J.Crew Scattered Dot Shift Dress & Happy Birthday to me, courtesy of Marshall's

A surprise love for me is the scattered dot shift dress from J.Crew. Well, I  knew I'd love the style and shape but I thought the length would be a dealbreaker. Surprisingly, it's short, but not too! I guess it hits me the same place it hits the model, give or take. I had to wear some footless tights to make it work appropriate, because no one wants to see your bare thighs at the office. No one.

I took my current regular size 6 and it fits just like a shift dress should. I love it, but if I could change one thing it'd be the lining (it is polyester). I have been sweating in this thing all day which means it will have to be cleaned after every wear... not thrilled. Why oh why couldn't they have lined it in cotton? I don't care about poly linings for sleeveless dresses but for one with sleeves... we're talking direct pit contact... NOT PRETTY. Do you think I could hand wash this puppy? It says dry clean, (not dry clean only, phew), which to me means hand wash, because I loathe dry cleaning for many reasons.  But with the textured, woven fabric, I don't know. Anyway, here are some pics.

OOTD 5/7/13 by jcrewjd featuring j. crew jewelry

I wore it with simple jewelry which I think works, but I may wear a patterned scarf next time. Here it is on gigi and m from Shopping with M.

Had to show the shoes because they are one of my all time favorites. They are old school J.Crew. I paid over $100 for them which I rarely do for shoes, but they are worth every penny. The all leather construction is so comfy and I just love the color. I wish they'd bring this style back, only with the older, higher quality snakeskin instead of the cheapo stuff they use now! Or they could just do leather... I'd buy them. They are dressier than a sandal, but not as stifling as a closed flat. Perfect for wearing to casual offices in the summer.

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Speaking of rarely paying over $100 for shoes, oops, I did today. But it's cool, because:

a) it's my birthday this month, and thanks to audreybella, I am calling these my birthday shoes;
b) They are just over 1/3 of the original price, deal!;
c) they are almost the exact shade and style of the peacock J.Crew Juliet heels, which I will never ever find in my size because they came out over four years ago; and
d) they are actually better than the Juliets, because they have a leather lining and sole. See? Totally justified. Ha!

I go to Marshalls at least once a week. It is just down the street from my office, and a worker told me they get four trucks per week. I don't want to miss anything good! And it is a higher end store, in an affluent area, which means they get the good stuff. Like Kate Spade Shoes. Today was my lucky day, I guess, because they had these beauties for $129.99 (OUCH, I am cheap, and it hurt, but worth it):

Kate Spade New York Shelly (see more round toe heels)

Oh, hello. You are beautiful. Compare to Juliets:

Women heels Juliet patent-leather midheels (see more patent pumps)

They even have the exact same heel height! I am thinking they will look great with my biennial and J.Crew knockoff groopdealz necklace, too. 

Untitled #501 by jcrewjd featuring a rosette necklace

I have really wanted a pair of turquoise heels or wedges for a while and after trying several from J.Crew and Madewell which completely sucked, I think I finally found a winner. I don't really enjoy heels over 3" which is so limiting, but I am grateful some designers make cute lower heels!

The only problem is, now I want all of my shoes to be super nice, all leather like my new Kate Spades. Sigh.

How do you like my new shoes? Have you splurged on anything lately that was completely worth it?