Shopping Report | Calypso, J Crew & Loft

In an effort to always provide you with the best shopping advice on the Internet, but mostly, because I can’t resist a nice, sunny, WARM afternoon at the Domain here in Austin, I went shopping this afternoon. Here’s what I liked, and didn’t like:

J Crew ponte swing dress | $128 at J Crew – I never have good luck at J Crew, nothing fits me right. But I picked up this dress because you guys went ON AND ON (LOL) about how much you liked navy blue on me, so I thought I’d try and find some more navy pieces. This dress is not it. The size 8 fit me, but it was a bit snug in the arms (I didn’t like the rolled sleeves), and the waist was too long on me. And although the fit & flare is supposed to be “THE PERFECT SHAPE” for pears, or those of us with well-endowed hips/butt/thighs, I don’t really like it on me; I prefer fitted skirts/bottoms. It’s a cute idea, it just doesn’t work on me – but I’m glad I tried anyway!

Go Silk parachute silk pant | $245 at Calypso (cobalt blue is on sale for $199 minus 30% off) UGH!!! Why does everything I love have to be SO EXPENSIVE!!!!! I tried these on in the cobalt blue first (size medium), since they would be $139 after the extra 30% off, and they were nice, the color is pretty, and I was almost convinced until I tried on the black pair I’d brought into the dressing room with me. They just looked SO MUCH BETTER. And these pants were absolutely amazing. I’ve never tried, nor thought I would try, silk pants before, but if I was going to get a pair, these would be it. They were quite a bit longer on me than on the model, which is better in my opinion, and I loved the drawstring waist, and the zippered ankle. The silk is machine washable, then you just twist it up and let it dry so it keeps the wrinkles; I can imagine these would be amazing for travel. Of course, now I’m going to be on an endless search for a similar pair of pants, that costs less money, and using history as a guide, I can tell you I will not be able to find them. I did try some on at Loft I thought might be contenders (not silk, but a similar style), and they failed poorly. This Eileen Fisher pair might be an adequate substitute, but they’re almost the same price as the Go Silk pants, so I’d go with the Go Silk pants instead.

Textured maxi skirt | $69 at Loft – I loved this, and took a size small, which fit me fine. It’s a great “column” style skirt, which is something I always look for, because what I tend to have most of are flowy, pieced skirts that flare out. The column style is incredibly flattering; it made me look super-tall and very lean. It was hard to get over my hips, but once I did, it fit perfectly, the medium would have been too large in the waist. I wanted to get it, but have never had to pay full price for anything at Loft, so I’ll wait for a code/sale. Speaking of, this sweater I’ve been looking at is on sale now, with an extra 40% off – good for layering! Oh! and hello, this cami is SUPER-CUTE. I tried it on with the skirt (in a medium) and it’s really good, it even drapes a bit at the neck (at least it did on me!)

What have you tried on recently and liked? What are you waiting for to go on sale? What have you bought recently and love??