Scarlet Theory

They say everybody can wear red, it is just a matter of finding the right shade, do you agree? I, for one, find red beautiful but difficult to wear as solid, close to my face. I never used to wear it because I had acne as a teenager and young adult and red tends to emphasize any pimples and blotches you may have.

I also don't look good in deep blue tone reds, they make me look pale and washed out. Orange tones are also a no-no. I like pink soft reds the best but I find that the medium bright red also works.

This cashmere v-neck is from Brora and the color was call scarlet. It is a pure medium red and I love it. 

Another difficulty with red is styling it. Of course it goes perfectly with black and white and leopard but it is so predictable. I like it best with gray and khaki/tan. You can also try pairing it with pink or red print, but you have to be bold to wear it. Red prints, on the other hand, are easy to wear and  they look great with denim. With solid red, I usually only do one piece. Here, I am also wearing the red Tillary purse, but I actually swapped it for black messenger bag for the office. Mostly, because it is just too small, but also to tone it down even more.

I liked the pairing of red with black and tan and I did not feel too conspicuous in it.  The blazer makes it business-like and I think the tights and flats offset the shorter length of the skirt.

My blazer is at least 8 years old and it is from Theory. They currently have Gabe B blazer that looks very similar. I love the cut of those blazers and they are totally worth the money. They run small, I usually wear a 6 in J.Crew blazers but I need 8 in Theory.

The Nico Black Blossom skirt was originally even shorter, I sized up and have let down the hem about inch and a half. I could wear it lower on hips to make it right above the knee length. In the picture it sits pretty high up but I like the look. The herringbone tights (also J.Crew) are one of my absolute favorites. I also bought them in black/brown, they elevate any skirt outfit. The ballet flats are from Tahari and the purse is from J.Crew.

***

That's all folks!

Do you wear red? What do you like to pair it with?

Please share, it would be no fun without you!!!

Memories of Blue (Perfect shirt in Aegean plaid)

Have you ever been to Aegean coast?  Recently, Greece has been associated mostly with 'austerity measures', but this is not the first thing that comes to my mind. When I was a child, it was my parents favorite vacation destination. We did not have much money, but vacations and travel were considered basic needs in my family. We drove (from Poland) and it took us several days with many stops on the way (yes, those were month long European vacations). We had a camper and we brought a lot of our own food to save money.

source

My parents did not speak any languages but never considered it any obstacle. At the campground, they always made friends with locals and I remember many evenings, sitting with strangers and having animated discussions, usually revolving around food, soccer and politics, using about 20 words and very creative 'sign language'. Limited vocabulary was never an issue for me either.  When playing with other kids, and I would quickly pick up some essentials like 'I don;t understand', 'no', 'yes','thank you', 'swim', 'ball', 'let's go' and 'eat'. Add some basic curse words and you were all set.  

I wish I have my own pictures to share, but unfortunately, my parents were not into preserving memories of beautiful sights and panoramic vistas. The scarce photographs that I have from those vacations always show us half naked on some ubiquitous, unidentified beach; my father in the one shady spot he could find, reading a book in a lawn chair, my mother sunbathing with a giant hat and a leaf attached to her sunglasses to protect her nose and me with droopy hair-bows almost falling off my wet, curly pigtails. My brother was never in the pictures because he always disappeared for hours with some newly met friends. I wished I could tag along, but was never welcomed or allowed (he is 9 year older than me).

     

Perfect shirt in Aegean Plaid

Roll forward to 2012. When I first tried the perfect shirt in Aegean plaid I liked it a lot. The blues are vibrant and beautiful and made me think of all the happy memories from my childhood vacations. But at that time I decided I did not need another button down, however pretty it is, and especially not at full price. I forgot about the shirt until the recent 30% off, when I snatched it for about $18. I could not resist it at this price.

The shirt is currently sold out (as of the time of writing) but you can probably still get it in store or catch it on a popback.

Shirt size 6. See review here

Of course it would look beautiful with jeans but since there is some purple in the print, I thought this could be more fun with my Pilcro Stet Anthro cord and J.Crew pink Valentinas.

Sorry that the shirt looks a little messy. It wasn't intentional, like bedhair always sported by some catalog models. It is just that we usually take pictures on our walk to school and have about 2 minutes for it. Let's say this is a more realistic look...

I am a big fun of Ray-Ban sunglasses.  I have been wearing another pair recently but I suddenly wanted a pair of traditional aviators. I have borrowed these from my husband (shhh), so they are a little too big, but I do want a pair of my own. I instantly felt a little bit cooler in them.

I am glad I ordered the shirt, I really like it.

source

One of these days I will go back to the Aegean coast. I think my parents had their priorities right...

***
That's all folks!

Have you been to Greece or want to go? What was your favorite childhood vacation spot?

Do you own the perfect shirt in Aegean Blue? How do you wear it?

Please share, it would be no fun without you!!!

Sequin Festival And Wearing The Nevers

I am usually drawn to similar styles and silhouettes, clean lines, natural fabrics and minimal ornamentation. But there is not a trend or style that I would completely eschew. I wouldn't say 'I will never wear x' because for one, I don't take fashion too seriously, and two, I love to have fun with reinventing myself. Plus, I am just fickle and easily bored in general. And sometimes I find that nothing is easier than wearing "The Nevers". 

With all the sequins and bedazzling going on in the last few years, I was not terribly drawn to sparkly clothes. Two years ago I bought this sequined sweatshirt and I have worn it twice, both times with jeans. I thought it was excellent idea when I bought it, but somehow it was always either sweatshirt or sequins but never both at the same time. But for some reason, last Sunday was the day when I suddenly felt like wearing it. And I did.

It was a beautiful sunny day with temperatures in the mid 60s. I wore it to church with No2 pencil skirt in Festival blue and a pair of Glenbrae boots from few years ago, both from J.Crew. I thought I would need a scarf at first but it was too warm, so I took it off. I liked the look and I felt polished and casual at the same time. I liked the Festival blue with it, but I think almost any color pencil skirt would work.

Quick note about the boots: they are 'extended calf' version. This is what was available at the sale time in my size and I thought how bad can it be? Well, I would not recommend it, unless you really need it. My calves are average and definitely not skinny, but the opening is too wide and the regular calf would definitely look better. It is not so visible with pants tucked in, but I just wanted to mention it, in case you ever consider 'extended calf', especially on Final Sale.
 

 

In the afternoon I decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and go for a walk with my daughter. I exchanged the skirt for a pair of matchstick cords and replaced the boots with a pair of Shearling McAlisters.

I really liked the combination of blush and gray. We took a long walk and even at the playground I never felt inappropriate in all those sequins. Not sure what everybody else was thinking...

The sweatshirt is a little less blinding and more subdued irl, because the camera magnifies the effect of reflecting light. Still, I was one human disco ball and I did not mind at all.

 Everything is difficult until it becomes simple...

***

That's all folks!

Do you sometimes feel like wearing something that you never did?

Do you wear sequins in daytime?

Please share it would be no fun without you!!!

Taste of Cherry

"Taste of Cherry" is an Iranian film about a guy who tries to find someone to bury him after he commits a suicide. It may sound depressing but it is a great cinema and I highly recommend it, if you haven't have a chance to watch it. This post has nothing to do with the movie, and I don't have any such plans, in case I got you worried. I still plan to kick around for a while, fitting room ban drama notwithstanding. I just could not resist a title for some reason. I watch a lot of movies and I suffer from random film title association syndrome.

If you are a regular reader of this blog you may know that I love Liberty of London prints and specifically J.Crew button down perfect shirt in Liberty prints. With the previous round of new arrivals I posted that one of my favorite new items was Liberty perfect shirt in claire-aude in cherry. I decided to order it with the 25% off (plus 9% off cashback and 5% rewards), which brought the price to more reasonable level (although still expensive).

I ordered my regular size 6 and it fits TTS, like my other Liberty shirts (see more HERE). What I did not expect from the website pictures, was that there was so much green in the print. Actually, the same thing happened when I ordered Margaret Anne print, so now I know that the greens tends to recede in the pictures. I thought it was more of a creamy background with red and pink flowers. Even now, when I zoom in, the green looks more like light sage green, but irl it is a rather grassy medium green.

It is still pretty, just not what I expected. It is not that I don't like how the green looks on me, there is just something about the color itself that I have a problem with. Maybe it is that I consider green earthy and traditional, as oppose to urban and modern and this is how I'd rather think of myself?

With the green, the shirt has much more 'folksy' vibe to it, imo.  Instead of fighting it, I decided to double down by wearing traditional coral necklace from my place of birth (Krakow, Poland).

Here is the closeup of the print so you get better idea of the colors. As you can see the coral tones are dominant (the necklace is real coral so you can compare) but there is plenty of dark green. It is rather vibrant, don't you think?

Also wearing my matchstick cords in sage green, stretch denim jacket, Nottingham boots, all by J.Crew and Kate Spade purse.

***

That's all folks!

Anybody watched the "Taste of Cherry"?

How do you like the shirt?

Have you found that certain colors are not reflected well in pictures, even without photoshopping?

Please share, it would be no fun without you!!! 

Lady in (poppy) red and November new arrivals at J.Crew

Sometimes you live your whole life without some iconic, everybody-needs-one, no-closet-is-complete-without item. And you never notice that you were missing it. Until one day you do.

This is how I decided I needed a red dress.

OK, so maybe this is not the same as not owning a Little Black Dress. I am always looking for The Elusive Perfect One but sadly, I will most likely be buried in the Almost Good Enough One. At least, I already own my snakeskin red Valentinas shoes to go with it. 

The Red Dress is an epitome of feminine confidence and sexiness and suddenly I wanted to try it before I officially transition into the grouchy old lady mode. Btw, thank you wellfedfred, for opening up this possibility for me, it is a godsend. But however appealing this transformation may be, grouchy old ladies do not wear pretty frocks, do they? I am probably wrong, I bet they wear whatever they damn please. I am really starting to look forward to it...

But before I get there, I had my office Holiday party to attend. It is a nighttime even with 'festive attire' dress code. Most women come in in all out party dresses, there is always plenty of sequins and cleavage. The event is in a country club type setting with music and dancing and plenty of booze. I always donned a black dress but this year I wanted to wear something different. I wondered if the Emmaleigh dress in poppy grove may fit the bill. I like the shape of this dress and I have owned three of them (in gray, black and camel). In neutrals, they are not party appropriate but I though that the red color could make a difference.  

Size 8

My cotton gray version of this dress is size 6 and a perfect fit but the wool ones did not have any room to spare, so I decided to try an 8. In 8, this dress is very comfortable if a little too big all over. Still, I think this is better size and I wouldn't have to worry about eating too much.   

The fabric is 120's wool. If I ordered it for the office wear I would have complained that it is very thin but for a party wear it is actually an advantage. It does not even feel like wool.

 

The color is beautiful soft red, definitely more pink/coral than orange. I think it works well with my complexion. Overall, it is a pretty dress and it could be dressed down with a cardigan and a pair of boots. It would be a nice option for a dinner date too. 

I am just wondering if it is 'festive' enough for a party. I have to say I quite like it. What do you think?

***

On another note, J.Crew new arrivals are online today.

Here are some items I already reviewed:

• Collection cashmere Tippi sweater in stripe

Review HERE

• Lady jacket in blue tweed

Review HERE

• Lace-printed sweatshirt 

Review HERE

Items I already tried on but have not reviewed yet:

• No. 2 pencil skirt in dot brocade

This skirt fits TTS, my regular size 4 was a good fit. But fabric is stiff with no give and I did not like it. It is 97% polyester, 7% nylon, lining 100% polyester. It is longer that double serge wool pencil skirts. Dots are not lined up on the sides but it does not look terrible because of the small color contrast. I was underwhelmed. Sorry, but not even on sale.

• Velvet tee

 I really liked it on a hanger and thought it would be perfect for the Holidays. But it is very boxy and short on. And this is coming from a short torso person, I rarely complain about too short length. Fits TTS, I tried a 6 and it was good with the boxy fit. Unfortunately it is not cotton velvet but 82% rayon, 18% silk. The color is also much duller irl than in pictures. It was also a pass  

If you are wondering why I don't have pictures, it is because the manager in my store asked me not to take them. She said she was asked by corporate J.Crew to tell me. She said clothes are property of J.Crew until I buy them. OK then, it is definitely not like those pictures are flattering.  I am not easily intimidated but I also don;t want to fight with them. So I am sorry if you are disappointed, but no more fitting room pictures. I am disappointed too. Not necessarily because of the pictures but in the way they handled it. It would be more classy to send me email through my blog. Oh well...

***

Have you tried Emmaleigh dress from J.Crew?

Do you think this can work as a party dress or is it too chaste?

What do you like from the new arrivals?

Please share, it would be no fun without you!!!

Mind the GAP

This is a quick post to rave about GAP essential tees.

Essential scoopneck T

I have always been a fan of J.Crew perfect-fit tees and I own variety of them: long sleeve, short sleeve, tank, crewneck, v-neck, ballet neck, neutrals and variety of colors. But they can be rather expensive for what they are and some colors never make it to deep sale. 

If  you need a specific shade that J.Crew does so well, you may want to buy it from them. But if you need black, white, navy, brown or gray, you may want to check out the GAP version. They are cheap, the cotton is nice and substantial and the fit is great. 

Jeans also GAP see review

The fit is very similar to J.Crew. I took size Small which I also take in J.Crew. It is pretty close fit but it is not clingy. I like the weight of the cotton and the neckline of the crewneck. I also tried the v-necks and short sleeve scoopnecks. I should credit Ema who featured the white scoopneck in this post and prompted me to check them out.

shoes by Fluevog

The white is a little bit see through but acceptable. I think it is less treansparent than J.Crew version in fact.

shoes J.Crew

I washed them and they kept their shape. They shrunk a little bit in length but not too much.

necklace J.Crew

They are pretty long in regular but they also sell them in tall. You can apply one of the 30% dicount codes that GAP seem to have regularly available and they also have free shipping with $50 purchase. This is $50 before the discount so it is really easy to meet. I paid about $10 each for mine and I am very happy with them.

***

That's all folks!

Have you tried GAP essential t-shirts?

Please share, it would be no fun without you!!!

Review of collection bow blouse in electric plaid

You may remember when I first spotted this blouse couple of months ago:

It was interesting, but I was worrying it would be made of polyester and cost a small fortune.

Pretty soon it showed up on the website. It was 100% silk, which was great, but as I feared, it was too pricey to really be a contender for my closet real estate.

Buy it here

Oh well, I thought, maybe it is too matronly anyway, with the busy print and the bow ties.

But the fact is, I kept it in mind, because the idea of front ties and its secretarial charm was making inroads in my sartorial dreams. Then Ema and Gigi reviewed it and it looked great on both. My resolve to look the other way was crumbling. Finally, it went on sale and with an additional 30% off and I surrendered. Of course, an hour after I placed the order (and I could no longer cancel it), I developed a case of buyers remorse. I bought it Final Sale without ever trying in on, which I almost never do! Surely it will be a disaster. And it will serve me right. I am very good at scolding myself, although I rarely heed my own good advice...

The delivery was delayed due to the storm and for a week I was both worried and hoping that the package would be lost, but the box eventually arrived, all intact, at my doorstep.
 

Size 6

I have ordered my regular size 6 and the fit is good. It is quite boxy and short which does not bother me too much, but I think it may be too short for some. The sleeves are full length on me, but again, I have proportionally short arms, and they will probably be bracelet length on some taller gals.

Short and boxy

I love the fabric. It is a nice weight silk, more like silk twill, not slippery and not see through. The print is busy and bright but I think this is actually an advantage, since the streaks of almost-neon cobalt blue and hot pink make it more modern and less of  'Grandma's plaid'.

The ties are not too long, which may be a disadvantage if you wanted to tie a big bow. I like it because it makes it easy to wear untied.

BR trench and Repettos

The colors look great with blue jeans. This was my original idea to dress it down and make it more modern and casual. I actually wore it on casual Friday and did not feel too dressed up. The blouse also looks good peeking out from behind the coat, blazer or cardigan.

There are quite a few colors in the print and it will go well with cobalt blue (or festival blue), bright dahlia, other shades of bright pink, orange, camel and black. Personally, I prefer it with neutrals, but this is just me and how much brightness I can tolerate.

J.Crew wool trousers and Coach McAlister's

I tried it with camel trousers and the color is a perfect match. It is hard to style this blouse, since with the busy, colorful print and ties, the accessories options are limited. I was not crazy about this outfit, it was just OK. I think it might have been better with camel matchstick cords or capris and black shoes.  However, I did not have time to change, so I wore this to church and I was (maybe too) appropriate...

I liked it with jeans much better, but I think my favorite way to wear it is with all black.

J.Crew skirt and shoes, BR clutch

For me, the blouse works with both pants and pencil skirts, as long as they are slim in the hips, since the boxy shape of the blouse may add volume on top.

I don't think I would attempt a hookup with the pencil skirt from the same fabric. Maybe if I was 15 years younger?

No, I think I'd rather wear it with a black leather jacket. Only, I don't have one.

Hmmm....

  

***

That's all folks!

Did you buy any of the Electric Plaid items?

What do you think of the blouse?

Please share, it would be no fun without you!!!

Gold Star Seeker

This summer, when I was on vacation, I picked up the 'Happiness Project'  by Gretchen Rubin in the local bookstore. The book, according to Amazon's book description "chronicles (author's) adventures during the twelve months she spent test-driving the wisdom of the ages, current scientific research, and lessons from popular culture about how to be happier". Have you read it?

I am not usually into self help genre and most of the time I find those books preachy and annoying but as I flipped through the pages, I came across some passages that got my attention. One was when Gretchen describes how her husband made seemingly innocent remark about her snoring at night and how that provoked the out of proportion reaction from her. You see, apparently I also snore (although I am in denial about it) and when my hubby joked about it, it annoyed me beyond belief. It just seems like such an unsexy trait. I could totally understand how Gretchen quickly blurted out something unpleasant in response.

But the section that made me purchase the book was when she realizes that she is a Gold Star Seeker. She describes how they were mailing out the greeting cards to friends and family and how her husband did not want to participate in sealing and stuffing of the envelopes. She had designed the cards and took pictures of the kids and put a lot of energy into it. But aside from help, she realized, that what she wanted the most, was her husband acknowledging what a wonderful job she did and how great the cards came out.

This is me, I thought. I am happy to do the work, as long as somebody notices and acknowledge it. I guess, in many ways it is only natural and maybe obvious but it was a aha moment for me. Gretchen then proceeds with trying to change her thought process to be more in the lines of  'I want to do it for me. I wanted the cards to look great and this should give me enough satisfaction'.

When I read that chapter I realized that even blogging is part of it. I always liked fashion and putting together outfits and many times I received compliments from coworkers and strangers alike, but posting an outfit definitely gives me a chance to get an instant reaction, especially that it is coming from people that also care about fashion and styling. But in fact, this may apply to blogging about anything, since it is a format that usually invites comments and feedback and provides you with statistics on pageviews.

Here is where I am trying to change my mindset, thinking that whether writing a post like this one, styling an OOTD or writing a review, it is just something I wanted to share and not to focus on how many pageviews it generates, how many followers I get and how much praise I get in comments. This is not to say that I don't value what my readers think, of course I do! I just try to focus on 'I am doing it because I like it' part.

I also try to keep that in mind in my relationships and domestic and professional life. When I cook a good dinner or throw a great party I should be happy because I wanted it to turn out well. Any praise from others is just the icing on the cake.

Although... I do like the icing.

1. 

Wearing Academy Blazer by Madewell (review here), Doily Lace skirt by Anthropologie (review here), Pia  top (review here) by Banana Republic, J.Crew Nottingham boots (old) and Kate Spade purse.


***
That's all folks!

Have you read 'Happiness Project'?
Are you a 'gold star seeker'?
Do you think blogging feeds the beast?

Please share, it would be no fun without you!!!

Trompe l'oeil

This short sleeved patterned sweatshirt is not yet on J.Crew website, so I don;t know what the name of it would be when it is released, but the print looks like trompe l'oeil lace. I am sure this scrap of vintage lace was stumbled upon in some Italian antique shop and had J.Crew designers obsessed with it, until they recreated the pattern using the quill pen.

Lace-printed sweatshirt

Jokes aside,  I think this is a pretty top. It is boxy and on a shorter side but I think it works. I am wearing size Small, which is smaller of my non numerical sizes. Medium, which I often take, was way too shapeless.

This is also my attempt to pull of the midi length and I am quite satisfied with it. This is the best I can do I am afraid.

My old pleated skirt is from Express, made of wool and surprisingly good quality. It has that vintage ladylike feel but it is also super comfortable.

I was having trouble finding a necklace that would go with this shirt and I stubbornly insisted it needs one. I finally settled on this one because it also has that lacy quality to it and I liked a little red in this dominantly black/white/gray outfit.

Witch's shoes

My daughter thought the shoes would be perfect for Halloween, if I dressed up as a witch. Oh well, I love them. These are Noelle (sp?) booties from J.Crew that I bought last year.

I think the shirt also works dressed down with jeans and a cardigan but you can see that it is quite short and wearing a sweater is a little tricky because of the thickness of the fabric.

I am wearing my Gap sexy boyfriend crops (review here) and a Tippi cardigan from J.Crew. Messenger bag from Banana Republic and ballet flats by Sam Edelman.

The shirt was tagged at $65 but for some reason it rang up at $75. They have adjusted the price for me and I also used my 20% coupon bringing it to about $50. I brought it home to try it with what I have in my closet and I did not take the tags off yet because I am not sure if it is worth it. What do you think? Should I keep it?

***

That's all folks!

Do you like this new sweatshirt from J.Crew?

Please share, it would be no fun without you!!!