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

Land's End Sale (lots of cute picks for cheap!)

I have always liked Land's End, and have worn it since elementary school. Today, they have the more fashion forward Canvas line, which can be very J.Crew like. A good thing! Even better, they don't do final sale and you can return items hassle-free to Sears. And the SAs are never mean or judgmental when I return an entire order consisting of clearance items.

Today I received an e-mail about their new sale. 30% off everything and free shipping, no minimum. They say that the "no minimum" doesn't apply to orders that are clearance only, but I just placed one and I got free shipping where my total was only $13. Score.

First I looked in the regular Canvas sale section and saw a disappointing 43 items. So, I went over to "regular" Land's End and found that there are tons of Canvas items over there, for some reason.

They aren't Canvas, but check these pretties out:

Women's Emma Tailored Ballet Shoes from Lands' End

Oh, hello, adorable spectator flats for $13!!! Let's be honest, if these were sold by J.Crew I would probably pay alot more for them, and have wanted them from day one. That's just one of the many effects of drinking the crewlade. Apparently, since they are sold by boring old Land's End, they are destined to languish in the sale section. They are like a cute suede version of the Penelope flats of yore. If the purple had been available in my size, I would have bought those too. I only have one pair of Land's End ballet flats, but they are really nice, padded, and comfy, yet still cute. They are these, also on sale:

Canvas The Heritage Ballet Flat from Lands' End

It can be hard to find a navy shoe, so I was pretty excited to get these last year. They are even cheaper now, and they also come in black. Just as cute as the J.Crew classic ballet flats, comfier, and MUCH cheaper.

Some other cute things of note:

Women's Phoebe Toe Ring Wrap Sandals

It's always nice to find items you can wear now for a steal. I think these are adorable and if I could justify another pair of sandals, I would totally get them. These are only one pair among many sandals that are super cheap. They must be from last year... I don't know.

A cute dress, but the price and amount of sizes left leaves me suspicious:

Women's Split Neck Dress

What can I say, I am a sucker for a cute little print! Sadly, it is poly, but how could would it look over skinny jeans/pixie pants/leggings?

How about a jackie cardigan lookalike?

Women's Cafe Cardigan

I ordered it in this color because the last time J.Crew released a brown cardigan, it was the most hideous shade, and I desperately need a plain brown cardi!

Last of all, some super cozy looking boots that would have to be saved for next year:

Women's Eliza Tall Shearling Boot

These are so cute and I love the over the knee/foldover detail.

Be sure to check out the regular Land's End section if you're shopping, because most of the Canvas clearance items are found there.

To get 30% off and free shipping, use Code PICK30 and Pin 3022.

Lands End Sale by jcrewjd on polyvore.com

Women's Eliza Tall Shearling Boot
$225 - landsend.com

Women's Split Neck Dress
$90 - landsend.com

Women's Emma Tailored Ballet Shoes
$50 - landsend.com

Women's Emma Tailored Ballet Shoes
$50 - landsend.com

Women's Phoebe Toe Ring Wrap Sandals
$50 - landsend.com

Women's Cafe Cardigan
$6 - canvas.landsend.com

What do you think of my picks? Anything else amazing that I missed?

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?

Luxe

Finally busted out my luxe crepe blouse. I love, love, LOVE this blouse and own it in both colors. It runs ever so slightly large, so if you're in between sizes, you could size down. If it ever goes on sale... this is one of the few items that has been around for 6+ months with no markdown! Rare these days. Here is my outfit... nothing special, but comfortable and pulled together enough for work:

Minnies in wild blackberry (4 tall), Lulu flats, and luxe silk crepe blouse (6), old necklace

OOTD 4/3/12 by jcrewjd featuring j crew jewelry

J Crew button shirt
$198 - jcrew.com

J.Crew j crew pants
$50 - jcrew.com

J.Crew ballerina shoes
$90 - jcrew.com

J Crew j crew jewelry
$40 - jcrew.com

Hope you all have a great Tuesday!

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!

Giveaway winner!

Thank you to the several readers for entering my little nail polish giveaway. I used random.org to pick the winner, and the winner is: Unknown (seaglassmartini)

I have e-mailed the winner. Thanks again everyone!

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?

Who wants some new nail polish?

I decided that when I reached 50 followers (that seems like a lot!) I'd do a giveaway to show my appreciation. Well, I am at 51 so here we go! I think it's awesome that others want to read my blog and look at my grainy pictures. THANK YOU for being here!

Have you tried the FACE Stockholm nail polish that J.Crew is selling these days? I have tried a few colors and it is really nice polish. I have some of the neon colors they were hawking in the kids dept., and the lighter beige color. I am not big on painting my nails but when I do, it better last more than a day or two, and this brand seems to last about 3-4 days before chipping. Not too shabby. So, for my first giveaway, the winner will receive two  bottles of this lovely nail polish, in the following (wearable, I think!) colors.

Spiked Punch

Cardinal Rule

 To enter, just leave a comment with your e-mail address. That's it! Let's end it Friday, March 2nd, 2012 at 11:59pm, est. Then I'll randomly pick a winner. I will ship to the United States and Canada. Good luck!

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!

80s flashback

Among the new arrivals at J.Crew is an interesting new print.

 I don't like it at all because bright yellow and black leopard print just seems wrong. Also, because it immediately reminded me of these:

Zubaz!

Remember those? Looks like they recently started making them again.

Some of the neons and hideous prints/styles lately really remind me of the 80s and early 90s. Not a good time for fashion.Yuck. I prefer to stick to the classics!

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!

Old vs. New

I have noticed that several of the Holiday 2011/Spring 2012 items at J.Crew are strikingly similar to their counterparts from Spring and Summer of 2008. Here are some fun comparisons:

2008 Collection Fleur Suede Flats

2012 Viv flower flats (Just received in one of those cardholder e-mails)

 The 2008 ones were all leather. The 2012 ones are only leather uppers. They sure are pretty though! They are $198. I found the 2008 ones at TJ Maxx back in Feb '09, that was a lucky score! Check out the heeled versions:

2008 Fleur Suede Peep toes

2012 Fleurette Peeps

They even come in the same colors: this pretty violet, and a marigold color. The 2008 ones also came in a gorgeous bright blue.

Let's move onto clothing, shall we?

2008 Joelle Cami

2012 Lana Cami

These are actually the same cami. I have both versions and they are the same cut, fabric, everything. A truly lovely top in both versions and the Lana can be had for $39.99 right now, minus the 30% discount.

2008 Polynesian Print Sweater Dress

2012 Jules Dress in fanfare

This one is more of a stretch but I do see the similarity. Frankly I prefer the 2008 print, which also came in a pretty khaki color on a cardigan.

2008 Harlow Blouse

2012 Silk pintuck blouse

The 2012 definitely seems inspired by 2008's Harlow. Both are gorgeous and classic pieces.

2008 Super 120s dress (a very un-J.Crew name)

2008 Super 120s Blair Dress

2012 Memo Dress in Super 120s

Here we have both a design and a color being repeated. The memo is strikingly similar in style to the Blair (which made me look like a retro flight attendant) and borrows its color from the also similar Super 120s dress. The v-neck on the Memo is very flattering and balances the sleeves nicely!

So far, the 2012 copies that I have detailed here are nice. None of them seem to suffer from quality issues and they are nice, versatile pieces. (The Jules dress, maybe not...). So now let's move onto some not so wonderful, horribly cheap imitations of beloved 2008 necklaces.

2008 Double Strand Frog Necklace

2012 Double Strand resin link frog necklace

At least they kept the same pretty color scheme? I guess that's good?

The next one is even worse.

2008 Double strand giraffe necklace

2012 double strand resin link giraffe necklace

The only resemblance here is the clasp, but they even cheaped out on that. It is smaller and does not have the pretty turquoise eyes that make the 2008 version pop. The copy editor from space (Thanks, wellfedfred!) even has the nerve to refer to this necklace as "back from the archives and made modern with amber-colored, oval-shaped resin links and hand assembled barrel beads".

Ummm, no.What it should say is this: "We have seen how much the 2008 double strand glass beaded animal necklaces sell for on eBay, so we hope you'll pay almost as much for this knock off that we made out of plastic necklaces we found in the clearance bin at Forever 21 and leftover Perler beads from our kid's latest craft project."

Now, I'm not saying I wouldn't buy either of the new cheap imitations, because I would, so I could remove the clasp and attach it to my own handmade strands of glass beads. But for $138? Are they out of their minds!?

Are there any other item's you've seen that remind you of items past? What do you think of J.Crew copying themselves?