peplums

Slantwise Peplum Tank from Anthropologie

I'm trying not spend any money on clothes or shoes this month because I went a little crazy last month buying during some of the End of Season sales. But I still opened up Effortless Anthropologie's sale post today and saw this little number. I like how it's styled with casual pants and cute strappy sandals. This peplum top is the same idea as the one in my previous post that I got for $20 at TJ Maxx. I haven't been to an Anthro in months because my nearest one is 2 hrs away and it's hard to get away with my job and the kiddos. So I have no idea how this would look on me compared to the TJ Maxx version. This one is currently on sale at Anthro for $30.

Anthro-ish TJ Maxx finds

I've finally admitted to myself that I cannot afford to dress as well as I'd like when I have three growing kiddos who need to be fed every day and must also be clothed in adorable outfits. I have been working for about a year now after staying home with my kids for seven years. I'm still slowly building up my wardrobe. I went to TJ Maxx and found some great pieces that reminded me of some Anthropologie pieces, but at a fraction of the cost.

 Cynthia Rowley dress from TJ Maxx / Franco Sarto strappy heels / sterling silver hoop earrings from TJ Maxx

Photos copyright Darren Whitley

 I've always been able to wear bright prints, so this Cynthia Rowley dress immediately caught my eye at TJ Maxx (worn with Franco Sarto strappy sandals from TJ Maxx, also available here). I don't know if you can tell, but it has a photo-realistic print of tree trunks around the center. Now that I think of it, the whole thing is a Twilight-ish forest print. It reminded me of some of the landscape and photo-realistic dresses and skirts I saw last year at Anthropologie (similar to this landscape dress by another fashion blogger).

Cynthia Rowley dress from TJ Maxx / Franco Sarto strappy heels / sterling silver hoop earrings from TJ Maxx

 Peplum top from TJ Maxx / All-Season Stretch Peplum Pencil Skirt by Ann Taylor /  Softspots low heels / Invicta watch (blogged here)

I've been wanting to find a peplum top, but didn't think my waist was tiny enough to pull it off. Since I love stripes and black, I thought I might be able to pull this one off. When my husband saw it on me, he insisted I must have it. I wore it with a skirt from Ann Taylor that I bought last month along with the matching suit jacket.

 

Old Navy black t-shirt / Cynthia Rowley polka dot shorts from TJ Maxx / Dansko Susie sandals / Invicta watch (blogged here)

I feel like I'm getting to an age where I really shouldn't wear shorts. Or maybe that's what I tell myself because I have such a hard time finding any that fit me well, except for the Nike dry-fit shorts I wear to work out. I was really surprised by this find because the print and fabric reminded me so much of the Anthropologie Polka-Dotted Mini Dress I bought last year and ended up returning (blogged here). 

Old Navy black t-shirt / Cynthia Rowley polka dot shorts from TJ Maxx / Dansko Susie sandals / Invicta watch (blogged here)

cobbler

This is my third winter wearing these awesome Times Three Booties by Schuler & Sons I bought two winters ago. My husband spotted them when we were shopping at the Anthropologie store in Kansas City. I fell in love as soon as I tried them on. Even though they were marked down on sale, they were still $99. I wanted them so badly, but I couldn't justify the price because at the time, I had never paid so much for a pair of shoes. I walked away empty-handed that day, but because I couldn't stop obsessing about them, I called the store and they shipped them to me. I wear them all the time during the cold weather season and I've received numerous compliments.

The other day I decided they needed some TLC before I broke them out again for another year. Since I didn't feel like doing the work myself this time, I took them to my local cobbler who re-stained the heels (snow/salt damage from last winter) and polished them all up for me to make them look better than new.

in the closet

I took advantage of my 3-day Veteran's Day weekend and spent hours cleaning, decluttering and reorganizing my home. One of the areas that I really needed to work on was the closet I share with my husband. Since I returned to work this past August after a total of nine years (two in graduate school full time and seven as a stay-at-home mom), I really needed to customize it to my new full-time-working-trying-to-exercise-and-lose-weight lifestyle. My house was  built in the early-1960's, when people were smaller in size and generally owned less things. So I have to limit the number of things I own so I don't end up on that TV show "Hoarders." My closet has to hold all of my in-season and out-of-season clothes (except for my winter coats and workout shoes that all live in the hallway coat closet). I also needed a place for some crafting items since I long ago lost my studio space to my kiddos. This is what the closet looked like around this time last year.

 

 

Anthropologie order fail

Despite the bad reviews by other fashion bloggers and customers who also bought this dress, I went ahead and ordered the Polka-Dotted Mini Dress by Anthropologie as soon as it went on sale this week. I had originally tried on size Medium back in June (in this post) and since I broke out into a sweat trying to peel it off, I ordered it in Large. Technically, the dress fits me. But it just isn't flattering on me at all. Like other reviewers have stated, it's hard to know what kind of body this was made for, certainly not mine.

 One of the problems I see with this dress is that the bust line is a bit too high and I think I have an average-sized chest. I don't mind the dress being short because I'm only 5'3" and I think I look better with dresses that hit me slightly above the knee.

I tried it on with a belt that I bought at TJ Maxx this summer, which I think improved the dress, but it's still a miss for me. The dress is already back in it's original packaging ready to be sent back. 




Polka-Dotted Mini Dress by Anthropologie / Nine West belt from TJ Maxx / black opaque tights by No Nonsense / black faux patent leather mary jane heels from Off Broadway Shoes.

Anthropologie, Express and Nebraska Furniture Mart

The kids and I went back to Kansas City on Saturday to go to the art museum and for some returns and shopping. I got some more basic clothes to build up my pathetic "stay-at-home-mom wardrobe." We went to The Plaza and hit up Anthropologie first.

 These outfits aren't really my style, but I know that others always enjoy seeing "inspiration outfits" from Anthro.

 We saw these really cool cacti all over the home section at Anthro that appear to be made of canvas. I think I might rip off the design to make some for my own home.

 I wanted to try on the Scalloped Stripes Dress, Anthropologie, again to see if I needed Medium or Large since I'm watching for this to go on sale. It doesn't have any buttons or zipper. I couldn't even get the Medium on. This is Large and fits me really well. I got the tops in the background, which were both on sale, but I didn't photograph them because the kids were starting to act really crazy.

 We walked over to Express after Antro and enjoyed an amazing reggae band that was playing outside in the blazing heat. Despite that, there were a lot of people who had stopped to enjoy the music.  I tried on the Ruffled Raglan Sleeve Pleated Chiffon Blouse in size Medium. It's see-thru so you have to wear a black cami underneath. It's $50 full-price so I would only get it if it was on sale.

 The Scarf Print Banded Bottom Dolman Sleeve Blouse, Express, is the same idea, but with a slightly different cut. Also, see-thru-ish so it requires a layer underneath. Both $50 and size Medium...will wait for a sale.

 The main reason we went to Express was that I wanted to try on the Ruffle Front Elastic Waist Dress, which is on sale now for $47.94. This is a very forgiving dress due to the elastic waist and flowy fabric. But since I have put on stress weight around my middle area since having children, I hated the way I looked...so boxy. My son told me I looked beautiful in it and I should get it. I guess I'm my own worst critic. I didn't get it, but it's still available online in my size if I change my mind.

Lastly, I dragged the kiddos across town to do some returns at The Legends shopping area from my previous shopping trip a couple of weeks ago. But, first we stopped at Nebraska Furniture Mart because I wanted to put some L-shaped, sectional sofas on my mental wish list and get an idea how much we'd have to save up, since we like to pay upfront for furniture and appliances so we don't owe anything on them. When we were heading out, I saw this swanky leather version of the other L-shaped sectionals I liked. It's from the Roxy collection by Lane.  I really liked that it's made by Lane because they make their furniture here in the USA and it makes me feel good to support American manufacturing. I don't know if I can talk my husband into this set because he has something against leather furniture. He claims he gets stuck to it or something. I think it would be ideal for the kids since we could easily wipe up any messes they make. I would not get the huge ottoman shown because our house is small and we need the extra walking space.

Anthro and BR fitting room reviews

I went shopping last Saturday in Kansas City because I had to be there early anyway to participate in a 5K run/walk (I walked!). It was in the 90s so my hair and makeup don't look the best by the time I took these photos. I did buy some basics because I was desperate for new clothes since I have barely bought any for myself since I started having kids nearly 7 years ago. The following photos are from dressing rooms at Anthropologie and Banana Republic. All items are full-price right now so I have to wait for them to go on sale if I want to buy any of them.

I recently lost about 10 lbs. and I was so happy to mostly move out of size Large and back down to my regular Medium. I'm hoping to lose another 15-20 lbs.

 

Wrap dress from Banana Republic. I didn't see it online so I don't have a link to it. I've figured out that wrap dresses are most flattering on my figure so I'll be stalking Banana Republic for this dress to go on sale. I think they also had it in black, but only in a few sizes.

 Braided Belt Knit Dress in Blue Freeze color, Banana Republic. It's practically sold out online. I really liked this one. I think this would continue to look better as I lose weight.

 Tied Campanula Dress, Blue Motif color, Anthropologie. I really like the way it fit me. The skirt is very full so it made me look a little bigger on bottom than I liked. When my husband saw this photo he said the colors were horrible. It's $148 so even when it goes on sale it will still be at least $70. I don't love it enough to buy it at that price.

 Scalloped Stripes Dress, Blue Motif color, Anthropologie. This is not a typical style I'd go for but there's a celebrity interior designer (Cortney Novogratz) who wears dresses with this similar cut and I thought I'd give it a try. This one is size Medium and fit me just a bit tight, but when I try Large it's usually loose around the shoulder area and looks sloppy. I was surprised my husband didn't hate this one. I think this could look and fit even better as I continue to lose weight to reach my goal. Will look for this one to go on sale.

 Polka-Dotted Mini Dress, Black Motif color, Anthropologie. This is another one I would normally not try on because of the cut. The fabric was upholstery-type-ish and it doesn't have any zippers or buttons so it's made kinda roomy. I had no problem getting the dress on, but it did feel a bit snug and you can see on this photo that it looks tight around my arms. When I went to take it off it got stuck. I had my arms way up in the air and I couldn't get it over my shoulder area. I immediately remembered that my back lateral muscles have grown from weight lifting and that's exactly where this dress was stuck. I started getting hot and panicking. I thought I was going to have the sales attendant help me peel it off. I was able to bend down and wiggle it free.

 White Gulls Dress, Blue Motif color, Anthropologie. I thought this dress was going to be a home run because of the cute birds print and the flowy fabric, but it looks very strange on me. To make it worse, there are high slits on the front and back where the fabric is side-gathered. I read the online reviews and other women found that problematic. Not getting this one!

Gilded Estate Skirt, Sapphire color, Anthropologie. I'm completely obsessed with this skirt. The color and pattern are stunning and it fit me like a glove. I worried a little about getting crease marks from sitting while wearing this. It's $128 *gulp* so I would only get it on sale.