Head to Toe with Heidi: flower pin

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Back in Black - J Crew Selby bag & Tango Tank, and 212-Sephora OPI Polish

**UPDATE TO POST - I am still working on how to click on the collages to enlarge, but I added detail on the necklace/pin combo.

Happy Halloween!!

Appropriate post for Halloween, no? I'm up because I can't sleep and my stomach hurts from all the junk I ate yesterday. (Must get Lucy out of cone so we can get back to using Gentle Leader and regular walk schedule before I gain 20 pounds and my legs fall asleep.)

So here's Friday's outfit... with lots to discuss.

First up, I'll bore you with the details of the day. Halloween costume parade outside and classroom parties at school today. Way important to layer as it was chilly outside but those classrooms turn into mini-saunas with the kids running around partying, plus all the extra bodies (parents). And then I got to count out oodles of cash to room parents to reimburse them for the class parties since I'm a volunteer coordinator at the kiddies' school. Let me just say how nice it is to have Halloween a day after all the craziness at school. Very good for my sanity and everyone else's.

Now that you understand the environment, the outfit makes total sense...staring with the Viscose Tango Tank (#20061, $49.50). I had posted on it back here when I first got it at the store, and was maybe on the verge of returning it since I hadn't worn it - but I realized how perfect it is for days like today when I know I am going to need to strip down to very light clothing, but still want to look good with the layers on top. Gigi did a great review here, with links to lots of other blogger reviews as well. I love when she does that - it's so helpful to see an item on so many people and get everyone's different perspective.

I took an M, and got the heather gray, which is not online. I will say that I am mega bummed about the name change, silly as it is - I loved the name "Cupcake Top" that printed out on my receipt. Yes, I am a sucker for the cute name - probably why I hoard nail polish - they have the best names! If JC ever comes out with a garment named for my darling daughter, E, I will probably have to stockpile it.

But back to the tango top - which is a cute name in its own right - the fit on this is fantastic. The brilliance of it is that there is an empire waist seam around the top, so it's fitted right under the bust, and then follows the line of the body much more than some of the other ruffled tops have, meaning it doesn't add pounds. Plus, because it's viscose, not cotton, the ruffles themselves are a bit thinner and drapey-er - so they lay much better under cardis, etc. When the weather gets colder, I will probably layer a long sleeve tee or even a turtle underneath for warmth. And come spring/summer, I plan to wear it even more.

To layer on top, I chose my charcoal Michele - well, it's actually last year's BR version of the Michele - same cut/fit, but it's a teeny bit more substantial/thicker than my beechwood Michele - I really like that. Not seen is the usual yellow short Loft trench (which I love with all the gray). And then black Minnies and some black Target flats.

Necklace wise - I wore a double strand of F21 faux pearls with the J Crew Velvet flower pin in dark slate (#19374, orig $29.50, curr $14.99). I got mine from the "candy jar" in the front of the store. I'm sure I'll wear it as a brooch sometime, but for now, I plan to use it mostly to pin together random necklaces, a la JC catalog. But I think I'll stick to 1 or 2 necklaces, not the editorial 6 or 7. I just pinned the necklace over the 2 strands. (Thank you, cheap F12 necklace that has lots of space on the strand because it made it easier for me to do.)

And then the bag...isn't it pretty? Yes, I have officially abandoned the Campo camp for Selby-ville. J Crew Selby Satchel (#18260, $275 - I got the black on sale for $149.99) DaniBP nailed it in her comment on my last post, talking about the black and natural leather combo. That's what I really love about the bag - I think it softens the black and makes it more versatile - both season-wise and outfit-wise. Not that black isn't uber-versatile on its own, but I think it stretches it some. The full-price dark caramel that they show online is gorgeous also...just not priced quite so nicely. Regarding the straps - perfect. The handles easily go over the elbow or even the shoulder without too heavy of a coat, and the long strap works great for a cross-body look. I'm sure you can sling it over your shoulder, too, but hey, I've only had it 2 days.

The bag is lined in tan cotton, so guess what? You can actually *see* what's inside the bag - love that! I think the size of the bag is perfect for me - holds lots of stuff, but not too much. Yesterday it had the usual purse stuff, SLR camera, water bottle, bag of candy pumpkins, magazine, stack of multiple papers - and it still zipped closed just fine. I have over the years discovered that regardless of actual size, I need my bags to be "landscape" instead of "portrait." If the height exceeds the width, I won't be able to find a thing. The satchel has the usual zip pocket on 1 side and 2 stuff pockets on the other.

And now onto the fun polish...black again. This was a last-minute addition to my Sephora F&F order. (Have you done that yet? 20% off everything through Nov 2 - code is FF2009). The color is actually called 212-Sephora, created in celebration of Sephora's new 5 Times Square flagship store. (oooh, I want to go there....) It's only available at that store and online. The color is described as "smoky black with iridescent, gold, and copper glitter." Perfect Halloween polish? Oh yeah. I think this would be a very fun New Years polish, too. Oh, who are we kidding...I'll be sporting it on and off all fall/winter.