Category: Flowers

Dutch Floral

J. Crew dutch floral sweatshirt
Sweatshirt, J. Crew; dress, Old Navy; belt, Gap; shoes, Winners; bag, Longchamps

I don’t know, you guys. I really don’t know how I feel about this outfit. It was pretty cool in my head, but I feel like the reality comes up short, somehow. I guess I’ll just have to keep working with the layering potential of this J. Crew cropped sweatshirt.

J. Crew dutch floral sweatshirt
too busy?
J. Crew dutch floral sweatshirt
what do we think about the lipstick … too dark?

Story time: I knew I wanted to get my hands on this sweatshirt as soon as I saw it. That print, of course. J. Crew offered a 30% off dealio over the Thanksgiving weekend, so I had every intention of taking advantage of it. But then that turned out to be the weekend we were all down with Toddler Plague. Except my husband. Naturally, I made him go and buy it for me; naturally, he did, because he’s awesome like that. I guesstimated the size, and erred on the safe side – I told him to pick the Medium (I’m usually a Small in J. Crew tops).

Aaaand … I was way off. Way. The Medium looked oversized on me, with a weird neither-regular-nor-cropped length, and hugely bunchy sleeves. Since I paid almost-retail for it, I was definitely not happy. So, once everyone was feeling better, I dragged the family back to West Ed (my least favourite shopping experience) to see about a return. The store had exactly two sweatshirts left in stock: XXS and L. At first, I thought I was screwed … and then I tried on the XXS, just for the hell of it. And proceeded to spend about twenty minutes in the changing room, trying to overcome my disbelief that, yes, in fact, I was wearing an XXS and, no, it didn’t look absurd on me. Oh, J. Crew! Your vanity sizing is so silly.

So, there you have it: if you’re inclined to buy this sweatshirt, go down at least one size. Maybe two, depending on how cropped you want your “cropped sweatshirt” to be.

J. Crew dutch floral sweatshirt
XXS, hahaha!

 

September Floral

Love Moschino floral dress; Ferragamo red Flavia pumps
Dress, Love Moschino; sweater & belt, J. Crew Factory; shoes, Ferragamo (via consignment)

Late September proved to be summer’s last gift to us – positively warm temperatures, and sunshine for days. I seized the opportunity, and took out my Love Moschino dress for one more, bare-legged spin. Tights can wait!

The black sweater was probably an unnecessary (weather) precaution, but it provided a nice neutral backdrop for a couple of colour accents. I was thrilled to finally wear my red Ferragamo pumps (last year’s consignment coup), and they didn’t let me down. Pretty to look at, and comfortable as well, even after a couple of hours on my feet.

Love Moschino floral dress; Ferragamo red Flavia pumps
bookending red

Formal Shorts (With a Side of Florals)

J. Crew chino shorts; LOFT floral cardigan; Marc Jacobs Mag bag fools gold
Shorts, J. Crew; tee, Old Navy; cardigan, LOFT (via consignment); belt & shoes, J. Crew Factory; bag, MbMJ (via eBay)

With my return-to-work date looming, I’ve been itching to do the big closet switcheroo: putting all 80% of my casual clothes in the basement closet, and bringing up all my work (and fall, sigh) clothes upstairs. But I’ve been forcing myself to wait, the better to enjoy my last remaining weeks days of freedom maternity leave. Still, I couldn’t entirely resist the urge to start dressing up a little. Shorts and cardigan it is, then.

J. Crew chino shorts; LOFT floral cardigan; Marc Jacobs Mag bag fools gold
church lady on top, PTA mom on the bottom

One thing I am definitely not excited to dig out again is the pantyhose. Ugh, that word. When I think about having to double down on the control top business, I get even more depressed. And do you know how hard it is to find “nude for me” pantyhose? I’ll have you note that I am just as pasty today, 10+ weeks into the summer, as I was back in June. Whomp, whomp, sad trombone.

J. Crew chino shorts; LOFT floral cardigan; Marc Jacobs Mag bag fools gold
the half tuck reveals itself …

On a slightly more positive note … I think my hair is starting to calm down a bit. It’s still not 100% back to the mermaid hair of my dreams, but it’s getting there. Slowly. (Side note: I did finally figure out the whole where-did-this-ombré-come-from situation. Perms can change the texture of hair and, apparently, one of the changes can be a lightening of the natural colour; this, combined with extra time spent outdoors this summer, likely accounts for my lighter ends. The darker roots were my re-growth since my December perm, showing my true colour. Of course, ombré hair is now totally passé. Where’s that damn sad trombone again?)

J. Crew chino shorts; LOFT floral cardigan; Marc Jacobs Mag bag fools gold
revel in the basic bitchness