A favorite item of both petites and preps...

Judging by many posts that I've read throughout the blogosphere, there is one item I've discovered that is universally loved by petites, preps, and petite preps: J.Crew's Jackie Cardigan. I've mentioned it several times on my blog, but I decided my most recent purchase deserves its own post.


Cardigan: J.Crew Jackie Cardigan in Bavarian Blue, sz. XXS (buy other colors here)
Tank: Express, sz. XS (a great thrift find)
Pants: Gap Skinny Pant, sz. 1

Anyone who has read my blog before knows I don't like paying full price for anything. Why bother when you can almost ALWAYS get what you want for less? In this case, I had my heart set on getting a blue XXS Jackie cardigan at the J.Crew Factory Store when I was at the Tanger Outlet Mall. The Jackie cardigan I already owned was from the factory store, and I was satisfied with its quality, but I this time I wanted a new color (my old one is slate) and an XXS rather than an XS. What do I find when I get there? NO XXS at all (maybe they haven't started to make that size for the factory stores yet?) and not a single shade of blue. Such a bummer!

So instead, I looked to the internet to help. I visited the J.Crew Aficionada blog that I follow, and checked out their "Looking to Sell" weekly feature, hoping someone miraculously had the size and style cardigan I wanted. No luck. I decided to post on the "Looking to Buy" feature instead, asking for an XXS Jackie Cardigan in a shade of blue, offered for less than full price. What do you know, someone had exactly what I wanted! A lovely seller named Susan offered to sell me her Bavarian Blue cardigan from the actual store (not the factory store), new with tags for 40 bucks shipped (same as the outlet price!).



The cut of the sweater is perfect for petites. It has a short, cropped length, and flattering 3/4 sleeves. The XXS is a snug fit, but petites that are around my size may also like the XS, which fits slightly looser. It is a wonderful, classic style named for the icon of classic American style: Jackie O, of course. :)

If you haven't picked one up yet, I highly recommend that you do!!

*ShortBlonde*

New bag, new cardigan! Some excellent scores...

I apologize for my week-long hiatus turning into a 2-week long hiatus, things have been crazy (in a good way). Finals are over, and I finished with a 4.0 GPA for the semester- bring it on, senior year! I've been home since Sunday, and I've kept myself enjoyably occupied doing some things I've been wanting to do for ages.

One of those things was taking a trip to the Woodbury Common outlet mall to find a new bag. I also wanted to see if Vineyard Vines had the Seawater Cardigan I'd had my eye on since March (I posted about it at one point).
 

I called ahead, and was ecstatic to find out that not only did they have an XS, but it was $110 LESS than it was listed for on the website! SCORE!

Cardigan: Vineyard Vines, XS

T-Shirt: Banana Republic, XS
Jeans: Old Navy, sz. 0
Belt: J.Crew, sz. S

I love it. The length is petite-friendly, and the detail is lovely:

However, it's quite wide. I think that's how it's intended to fit, but it's a bit too much for a petite frame, and makes me look kind of boxy:

awful cell phone pic, sorry about that!

Luckily though, it's an easy tailoring job. The sweater isn't tapered, so taking it in should be no problem at all.

As for a bag, I spent 2 hours going to every single store painstakingly searching for "the one." I'm super-picky when it comes to bags, so I figured it would be a long trip. I wanted a small-ish bag, which made my search extra hard since big bags still seem to be in style. I'm also not into bags with the logos patterned across them- I wanted something leather, in a tone that could work for all seasons.

I first tried Coach, where there was a big coupon sale (and very cramped, crowded chaos!) When I entered, there was a woman standing there handing out the 30%-off-everything coupons. She deliberately looked at me and decided not to give me a coupon, which I'm guessing was some sort of age discrimination (everyone else got a coupon!) She probably assumed I was someone's teenage daughter. Petites- does this ever happen to you? So frustrating! No matter how I dress, retailers always seem to assume I'm 15 and not worth their time.

However, it was Dooney and Bourke where I finally found "the one"- on my second trip there, no less. It was perfect! And luckily, offered at a price much less than originally listed.

I decided to jazz it up with a silk scarf from Talbot's and a yellow-and-gold key fob I got with my purchase:




I may or may not keep the key fob there, but I love the scarf!

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In other news, I had a wonderful time at the Bronx Zoo yesterday with two of my friends! Here are some pictures from the day:

 Tomorrow I'm heading back to the city to tour the Teacher's College at Columbia University, where I'm looking to go to grad school. It's nice being busy doing things I actually want to do!

Until next time,
*ShortBlonde*

My Love, Not-so-love Relationship with J.Crew.

If anyone asked what my favorite stores are, J.Crew would definitely be among them. But to be honest, my feelings about the store are divided. Here's why:

love: their classic style.

By classic, I'm referring to the style of sophisticated-yet-casual clothes they've had for a while...like the Jackie cardigan:

It comes in a multitude of colors, and the length/arm length is perfect for petite ladies. It's a classic fit that reminds one of the sweater's namesake, the lovely Jackie O. I wish I had every color!

not-so-love: the sequins!!

I'm sorry sequin-lovers, but this gal is a FIRM believer that sequins are only for cute evening dresses and New Year's. I understand that J.Crew's trying to appeal to a more broader, hip young market, but I'm not a fan of the unnecessary glam; give me glam cocktail dresses, not this madness:

love: the quality.

Although I definitely can't say the same about some of my other favorite stores, J.Crew has never let me down in the quality department. Their clothes are always (in my experience) well-made with great fabrics. Take the "Perfect Tee" for example:

This t-shirt is the only one I've ever seen that is thick enough to not have to layer. The cotton is soft, the variety of colors are wonderful, and I can feel confident that I'm not giving the world a view of my bra underneath. I recently picked up a spearmint-colored one that perfectly matches one of my pairs of Jack Rogers sandals. :)

not-so-love: the sizing.

  Alas, my age-old problem: Their clothes are too big. I applaud them for having a petite line, but it would help if the petite sizes were petite-friendly! Blogger PetiteAsianGirl from Extra Petite sums it up perfectly in this picture of  her wearing a size 00P skirt:

Sad, right? A size 00P should be much smaller and should fit ladies at LEAST as small as me and Jean without all the clippage! I make due by buying clothes that a totally perfect fit isn't necessary for (3/4 length sleeves are good normal-length sleeves, for example...) Their petite sizing is definitely an area of improvement...but the same could be said for many other petite brands/lines.

love: the student discount

Yes! Being a college student means that I get 15% my J.Crew purchases. Woohoo!

BUT....

not-so-love: the student discount can no longer be used on online purchases.

Boo. Considering I do about 2/3 of my J.Crew shopping online, this is a major disappointment.

What do you think of J.Crew?