you own it? Which color do you prefer? What would you pair it with? What colors would you wear with it?

J.Crew: Fan Eyelet Mini Review

2009-06-09T16:42:00.000-04:00

This is J.Crew's Fan Eyelet Mini (item #12923), which originally retailed for $98, and is currently on sale ($79.99 at last check). It comes in this one color, white, and is numerically sized. J.Crew describes the skirt as such:

Dainty and demure, our cotton eyelet skirt is delicately detailed with a fan pattern and scalloped hem. We finished it with a pretty grosgrain waistband. Slight A-line shape. Sits lower on waist. Side zip. Fully lined. 16" long. Import. Dry clean.

I tried this skirt on in a size 4 and I think it fits fairly true-to-size. I think it's a pretty comfortable fit, and lends itself towards the tighter side, which is nice or not nice in a mini skirt depending on how you look at it. ;) The length on the skirt was pretty nice - almost a regular skirt for me. If you wanted to get more length out of the skirt, I think you could size up.

The fabric on this skirt is a nice, solid cotton. I would say it's a little bit more on the stiffer side, but it is still nice to the touch, and fairly light. It doesn't move terribly well, but I think that's more of an effect of the cut and silhouette of the skirt itself, rather than being due to the fabric. I think the skirt is a tad bit on the sheer side. Notice that even in the model's picture, you can see where her tee-shirt begins. I guess this just means be careful what you wear underneath.

I think the pattern is very pretty. It has the allover fan shapes with the eyelet pattern on them, and they create a very feminine-looking scalloped hem on the bottom. The grosgrain ribbon waistband is also a very nice, sweet touch.

I think this skirt is fairly versatile, depending on the length you wear it at and how tightly you wear it. Because it's white, you can easily pair it with a whole bunch of different colors and accessories to dress it up or down. I think the pattern also easily translates from casual to more dressy occasions.

In the end, I left this skirt behind because of the length (have said before I'm not a mini skirt person, and will probably say it in every review of them I do, unfortunately) and because of the price. I thought $98 was a bit too much to spend on this skirt, given that I would hardly ever wear it. That said, I do think it is a really pretty skirt, and if I had some place to wear it, I might be tempted by it now that it's on sale.

What do you think? Do you like this skirt? Do you own it? Would you have liked to see it come in any other colors?

OOTD: June 8, 2009

2009-06-09T15:07:00.000-04:00

This is what I wore to work/school yesterday. Psycho Dog didn't bother changing his clothes yesterday, lazy bum.

Green pencil skirt (Banana Republic Outlet)
Green Dots-n-Folds cami (The Limited)
White V-neck cardigan (Gap Outlet)
Bronzed twig Cate patent slingbacks (J.Crew)

Anthropologie: Kerchief Dress Review

2009-06-09T11:03:00.000-04:00

This is Anthropologie's Kerchief Dress (style #933100), which retails for $168. It is by Edme and Esyllte, and is alpha-sized. It is available in this one color, green motif. Anthropologie describes the dress as such:

An ethnic pattern and easy shape mimic the style of a free-flowing scarf. By Edme & Esyllte.

Removable sash
Pullover styling
Silk; acetate lining
Dry clean
36.5"L
Imported

I tried this dress on in a size small. I found that it fit true-to-size, and was a very comfortable fit. I think it was a little bit loose/blousy on the top, but it fit very comfortably around the waist. The armholes were a fairly generous cut, so I would size this dress based on your bust measurement. I would say that if you are on the smaller end of your dress size range, you can try sizing down.

Both the silk outer and acetate lining are very light and soft. The overall dress is nice and smooth, and a very cool fabric for warm weather. The fabric moves and flows nicely, but it is not particularly drapey. The skirt is sort-of A-line, but leading towards a straighter profile, with a very generous cut, which gives you some room to play with in the bottom.

There is a very pretty sash that matches the purple in the pattern. The online pictures have this sash tying in the back, but I tied it to the side, and I think it looked okay. The neckline starts as a square neck, with the wide straps, and then goes into a modest-to-deep V-neck. I am not the biggest fan of these sort of "hybrid" necklines, and would have liked this better as a squareneck, I think. This dress also has on-seam pockets, which I really like, and they are at a pretty comfortable angle.

As for the pattern, I think it is just okay. I am not the biggest fan of it, although I do love the rich shade of purple that is used throughout the dress. I think I would have liked it better paired with a cooler shade of green. I also don't get the big pattern right smack in the front (and back) of the dress. This is the third or fourth pattern I've seen/reviewed this season that seems to be drawing attention to your bottom half, and I'm not really a fan of that. This is really a function of the way the fabric was cut to the pattern, but it still kind of bugs me. I think I would be more into it if the placement or distribution were a bit different.

I left this dress behind, mainly because of the price, and also because I wasn't just totally loving this one. While I love sashes and purple and dresses, I just knew I would never wear this.

What do you think? Do you like this dress? Have you seen it or tried it on? Do you own it?

Gap: Cut-Off Jean Shorts Review

2009-06-09T09:54:00.000-04:00

These are Gap's Cut-Off Jean Shorts (style #646529), which retail for $44.50. They are numerically-sized, and are allegedly available in petite and tall (neither tab is showing up on the website right now). They are available in this one color, deconstructed dark. Gap describes the shorts as such:

Cut-off jean shorts are the ideal summer staple--great for adding rugged style to warm-weather looks.

I looked for a size 6 in these, but they only had them in-store in a size 4, so I went with those. The 4s were a little snug all-around, and while they "fit" and all, I wouldn't feel comfortable wearing them. I would suggest starting with your regular shorts size, and then sizing down if you are on the small end of the size range.

These are a fairly standard set of denim shorts. The denim is a nice, medium weight, good quality-feeling denim. I think the shorts are cut to be a little tighter to work with your natural curves (because isn't that part of the reason why denim cut-offs exist? To show off curves?), but I would say they are uncomfortably tight.

The fraying on the cut-off part is very minimal, and looks a little more polished than actual cut-offs, or trying-too-hard cut-offs. There are a couple of very small spots of distressing, which I think actually work well on these shorts, as they are tiny.

I will say that these shorts are awfully short (again, maybe part of the nature of denim cut-offs?), but they also sit lower on the waist, so if you are concerned about the length, you could always try sizing up to get a little bit more length.

I really like the color on these shorts, too, but that is really just personal preference - I prefer classic or dark blue rinses (but not dark dark rinses) for my jeans, so this color was right up my taste alley.

These shorts are a pretty decent pair of denim shorts, and while I think they're a great wardrobe staple for the summer, I'm not sure how differently they can be styled. I think there is only so much you can do with a pair of super short denim cut-offs, even if they are rather cute. I cannot think of how to dress these up (and I mean really dress up, not spruce up and look stylish), but I do think you can easily pair them with a lot of different casual summer tops.

All in all, I think they are a pretty good buy if you don't already own a pair of cut-offs, or if you're looking for a new pair. I was hesitant about getting these because of the length, but after I looked at the pictures some more, I decided to pick these up in a size 6. (The best part is that Gap was running 30% off shorts at the time AND let me combine my 25% off coupon with that. So a really good deal.)

What do you think? Do you like these shorts? Do you have any pairs of cut-offs that you love? What would you pair these with?

J.Crew: Garden Tunic Review

2009-06-08T19:39:00.000-04:00

This is J.Crew's Garden Tunic (item #15688), which retails for $69.50, and is currently on sale for $49.99. The tunic is alpha-sized, and is available in sweet papaya, white, and shell. J.Crew describes the tunic as such:

The spray of hand-placed, raw-edged petals adds a modern touch to this classic boho style. Cotton. Self fabric. Straight bodice. V-neck. Three-quarter sleeves. Unlined. Falls to midthigh. Import. Machine wash.

I tried the tunic on in a size extra small, in the shell color. I think the tunic runs a bit on the big side, but not as much as the other cover-up I tried on. This cover-up also has longer sleeves, and the sleeves are fairly true-to-size, maybe a bit on the bigger size. These sleeves "fit" me, but I would have liked them a little looser, especially for a cover-up. I would imagine they would have fit better in a size small, my normal top size.

The tunic falls to about mid-thigh, and has a slightly flared shape towards the bottom, which allows you to walk/move around comfortably. The tunic shape itself is fairly shapeless though.

The fabric is a very soft and light cotton, which does allow the fabric to move slightly.

The neckline of the tunic has a sort of keyhole neckline. The entire neckline is trimmed in cotton flower petals, similar to those on the front of the Garden Dress, but with only one row. The petals go around the neckline, and along the sides of the keyhole. There is a skinny tie at the neckline that closes the neckline and keyhole.

I don't particularly care for the ties on the top. I think the petal detail is nice, but I am not crazy about the tie. I don't really like the way it looks when it is tied, and the ties just sort of hang there when it's not tied. Notice in the model pictures that when it is not tied, it creates a rather pretty V-neck, but I still think it would be better off with the ties.

As a beach cover-up, I think it would have worked better with shorter sleeves, or sleeveless. If you are looking for this to multi-task as a tunic top, then you should note that the neckline is pretty deep, and that it is fairly sheer. That said, I do think it is a pretty cute tunic.

I left this behind because I didn't need a tunic, and I wasn't totally in love with this one. And again, I hardly ever go to the beach, so I wouldn't really have much use for it. I will say though that if I did end up picking this one up, the first thing I would do is get rid of those ties!

What do you think? Do you like this tunic? Do you like the petals on the neckline? What do you think of the ties? Which colors do you like? Would you wear this as a beach cover-up, a tunic, or both?

Banana Republic: Cotton Embroidered Dress Review

2009-06-08T15:29:00.000-04:00

This is a Banana Republic dress that I believe came out last spring/summer, but I'm not entirely certain; it could have been the year before that, too. Before I get to the review, I need to give you a little background. Boyfriend and I were strolling through the mall one day, and we popped into Banana Republic, and this dress was right in the front. I tried it on, and...I honestly can't even remember what I thought of it. Boyfriend and I were discussing the dress recently, and he thought I hated it, but I didn't have that same recollection.

Boyfriend: oooh, now I remember it
you hated it after you put it on! (or did you just lie??)
Me: no, i didn't think i hated it? :(
i might have just lied

Either way, this is one of those rare garments that I actually regretted not buying. There aren't many things I actually regret buying - I eventually move on and don't really think about things any more, but this is one that I always wished I had taken home. Well, thus began the internet hunt to find this dress. I was at a bit of a loss because I couldn't remember what it was called, and couldn't remember exactly when it came out. A few searches on eBay proved fruitless.

Then, two suddenly appeared (and sort-of in my size, to boot!), and after almost a week's worth of eBay agony, I was finally able to nab the one I wanted (the other one didn't come with the sash). The best part was the price though. This dress originally retailed for $148, and I was able to get if for $27 (including shipping)!

So, I got this dress in a size 6. It is a very shapeless shift dress, with triple strand spaghetti straps and embroidery at the bust. You use the same color sash to cinch the dress at the waist. I believe this dress fits true to size, but maybe a bit on the smaller size. I usually wear a 2 or 4 in Banana Republic dresses, but the 6 fits fairly comfortably, if not a teeny bit loose. I haven't decided if I'll have this tailored or not. The most constricting part of the dress is the very top, where the embroidery is, so I would base fit around this measurement.

The fabric is a soft and light, but a little bit on the stiffer side. That said, because of the numerous pleats on the bodice and the swingy shape of the dress, the dress does move very nicely. On the other hand, even though the fabric is light, because there is so much of it, it's a little heavier than you might expect it to be (but not heavy overall).

The dress is a little bit on the long side for me, so I may look into getting the straps shortened a bit. The back of the dress has a really pretty two-button closure that is in line with the embroidery around the top. There is no zipper on this dress, but because of shape, it's pretty easy to slip on over your head. Because the dress is so voluminous overall, I think it does add a little bit of volume around your hips and backside, but it can also work to hide those areas very well.

I really like the sash on this dress - I think it really helps to pull the dress together, and give it some shape. I didn't take any pictures without the sash, but without it, the dress really just kind of hangs there and looks shapeless, and not in a cute, shift dress kind of way, but more of a sack kind of way.

Here is a close-up of the pattern on the bustline, and the sash as well.

Here is a close-up of the embroidery on the bottom hem.

I really love this dress (as evidenced by my eBay hunt)! I think it is a really pretty shade of blue, and I love the details - the embroidery and the sash. I am really glad to have been able to get this one!

What do you think? Do you like this dress? Do you own it? What do you think of the details? Are there any clothes out there that you regret not picking up when you had the chance?

OOTD: June 7, 2009

2009-06-08T14:10:00.002-04:00

This is what I wore out to dinner last night. Boyfriend was hiking all day, so he treated me to dinner when he got home. I won't even show you what I wore for most of the day, because it was really sloppy, and plus I got stains on both my sweatpants and t-shirt (wood finish and chocolate, respectively). Yesterday I wore:

Sea green strapless cotton-embossed dress (J.Crew or J.Crew Outlet)
White 3/4 sleeve cardigan (Gap Outlet)
Black flip-flops (Old Navy) [Not pictured]