Elizabeth Suzann Marlena Midi in raw silk (medium) |
gift from ES to review a couple yrs ago, no longer available
Robert Clergerie platform sandals
(similar style on sale)
Jas M.B. wings traveler bag
Wearing/Buying
It’s SOOOOO hot today, and I can’t be bothered to wear a bra (this dress is perfect for that!!) 🙂
Things I bought this week…(too many things…and some things are still on the way. I’m going to be taking a break from buying all the things this summer. More later…)
AllBirds tree loungers – I bought those last week actually but didn’t start wearing them for real until this week. I don’t like them as much as the wool loungers; the style of the shoe is different in ways I don’t like. And they were much more snug, not stretching out as much as the wool version. They did become a little more comfortable as I wore them, so I decided to keep them. I wanted a summer-weight slip in shoe and these are sustainable so. I’m not sure I would recommend them though, which makes me sad.
Rag & Bone/JEAN boy jeans (with credit at Shopbop) – exchanged for size 27 (WTF was I thinking??). lesson learned: SIT DOWN IN THE JEANS before you decide to buy them.
Elizabeth Suzann Florence linen pants – medium, regular – I ordered these with the gift card I got for my AC collab return + a little extra. It’s time to get back to my 2018 wardrobe planning haha. I couldn’t stop thinking about these and wanting to try them, so, done.
(speaking of Elizabeth Suzann, who has thoughts on her “conversation/announcement” the other day that orders will open up on Wednesdays until they reach capacity for the week, and then close until the following Wednesday?)
Paula’s Choice 2% BHA skin perfecting liquid – I used this twice before I saw on the back a precaution: do not use if you’re allergic to aspirin. Uh. That isn’t anywhere on the product page online, or else I wouldn’t have bought it.
I am allergic to aspirin (salicylate allergy). My doctor told me this after I started having terrible, debilitating migraines in college and was taking regular doses of prescription motrin to try and survive. Well, after about a week of that I had a severe asthma attack (I already had asthma) that took a while to recover from.
Anyway, my doctor told me it was the motrin and that I should avoid aspirin/ibuprofen. Done. But I never looked into it, or asked what that meant besides that I should say I’m allergic. I am perfectly fine taking acetaminophen for pain, and even then, I don’t usually need to take pain meds.
Now that I investigated a little to see why that Paula’s Choice product says not to use if you’re allergic to aspirin, I’m a little concerned. If you look at the foods that contain salicylate it’s basically ALL THE THINGS I EAT. WHAT WOULD I EAT IF I COULDN’T EAT BLUEBERRIES?? Ugh. I’m not freaking out about it, I mean, I’ve been fine the last twenty plus years since that initial attack. I will make a note to ask my doctor about it and maybe see if I can be tested to determine how extreme my allergy is.
Reading/Watching
The Great Alone – this was such a wonderful book (the author wrote The Nightingale also, which was brilliant) and I keep thinking about the characters/story even after finishing it last weekend. It jumped the shark a little I thought towards the end, but overall I thought it was beautifully written. I was invested in the characters the whole book and sort of still am…
Killing Eve – so good. Just nicely made, vibrant, and so real.
Doing
Launching new arrivals for slowre in the morning, which is new for me, so I’ll be busy packing up orders to ship over the weekend. FYI, if you’re a small or extra small in Elizabeth Suzann, make sure you’re on the mailing list and check your email at 10 CST 🙂
Next week my sister is here for a few days, then I fly to Atlanta on Friday for my nephew’s high school graduation. I CANNOT BELIEVE he’s graduating high school, OR that my sister has an 18-yr old son. My step-son will be graduating in two years. WHOA.
Life is so beautiful, I just wish it didn’t fly by so fast !!
Happy weekend.
Ha! I’m wearing that same dress today (in crepe, not raw silk). Can’t wait to see how you like the florence pants in linen. Sorry about the Paula’s Choice. Will they let you return it?
how is it we always manage to wear our similar ES pieces on the same day?? 😉
i’m going to see if my sister wants to try it first before sending it back. otherwise, yes, i’ll definitely try and return it; that should have been clearly marked on the product page!
So I have only actually bought two ES pieces from the knit collection. I actually ended up selling the Rebeka kimono because I realized I don’t really like kimono sleeves! And I just didn’t like the way it looked on me. (But I wore it for 6 months and resold for shockingly close to what I paid for it?!? The ES resale market is crazy!)
With the rest of the ES collection, I haven’t pulled the trigger and not totally sure why–I think I’m concerned about making the time investment (and money since returns are credit only), and am really unsure as to how the pieces will fit and look on me. Not sure if this change in their order taking will make a difference for me or not…
I have some thoughts about the ES announcement, and I’m curious about yours and others perspectives. On the whole, I think it makes sense and I think it’s wise to make sure they’re not getting overloaded… I have no idea what a better alternative would look like. My only concern is that it seems to continue to capitalize on scarcity, which is sort of the pattern we’re all claiming we want to escape by engaging with slow fashion, right? The scenario that goes through my head is if someone is thinking about ordering from ES that week, they might rush to do it on Wednesday AM because if they wait any longer they might not be able to get an order in that week (because who knows, they might max out on orders by noon on Wednesday for the first few weeks of this model), but it might also mean that they order before they’re ready because they don’t want to miss out on the window… which isn’t great either and they end up making a premature purchase and having to return. Maybe it’s all just growing pains and it’ll turn out fine and I’m thinking of the worst-case scenario, but that’s what popped up for me when I read the announcement!
You are HOT in this!
I really like this dress and wish ES still carried it (I would love it in silk crepe). It got very hot here in Hawaii this week too. I’ve also had to think a bit more about about what I wear to work each day and I am missing the cooler weather in the evenings (hate sleeping in humid hot weather).
I listened to the ES audio post and found the entire history interesting. I didn’t realize it had only been five years. It was a wow moment to hear that reviews made such a difference. I guess if you are ordering a $200 or $300 piece and need to wait for it, you are more likely to pull the trigger is you have an idea of the fit an sizing based on customer feedback. The new method may affect my purchases. I like to mull things over and think a lot before buying. I will get frustrated if I finally decide to pull the trigger and it is constant sold out. Perhaps it is temporary? Until they can determine the uptick will continue? If they have more employees and order more fabric based on more historical demand, than hopefully the items don’t sell out as quickly. I do wonder if they analyze their sales stats (which I’m absolutely sure they do!), if they would figure out that not everything needs to be made to order. While I understand and appreciate her desire to stay made to order I would imagine certain pieces are a sure thing to sell a certain quantity. There can be a cost efficiency as long as your unsold pieces are still minimal.
I also feel like this style of clothing is having a moment. I think for women my age and older, these oversized drapey styles in natural fabrics have always been around (at least in Hawaii as boutiques for older women bring in stock from Japan and all of her styles as well as most of Garmentory is very Japanese to me). But will 20 somethings be dressing in the same clothing that I, a middle aged woman, like to wear five years from now? Of course some ES pieces are a bit more tailored and trim. Also, how many pieces are her customers ordering? I’ve started to realize that I’m not any less consumerist than I used to be. I shop just as much. I’m buying clothing that gets better with age and handmade including ES, Miranda Bennett, etc. but I’m still buying at a steady clip and my closet is bursting at the seams. I feel like I need to take a good hard look at my buying habits and setting limits. How many oversized linen dresses does one need? Am I fooling myself thinking I’m a more responsible consumer because I’m buying $300 dresses from sustainable designers? Isn’t buying less the most sustainable thing that we can do (besides thrifting locally)?
I love this comment and agree with everything. How thoughtful you are!
As a very careful label reader, I have to point out that the ingredient you are allergic to is on the ingredient list on the product page. Ingredient lists are not mandatory for cosmetics for all countries, so do take advantage of them when you live in a country (US) that does mandate them. I just wish they would also be required to list percentages of active ingredients too, as with medications! Of course, that would make most manufacturers look very, very bad indeed!
I think so too.
We are all humans and slip from time to time. It is interesting to observe Grechen’s ups and downs (in terms of shopping) and I can totally relate. I remember her saying she is only buying a few ES pieces in the beginning and remember your question if she is still trying to stick to that decision which was left unanswered… Great comment, completely agree with you!
I was so excited about the Allbirds pop up in Norstrom because I wanted to try them out, but was totally underwhelmed with the tree lounger…… and the service. The woman there was so unhelpful and disinterested in me. She answered my questions with either yes, no, or maybe. No elaboration. I finally just said I’d come back another day. I wanted to try the wool running shoes but they didn’t have any in my size and she couldn’t tell me when they’d be in. I still want to try them but the whole experience left such a bad taste in my mouth. I’ll probably just order them and try them. It’s a shame because the wool runners are adorable!
yes. i dislike the scarcity aspect of it all, and the idea that you must buy ASAP or else you’ll miss out. (incidentally this is something i dislike about new arrivals days at slowre also…but i’m not sure what the answer is)
the problem is that the idea of scarcity is what actually CREATES scarcity. i don’t honestly think that everything will “sell out” by the weekend, or whatever, but it will if people THINK it will. if that makes sense…
I have no idea what the solution is, although i do think a lot would be “solved” if they could get their lead time down to 1-2 weeks. that should be the end goal of it all in my opinion.
that’s what i was thinking too, that not everything needs to be made to order. i mean…some things are surely “constants” and they could have a certain quantity in stock. like linen florence pants, georgia tees, etc. really. in my mind if she hired a couple of people just to work on getting some stock of those most popular, constantly ordered items, so that those were always available, that would help a lot.
and yes that this style is having a moment; it will wane eventually. at least among the younger buyers i think.
also based on personal experience, obviously (!), i am certainly not buying less. better, yes, but not less…i’m sure i’ll write a lot more on that later 🙂
thank you 🙂
yes, of course, if i had known i was allergic to salicylic acid, which i didn’t, i wouldn’t have bought it. all i knew was that i should avoid aspirin/ibuprofen, i never knew why or looked into it anymore. my bad, yes, but why add the precaution to avoid if you’re allergic to aspirin on the actual product and not on the description on the website?
oh yes! my mom and i had a bad experience with CS at the allbirds pop-up here too! and they didn’t have ANY stock at all…so it was sort of pointless anyway.
Oh my goodness, so sorry, I must have sounded really rude! I just assumed that your doctor had discussed ingredients (and their chemical equivalents) not just brand names! I think the bad is on your doctor. What if you picked up a house brand pain reliever or needed a pain reliever while in a country that has different brand names? That wouldn’t be pleasant!
ha! no worries. i understood what you meant by it!!
yes, i certainly agree that my dr. should have told me more, although she could have and i just don’t remember? it was 25 years ago 😉
besides that though, there are so many foods, etc., that have salicylate in them, and i wonder if i would feel super-human if i stopped eating them?? problem is, if you look at all those foods, it’s basically what i eat on a daily basis LOL
I sort of wondered that same thing. Couldn’t they short term forecast the most popular things (like a Georgia tee), have those production plans made, and run them periodically based on predicted sales? They could rotate the sewing through seamstresses if the goal is to alleviate boredom or whatever but if those items are never going away, it could be efficient to have a small stock preproduced. I know the concern with that is overstock they have to discount but there are some pieces I can’t imagine that happening with. I mean I know zilch about how her business is set up so it’s unfair of me to try to outthink it. I personally find this open for sales at a certain time a little eeeeeeeeehhhhh like I don’t know. Maybe like you said that it perpetuates the feeling of scarcity. I don’t actually foresee things selling out when the wait times are long, I see it more once wait times drop down and customers return again. What’s the difference in a 1-2 week wait time when you can’t place an order for x number of weeks on top of it? I should probably mention I’m a big fan of all of my ES I’m just someone who has to analyze everything lol.
yeah. I don’t know… they must have a good reason for not pre-producing things. i mean i listened to what liz said, and heard her reason, and i get that she wants to maintain the experience of creating something from start to finish once it’s ordered, but that is so difficult to scale (as she’s noticing). seems like that would have to give a bit over time. or should IMO, but what do i know 😉
Thank you Kathryn! I used to blog but haven’t for a long while so I think I end up writing essays on G’s site instead lol.
Oh I totally understand that, when you have a vision of something you’re going to fight very hard to maintain control of that vision. But, at a certain point it becomes your own agenda. Does the experience come at the cost of customer experience somewhere else if they really just refuse to loosen their grip, you know? I hope it all works out because I REALLY WANT HER TO RELEASE THAT LINEN HARLOW ALREADY!
Oh yes, I totally get the Scarcity creates Scarcity idea, and I think you’re right! I agree with what people have been suggesting which is to take the best sellers and just have some of those in stock — that seems like it would certainly free her team up in some capacity. I understand that she is wanting an overall experience of making items for customers, but it seems like it backs things up on their end which in turn impacts the customer experience, and we end up searching elsewhere. I think we’d all gladly forego some of the special “oh this order is specific to me” feeling if we could just get the items we order within the season we’re ordering for! (only half kidding) 😉
I agree, I love this dress on you!
I can’t tolerate that PC BHA AT ALL. It gives me a SEVERE facial allergy reaction complete with swollen eyes, bright red peeling skin, etc. It’s the only product I have ever had that reaction to. Such a bummer because I like most of my other PC products quite a lot. I have no aspirin allergies that I know of.
oh wow. that’s terrible!
What other PC products do you like/use?