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.

***

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?

A spiffy outfit

OOTD 10/3/12 by jcrewjd featuring short heels

J.Crew Lexington Jacket (2007)

J.Crew Telegraph Pencil Skirt in Super 120s, size 4, Summer 2012 (size down to your smaller skirt size)

 J.Crew perfect fit tape boatneck tee, size medium, Summer 2012

Talbots heels, Fall 2011, size 10.5 (thank you, Talbots, for making my shoe size)

I was inspired by this photo from J.Crew's Holiday 2007 collection. It is gorgeous, isn't it? Wouldnt wear this particular outfit but the colors are so pretty. I miss that green background; it made everything feel festive.

I was told I look spiffy while wearing the above outfit. I am choosing to take that as a compliment.

An oldie but goodie

Today I had one of those days where you just don't know what to wear. On those days, I go one of two routes: yoga pants, or a dress. Both are extremely easy, one is just more comfortable than the other and can be worn in any season without having to wear tights! I decided to go with my "new" J.Crew Wool Flannel Watercolor Floral Dress.

New to me, that is. A recent eBay find, made even better because it was Goodwill that was selling it on eBay. I've never found something so awesome in my local Goodwill, so I love how they sell some of their better items on eBay and reach a bigger audience. Pretty smart if you ask me! Does anyone else love these dresses as much as I do? I also have the Golden Roses and abstract rose print ones. Lovely!

My J.Crew factory Cece suede flats are a perfect match! I've never been a huge factory fan; I prefer the special pieces from regular J.Crew made of lovely fabrics and pretty prints over the utilitarian, often boring factory items. But I made an exception for these shoes because there is no difference between them and the regular ones, they are much cheaper, and I could actually try them on before buying. My local regular b&m does not carry shoes (or purses, or most of the clothes...) so I am out of luck there!

Are there any oldies but goodies you are still pining after?

OOTD 4/26/12 by jcrewjd featuring ballet shoes

Creamsicle

The first thing I thought when this outfit came together this morning was that I resembled a creamsicle. And then I craved one all day!

 J.Crew Rococco Shell, size 6

J.Crew jackie cardigan (2010)

J.Crew Toothpick cords, tall 30

Necklace, made from dismembered storybook bracelet

These "neon persimmon" toothpick cords satisfy my craving for a somewhat brightly colored pair of pants that doesn't break the bank. They were a whole $20 minus 30%. It almost always pays to wait for deep discounts... I wanted these cords all winter but I am glad now that I waited and got them for such a small amount of money. Even better, the color is "springy" enough that I can totally wear them now and into the early summer. It was in the 70s today and I wasn't overly hot.

Close up of the lovely lace

 The Rococco shell was the perfect piece to springify the pants. This was a very lucky clearance store find... although the full price of $128 actually isn't too unreasonable. This is a special top and I received many compliments! It is a size 6, which is my standard top size, and it fits perfectly. It is fitted at the top but nicely flows away from the body. I absolutely love it and if you can get it, I say try it. It did wrinkle a little, but after I was done wearing it for the day, I just steamed it and it is ready for another wear. Gotta love that!

Sans cardigan

 Once upon a time, I traded a cashmere sweater for the storybook bracelet on the JCA weekly exchange. I then proceeded to remove all of the charms and use them on my existing long J.Crew chains from other necklaces as cute little pendants! The bracelet was chunky and impractical but I love the individual charms so much.

Well, that's all for now. I ordered one of the lovely new arrivals today, that fabulous gingham dress... fingers crossed it's as adorable as it looks!

So, what do you think of the Rococco shell? What about the new arrivals that came out today?

A couple pencil skirt OsOTD

Here are two outfits I wore last week. I was on a pencil skirt kick! Now it is going to be in the mid 70's all week... my summer clothes are still packed away so I am really not sure what I'll wear.

Oh look, it's the mini orbit necklace again! I sure do love this necklace. The bright colors go with many items in my wardrobe. I also have on a jackie shell, and a denim pencil and merino cardigan from 2009. 

Here I wore the neon azelea double serge pencil with the lovely sunshine peonies cardigan, and a tank top from....KMart. It is Basic Editions, has a lovely built in bra (still need an actual one, unfortunately), and is actually really nice. Especially for the $8 I paid! I love finding great clothing in unexpected places.

I hope everyone who is having it is enjoying this amazingly warm weather!

Black, white, red, and some coral that totally doesn't match thrown in, too

 J.Crew Lexington Jacket (size 8)

J.Crew Blouson dress in polka dot (size 6)

J.Crew mini orbit necklace

Jessica Simpson tights (best tights ever, besides Spanx tights)

J.Crew Juliet midheels in poppy (see below)

This morning, I pulled this dress out of the closet and thought, it's about time I wear you, pretty silk polka dotted dress. So, I did, but not before I had to run and look at Polyvore to see a set I had made. You see, I've had difficulty styling this dress... it just seemed grannyish and unflattering for some reason, even though I have the neon pink stripe version and have no similar issues with that one. JCA Elaine and I both put out pleas on the weekly Help! Style Me post over at the mothership. A wonderful JCA whose name eludes me suggested pairing the dress with a plain black super 120s jacket. Brilliant! Why didn't I think of that!? So, after checking polyvore, I remembered this wonderful suggestion and was all ready to try it until I pulled out my favorite black super 120s jacket (the 1035) and saw that it was hopelessly wrinkled from being jammed in my too-full closet. Since my steamer broke yesterday I had no choice but to rethink. Fortunately, my impossible-to-wrinkle trusty Lexington jackets were hanging right there and so I decided on the black and ivory version.

I threw on my new mini orbit necklace at the last minute, even though it is a totally different shade than the Juliets I am wearing. It is the only reddish necklace I have besides the red bubble necklace which I have yet to wear because, well, it's HUGE and it scares me.

Mini review of the mini orbit: The plastic beads are a muted coral-y red with wine colored stripes. The little discs covered in rhinestones are hefty and overall, I really like this necklace. Great for adding a pop of color. The colors IRL are very close to what is shown in the website photo.

Didn't want my Juliets to feel left out!

Finally, I wore one of my favorite pairs of shoes. I had to sell off my entire collection of these in size 10 after my feet inexplicably grew, and am now on a quest to replace them in size 11. Luckily I found these ones almost right away, in my favorite color, poppy. Really, really wish J.Crew would bring these back. I would buy them... maybe not at full price (they were $198 back in the day, I think), unless they changed out the plastic linings and soles for leather! Then $198 might be fair and I'd  have to make an exception to my never pay full price policy.

Edited to add: Ooh, I must be psychic, or something... thanks to my friend wonkess on Polyvore who pointed out that a very similar outfit was featured today on corporette. 

So, what do you think of my last minute pairing of the lexington w/ the blouson dress? Do you have any other styling ideas for this dress?

Winter-ifying a springy dress

Here is what I wore the other day when it was in the 40s... warm for winter but still too cold for bare legs and sheer, chiffon dresses. I wore one anyway!

 

J.Crew Maisie Dress in Waterfloral 

J.Crew Jackie Cardigan

J.Crew wide patent belt from 2008 in root

J.Crew Signature Leggings

J.Crew Belstaff Shannon Boots

I received the dress the night before and really wanted to wear it so I found a way to winterize it. It was very comfortable and it worked for me. Not my finest outfit but not the worst, either. The dress still pops back from time to time and it is lined in 100% silk which is rare these days and is unfortunately not mentioned in the description! If you can get it for a good price, it's a versatile dress that can be worn in any season, I think. Thank you for stopping by!

Neon Azalea: My first outfit attempt

The neon azalea skirt arrived on my doorstep last week and let's just say it is brighter than expected. I already have the luxe silk crepe blouse in the same color (which actually isn't the same color, at all) but I hadn't heard anyone complaining that the skirt matched the blouse in loudness and neon-ness. Let's just say that this picture is much more accurate than this one, which of course is the stock photo. The colors of items online have been so off lately, haven't they?

For my first outfit, I decided to pair the skirt with my favorite neutral, gray. My favorite gray item of clothing is currently the decadent Cashmere Blouse from last fall. So I said, what the hell, this is a bright skirt but I love brights so let's just do it and pretend like everyone I see won't think I'm crazy!

Closer up to show the colors... but the skirt is so much brighter IRL!

 I wore my black viv flats and some gray tights along with my factory Elephant necklace. I like how it turned out but it would have looked better tucked in. I just didn't feel like fussing with a tucked in top that day.

Here is the Polyvore.

OOTD 2/17/12 by jcrewjd featuring shirts & blouses

J Crew shirts blouse, $495
J Crew wool pencil skirt, $100
HYD wool stocking, €19
J.Crew leather flat shoes, $228
J Crew j crew jewelry, $23

Here's another OOTD from last week with my new heather acorn pencil skirt.

I got the sweater jacket on eBay for hardly any money and I love it. It is in perfect condition despite being from 2007. Love it when that happens.

Forthcoming are reviews of that pretty dress that ajc reviewed, the red jules dress (if I can get it on and off my arms without having a panic attack) and a white eyelet blouse. I will probably post them this weekend, when I can muster up the energy to put on clothing other than jeans or sweatpants. Not feeling like dressing up this week, at all. Oh and I think I'll do a giveaway since I am somehow almost to 50 followers already!