Some of My Favorite: Shopping Friends, Mall Stores, J Crew Dresses for Spring

I have a few friends who are truly my favorite shopping partners. These are the kind of friends I can leisurely wonder around with and browse boutiques or hit a hard-core, dig-through-everything-on-sale outlet stores. They're the ones who hand me something over the dressing room door and it's always cool and fits just right and I like it better than anything I took in with me. And they may even rationalize a purchase for me so I don't have to do it myself: "I know you don't have anywhere to wear that, but it looks so good on you and it's on sale!" (It's lovely to have someone talk you into something you want.)

The trouble is that one of these friends lives in Manhattan, one lives in Brooklyn and one lives in Colorado. I don't live in any of those places. (I'm happy to audition local fellow shoppers--say the word, ladies.)

My Brooklyn friend visits here frequently so I get to shop with her a few times a year. I just had a day of boutiquing with my Manhattan friend. And last week I got to hit the mall with my Colorado friend. (We emailed about where to shop. Me: "What are you up for? Anthro? Shoes?" Her: "The Mall sounds good. Unless you think that would be lame." Me: "Are you kidding? The Mall is my favorite place!")

We parked by Macy's and walked past the oh-so-hideous prom dress department (dear god--I was never happier to not be a teenager) and hit all my favorite places to hit in The Mall: Gap, Banana Republic, J Crew and Sephora.

I gotta tell you, fellow shoppers, the Gap these day: bad. I don't know what's going on there but I find it ill-fitting and tuti-fruiti. It's all wrong. I have not liked a thing in the Gap the last few seasons. Banana, on the other hand, seems to be hitting all the right notes with me. (See recent posts on several Banana dresses I've purchased lately.) I've loved the color palette, the shapes, the fit. And I've really been wild about the sale prices. (I recently got a blue silk disco-vibe dress there for $23.99. During my latest Mall visit I grabbed an uber-oversize faux pearl necklace for $5.99)

But J Crew...I love you most of all. I've been hitting their final sale online fairly hard. (Oh the sweaters!) I've been scouring the in-store sale racks regularly. (Took home a black with touches of gold thread wool/cashmere pencil skirt--love it!--for $20.99. It cost me more than that to get it hemmed.)

My recent J Crew score was the papaya-hued version of the dress shown below in light pewter. (I don't see the orange-y one online). Good with both heels or flat sandals and a cardigan.


There are few other J Crew dresses I'm smitten with. (I love love love dresses.) The simple linen dress below is made special with a dash of metallic, a defined waist and a bow detail. (I heart bows--I'm girly.)



And so you don't think this post looks like a casual version of the Oscars (what was with the white/ivory/cream thing Hollywood?) here's a lovely bright (papaya!) with similar features as the above--a defined waist and a bow--but with a more squarish neckline and in cotton.



And back to white...I'd get married all over again just so I could wear this tulle and organza wedding cake of a dress. I am a sucker for tiers.

Shiny Things and Tees from J Crew

I recently got an email from my friends at J Crew announcing free shipping so naturally I hightailed it to their website. I was not mindlessly perusing, however. I had a few things in mind.

When I visited Portland recently, Cheapy and I hopped off the train right next to a 2-story J Crew. (Men's stuff lived upstairs.) I purchased what quickly became three of my favorite t-shirts. I got two long-sleeved waffle weave henleys (that I wore all over Portland because I had packed for much warmer weather) and this great salmony pink tee with floral embellishments (which totally matches the Argenteeny Pinkini polish that's now on my toes). It fits me perfectly--maybe I should get it in a few more colors.)


While I was shopping at the Portland J Crew I also tried on this dark gold lamé top. I really loved it--I'm a sucker for shiny--but the only ones they had left in stock wouldn't quite button over the girls. Happily it was way on clearance in the J Crew site.



The trouble was they also offered the top in two silvery shades (the darker on is below) and a shiny white. Since I couldn't decide between gold and silver I got one of each--you never know what type of metallic you'll be in the mood for when you're in the mood to wear a shiny shirt. (I'm thinking these will be fun layered under jackets, vests, sweaters and dresses for fall and winter.)


Also on final sale was this tee declaring "Seize the Day" in Italian and it ended up in my shopping cart too.

When I got this tee in the mail, however, it was a mess. The lettering was brittle and cracked everywhere. I called J Crew, and though the person I talked to seemed a tad bubbleheaded, she agreed to send me a mailing label so I could return the shirt--I was worried they'd give me a hard time since it was a final sale item, but, as it should be, defective doesn't count when it comes to final sale.

My Latest Finds on eBay, Plus Owl Sandals

I got a two cute, kinda short and kinda fancy skirts on eBay recently. (I like to dress nice when Cheapy takes me to dinner--which is our favorite date activity lately. If I show a little leg maybe I can score dessert. Actually Cheapy loves dessert and if we get one to share he generally bogarts it.)

My first skirt is a new with tags J Crew Collection sequined mini I nabbed for $99 (after watching is through several auctions cycles and waiting for the price to go down). I know it seemed like my sequin phase had petered out, but, really, a sequined skirt is like bling for you butt. I can't get enough.


The other skirt I got for $28 is a Generra gray silk bubble mini. It's so pretty and has pockets!


I'm 5'2" so these "minis" aren't all that short on me. (They are skirts I do not need to take to Kim, my wonderful tailor. Sometimes I spend more on alterations than I do on an eBay item. But nothing is more important than fit no matter how pretty something is.)

And I kinda accidentally bought a pair of sandals from endless this afternoon (that's my story for Cheapy, anyway) when I was killing time before my facial (got a peptide peel--I feel like a girl of 35 again!). I had seen these on Shoe Blog in gold. They mentioned they were on sale at Barefoot Tess for $52 with a coupon code (down from $74) and shipping is around $8. Endless had them for $59.95 with free overnight shipping. I ordered the DV by Dolce Vita Dijon sandal in pewter.

How could I resist those owls? And I love that they are not totally flat--a tiny wedge is nice. I really like the whole Dolce Vita and DV lines--lots of great sandals, metallic and otherwise, including not-over-the-top gladiators. (I'm still looking for the right pair of gladiator sandals--I better get on that before summer is over.)