j.crew new arrivals: my picks.

Hello everyone!

Another week, another new rollout by la Crew. There are several pretties with great potential that I'd love to share.  Alas, lots of high prices, but hopefully there will be a nice promo soon.
Anyway, on to the new pieces.  First up, is my favorite, the Hacking Jacket in Double Serge. Love the hacking jacket silhouette this year, and am thrilled that they created one in the wonderful double-serge fabric, both in solids and piped. There is not only a number of great neutrals -- heather acorn! -- but some pretty brights as well. My fave is the heather bright berry, which looks to be reminiscent of the color of the Maggie Jacket some years back. I've been stalking that berry Maggie jacket for ages, so this is definitely wishlisted for me. I love how they've styled it below too! The buttons even look pretty and interesting, a la the Lexington, but jury's out until we have an in-person review.  Love, love, love that they truly seem to be listening to what many customers want -- classic pieces with a twist, in the color palette that only J.Crew seems to have mastered.  I'm betting the pink sells fast -- we'll see if they've made more of what's likely to be a popular piece (unlike their earlier rollouts, i.e. red schoolboy)

Next up, a cashmere cowlneck cable sweater.  Now, I'm not sure of their cashmere this year yet, as I haven't worn mine enough to judge. (Anyone?)  But I love a cowlneck sweater, and it's fun in the cable pattern. Love the camel, as it's always a classic and poppy to cheer you up on a snowy day.

Snowbound Sweater -- Cute button detail at the neckline.

Boat Blouse in silk -- So pretty in the Wreath green. Lovely shape. It says sheer though, so that's a bummer, as i'm not sure how that would work? Just a cami under it?

Do you love anything in the new rollout?

ootd: comfy grey layers

Hello everyone,

It's been quite rainy and dreary here recently, and it's hard to be bothered getting too spiffed up. I want to be comfortable. And quite often I want to match the weather and wear grey.

On this day, I pulled out my trusty BFF, Anthro's Water's Edge Maxi, one of my fave tees (the J.Crew Imperial Tee), and threw my Anthro Shapeshifting Sweats cardi over it.  I would have worn my Frye boots like in the Polyvore set below, but haven't been weatherproofed yet.  So I wore some rainboots.

Polyvore set:

comfy grey layers by shopwithm

On me:

Have a wonderful, sunshine-y day!

land's end/canvas reviews: flannel and sweater dresses

Hi everyone,

I was coming down to the wire on my Land's End Canvas Groupon I bought a while back, so finally decided to bite the bullet on a sweater dress I've been eyeing for a while. It covered the dress completely and I added in an overstock dress from Land's End, which was dirt cheap with the current 25% Friends and Family (promo: SAVEFF pin: 9132 through tonight). Don't forget to go through ebates for extra $!

Here is the Canvas Two-tone Sweaterdress. It is a nice merino wool that isn't at all scratchy. It flows and lays very nicely. The little pleating at the tummy is nice and camoflage-y. It does have a high waist, so that might nix it for some of you.  Love the navy/grey mix!  I took an XS small and it's a great fit. I would have liked an extra inch, but with dark tights, it's not a deal-breaker.

hello crazy kitty

Next is the Land's End overstock Roll-sleeve Flannel Shirtdress, to which I was tipped off by the lovely Egyptomaniac. With the 25% off it is a steal! (Even without the discount IMO)  The silhouette is super flattering and easy to wear. It reminds me of the shape of J.Crew's linen shirtdress from this summer. Very appropriate for both work and casual. Easy to layer this one up too. Love that the sleeves can be rolled up/buttoned in a camp sleeve look, or just rolled down. I took a 4 in this and it's a perfect fit. I definitely couldn't size down any more. Reviews say the petite sizes are really short, which is a bummer.  Over, total love!

Check out DaniBP's Corduroy Dress purchases from Canvas posted today -- sooo cute!

Have you tried anything lately from Canvas or LE?  Have a great day!

old school Crew: printed silk twill dresses

Hello everyone!

In today's old school Crew post, I offer up three dresses from the days of yore, all printed silk twill shirt dresses, and all just lovely. Silk twill is such a great fabric -- it's easily dressed up and chic, but you can still pull it off for daywear -- it's not like a fancy, shiny silk that can only be worn to a wedding.

Now I will say first off, that of these three dresses, I really would only personally wear one of them just plain. I feel like the other two need a bit of layering and/or roughing up, style-wise, to pull off. (Maybe that's just me though -- what do you think?)

The first is black with small white polka-dots and that ruffled, face-framing collar.  The buttons are fabric-covered, and it has a lining and pockets. I found this on ebay from a seller who probably thought it was old-fashioned and odd, so sold it for a fab price of $20. Hooray, I say. 

Catalog pic:

On me:

The second is the Farrow printed shirtdress from 2007 (?) and is the same silhouette as the famous Vintage Violet Shirtdress (IRL pics).  It was hard to see in the catalog picture what colors were happening here, but the ebay seller had some helpful close-ups. Seeing that it was purple and an unexpected brown, I was sold. That said, I as still taking a chance, so only wanted it at a nice low price. It is unlined, but has pockets.

Catalog pic:

On me:

The third is a more recent ebay find, and one I haven't really seen, or at least noticed, anywhere. It's a navy print, in a simple shirtdress form. I'm very into blues this year, so was very happy to find a pretty navy in a subdued print. It's quite flattering on, and this is the one dress I'd be comfortable wearing just plain. (Although I'll be layering it up for the colder months!)  This one isn't lined and doesn't have pockets.
Catalog pic (pretty sad and un-interesting looking, no?)

On me:

There are two other much-loved silk twill dresses, the Veruschka and the Ischia dresses (if you missed my posts, see them here and here.) Are there any I'm forgetting?  Have you any silk twill of old?

p.s. These are all in size 2, and the fit is nice. That's about what I'm wearing in current J.Crew dresses now.

my picks from talbots fall lineup.

Hi everyone!

Many of us were excited to see the new direction of Tabots last year, especially with their 2010 fall rollout. They've been feeling more relevant and modern, but the growing pains are still evident, even with some great hits. My impression of their fall rollout this year, based on catalog and online pics, was a bit of disappointment. I will say that I frequently get asked to take surveys that are very thoughtful and straightforward. In one recent survey, they specifically asked me if I liked this year as much as last year. So they seem to be working hard to get it right. It feels like they're listening.

I was right next door today, so I decided to at least check it out in person, and see if it was better in real life. Alas, no camera on hand, which was a bummer, b/c there were definitely some cute items. I felt like there were a number of pieces that looked waaay better in person than online.  Here were the pieces that I really liked the looks of in the store:

Almond-toe Pumps in leopard calf hair-- There's been some disappointment over the quality of J.Crew's very pretty Pia pumps, which are priced way to high for the issues they are having (see Desert Flower's guest post on FFM's blog).  Enter, this shoe. It's very similar, looks well made, and the shoes I saw all looked like a match (i.e. one didn't have a big blotch in front, and the other a different blotch).   Even at full price ($159), they seem a much better deal the the Pias. And we all know Talbots has awesome promos.

Leather kitten-heel bow pumps -- If the above shoe is too much for you, these are so very lovey and ladylike IRL. I wanted to scoop them up right then and there. Absolutely a classic. Online sizes are dwindling.  I've found that their shoes fit TTS (verging on a little big in some cases).

Three-quarter length gloves -- I'm still sad I never picked up those gorgeous cognac long leather gloves last year. Perhaps they'll offer the color again? Pretty please? This year they have plain brown and leopard calfhair. I thought the calfhair might be a bit much, but they're sort of fabulous IRL actually!

Cable and rib cardi -- This was so nice, especially in the mallard and vixen colors. So cozy and well done, and love that it's cotton.

Jackie fit leopard velveteen jacket -- This is a really nice and subtle animal print, so it feels on trend, but not in-your-face.

Kate fit velveteen jacket -- Saw this in the lovely, rich and warm vixen color and it looked like a great alternative to J.Crew's jacket.

Double-faced wool top -- I didn't see this one in person, but I have some of their double-faced wool and love it -- it's super soft and luxe. This is a classic top that would last forever methinks.

I immediately thought of how I'd use this to interpret a look from Anne M. Cramer's collection (introduced to me by Tabitha in her recent post).

anne cramer inspiration by shopwithm

Wool Crepe Cape -- Oh, that's fun to say. Anyway, how much do I love this whole look they've got going on here?

Double-faced wool jacket -- As I've said, their double-faced wool is lovely and soft. This blazer I'm sure wiil feel quite luxe.

Double-faced wrap coat -- See a trend? Ha. I have last year's version of this coat in the lavendar color, which was very similar. (Can I just tell you, the coat was discounted, post-season, to $35. ! I used a dividend and paid $10 out of pocket. Um, J.Crew could take a note.)  It's a gorgeous coat, and I remember thinking, ooh, this would be great in camel. Ta-da!

Grace fit cord jacket -- I have the teal jacket from last year, bought off-season, so I've been waiting to pull it out finally. Love it! So I'm guessing this is the same, new colors.

I'm not seeing it online, but there also was a grey/black plaid capelet coat in store that looked adorable. 

Finally, they have added some newer items to sale, and sale is an additional 25% off (prices are marked). Might be worth perusing.

Hope you're having a wonderful weekend!

ootd: prince of wales

Hello everyone!

Today I pulled out my very fall-y Prince of Wales blazer from J.Crew. So excited to wear it on a perfect fall day. I paired it with my usual uniform, jeans and layered tees, with ballet flats.  It's just so easy to do for drop-off and errands, and feels pulled together.

I had some boring errands to run today while the peanut was in school, but I opted instead to peruse HomeGoods. Do you have one of these stores near you? I never seem to have time to wander around it by myself, and today I "let" myself. It was fun to look at all the Halloween decorations (I may have brought home a black haunted house mini to put up on my mantle).

Polyvore set:

prince of wales and leopard by shopwithm

On me:
(I'm wearing a different tee -- it's the one that says "The Queen's Tailor")

Have a wonderful weekend!

outfit-of-the-day backlog.

Hi everyone!

I'm on my own for a few days with the munchkin, as DH is out of town for work. While we will (of course) miss him, I must say I'm sort of secretly excited to order myself a pizza and rent Bridesmaids. Kinda giddy about it actually. mwahaha.

Anyway, I thought I'd share a few recent outfits. First up is the Easy-as-Pie dress from Anthro last year. I love this cute and bright dress. It's comfy and cheers me up right away. It was chilly in the morning, so I threw on a J.Crew cord blazer of olde. The boots are Madewell Archive.

Next up is one of my "uniforms" -- blazer and jeans. I upped the style a smidge with some leopard pumps (I think they are J.Crew juliets?), as I'm usually in flats or boots. The blazer is an orange cashmere hacking jacket from J.Crew from I think 2008? I should check. The jeans I need to toss, but they're so worn in and comfy.

Finally, this was an outfit I wore out perusing the goods at Nordstrom Rack. I'm wearing J.Crew striped button-back tee and double-serge skirt, Banana Republic shirt, and bag from Talbots.

Have a wonderful day!

old school Crew: sweater dresses.

Hi everyone,

Time for another Old School Crew! Today I'm highlighting some adorable J.Crew sweater dresses (or tunics, depending on how tall you are or how comfortable you are with lengths), all from Fall 2007. I never really noticed these that much, until I found the cashmere stripe sweater dress this year (see post/pics here). Suddenly I kept seeing them pop up on ebay. I actually ended up finding all three of these at amazing prices, all from the same seller.  I went with size medium, b/c I just wasn't sure how tight/short they'd be. Better a bit loose than too tight IMO. They turned out to be really lovely in person. They're still a touch short, but with tights/leggings, not inappropriate.

The first one is the Solid Merino Boatneck Sweaterdress. It was J.Crew retail and is a perfect cherry red, with little wooden buttons that add to the charm. Love the neckline.

The second is a Collection piece in a dark grape graphic-y floral pattern, called the Vintage-Print Sweater Dress. This also has the little wooden buttons at the neckline.

The third is also Collection, called the Chain Link Print Merino Sweaterdress, with a brown/cream graphic, and a foldover neck that is very cute.

Do you have any of these dresses or remember them? Are there other prints floating around out there?