Sunday, March 10, 2013

European Overtures: Massimo Dutti, Zara, AllSaints

My best friend from college visited this weekend and we took advantage of the 60 degree weather to stroll along M Street in Georgetown and indulge in English pastries at PAUL and shopping at some of the new European-born stores I've been so excited to go see - chiefly Massimo Dutti, AllSaints, and my old favorite of Zara.

All three can be characterized as basically 'grown-up fast fashion' in that trends still move fast, quality is sometimes shaky, but style is generally on-trend and often great to look at and easy to wear. As I've been working, I've essentially replaced my college based Forever21 habit with these stores but am pretty happy about it.

Massimo Dutti is a relatively new addition to the Georgetown shopping scene and as with most stores on M Street, is beautifully laid out. Lots of spaciously hung clothing, reclaimed wood and wood polish.  zara is as Zara does and is always pretty packed, while this particular AllSaints location was generously decorated with vintage (and non-functional I assume) Singer and Brother sewing machines. I have my eye on the following Zara parkas and overshirt but haven't pulled the trigger yet because I do not need any sort of light jacket post Burberry-trench purchase.

I tried this one on and loved it. It's so casual and easy and the sleeves are a cross-hatched woven material visibly different from the rest of it. The length is also good even on a 5'2" me!
This one has the multi-material effect that I loved for awhile but is a bit pricier for a fun jacket.
I especially love this overshirt since it is a thick, soft woven cotton and feels very substantial for a good spring transitional piece.


But by far, the best part of the shopping trip was eating a giant macaron at PAUL. 

Monday, August 20, 2012

Banana Republic Fall Arrivals

When I stopped at the mall to return a purse my mom hadn't wanted to Nordstroms I realized I hadn't been to BR in a few months and stopped by to take a look at the end of summer sale. A few pictures are below:

BR Monogram Sequin Tank: This gorgeous tank is lined with a stretchy polyester fabric and very comfortable (unless your arms brush against the outside!). Unfortunately it gives me the flat uni-boob in size S but size M has gaping armholes so it was a no. The sequins are small and non-dangly and not too shiny, which is great. The cut of the shirt is also not forgiving to slight tummies since it all stretch and cling. Specific bumps aren't too obvious - just the overall shape. Ignore the terrible too-small pants below!



Jackson fit linen/cotton button-tab trouser: I really, really, really liked these pants but ordered them online since they're $74.99 in stores and $59.99 online (plus 25% off with purchase over $150 with code 'BRSUMMER25'. It's a basically half-linen, half-cotton blend that is fully lined with a polyester (silky, non-stretch) fabric. I love the looseness of the legs - extremely comfortable! Also runs slightly large as I found the 4P fit the best (6P wayy too large in waist and behind). Even the 'petite' version is about an inch too long on me even with heels so this pair will have to be hemmed at a tailor.



After coming home and looking at the BR website, I found and really liked the Emma rugby stripe tee (below). I got a navy blazer from Uniqlo a few weeks ago when I was in NYC and wanted a striped non-navy tee of some sort to wear with it. I wish I had seen this in stores!


Sunday, August 19, 2012

First post!

This post was inspired a fantastic manicure that I got today (and how much better it was than a 10-minute glittered nail job I slapped on yesterday while watching SYTYCD). My co-worker and I had to wait a bit so we spent some time poring over colors - I love all the darker hues that come with fall on the East Coast and can't wait for those but thought I'd indulge in a little bit of summer before August completely passed me by, which is why I settled on what I thought was a nice, cheerful pink (tested with one coat on my nails) called 'That's Hot! Pink'.


New manicure from the Ivy Nail and Spa in Arlington, VA.


I really should have tested two coats since it turned out much brighter than I had expected (although given the name, it's really no one's fault but my own). It turned out to be this incredibly, well, hot pink shade. I'll basically be 'Professional Barbie' at work tomorrow. Luckily, there are only a few women at work and we're pretty casual for a biz-cas office so these bad boys can still stay around for awhile.

Anyway, the idea of this blog has been drifting in and out of my head for a few months with a frenzy of shopping, evaluating and trying to re-do just about everything in my life but work has really been getting in the way. My busy times at work come in a monthly cycle, usually culminating in crazy times during the middle of the month. But maybe this blog will inspire me to work a little harder at putting my own life together instead of just analyzing numbers for a company!