I Actually Bought Something at Forever 21

It was actually XXI, which is pretty much the same thing.

Last night Cheapy, Cheapy Jr., and I went to see Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who (some fine work by Jim Carrey and Steve Carell). The XXI store at The Mall is very close to the movie theater, and while the boys were going up and down the escalators, I was drawn into XXI by a cute jacket. It was 10 minutes before closing (let me tell ya the place was packed--there were nine girls in the checkout line and I was for sure old enough to be their mother) and they already had a gate down, so I walked way around and found my way to the cute blue cotton jacket that had caught my eye. I took off my Anthropologie jacket, tried on the XXI one, loved it, and stood in line for 10 minutes to pay for it (last one in my size).

I can't find the jacket online. It's dark blue, big collar, slight swing, sort of cropped, three-quarter sleeves, and doesn't look like it cost $27 and change. I've picked out a few other cute and highly affordable jackets from the Forever 21 website.


Safari done a little cuter and a little more subtle than Old Navy did it. Price: $24.80.


I love the stripes and the little bows on the pockets. Price: $27.80.


Perfect for spring with three-quarter sleeves and a rounded collar. Price: $29.80.

Yellow is very on-trend right now and this is a great shade and a cute cut. Price: $27.80


I was really surprised to see a lot of items I liked at XXI (mixed in with cheesy/cheap looking and/or way too young for me stuff). Pretty much every issue of Lucky: The Magazine About Shopping & Style includes at least one Forever 21 piece--an ensemble consisting of $285 skirt, $550 jacket, $425 pair of shoes, $2500 bag and a tank from Forever 21 that costs $17.50. I plan on hitting XXI again in the near future for some cheap-and-trendy.

I've Fallen In!

As I was driving to work today, I looked down and realized every single item of clothing I had on was from the Gap. Ack! (Not the accessories--they came from the nice jewelry store, eBay, Macy's and DSW).

However, it was a way cheap outfit, probably under $100 for all four pieces. The jury is still out on the odd blue top that my coworker Amy also owns. The color is beautiful and the fabric is nice, bit it's very billowy and hits me in a weird spot--too short for leggings (as if I'd go there), and well below my hips. (I'm sure the Gap model is a million inches taller than I am.)

I just read on Fashionista that Patrick Robinson is a Gap designer and that they're going back to basics--khakis, demin, and such and that stores like H&M and Forever 21 are kicking the Gap's ass in sales. You may notice in the NY Post article I linked too, that they say they are focusing on the 24- to 34-year-old consumer. Hey! 39 should not be too old to shop at the Gap! Blah on you, Gap. (I really could use some nice khakis, though.)

Has anyone noticed that all the pants at the Gap seem to have gotten longer? When they started carrying petite and tall sizes online, the Ankle length Gap jeans got about 1.5 inches longer. (I measured.) That did not make the 5-foot-2-inch me happy. Why should the shorties and the tallies not be able to try things on in the store?! The Banana Republic stores have started to carry a few petite items, so maybe the Gap will soon follow suit, thus winning over the petite and tall 24- to 34-year-olds along with all the average ones.