J Crew Dress Review - Checkered Puckered Shift Dress

Oh honeys, as I mentioned in yesterday's post on the jersey promenade gown, the Checkered Puckered Shift Dress - and hehe, try saying that 5 times fast - (#22357, $150) - it just was NOT good on me. At all.

Trying to find redeeming qualities about the dress...hmmm...the fabric is kind of interesting? Um, not really. Oh wait, I've got it - there are some pretty buttons on the back at the top. That was pretty much it.

First of all - the name - checkered puckered? Sounds like a hot mess to me.

Let's start out with what I ordered - I got the dress in Pearl, in a size 10, since that's what I usually take in J Crew's more tailored dresses. This dress, of course, could use some more tailoring...or less...I don't know...something....

I think the size was probably too big, but I didn't even notice because I couldn't get past the color. I have the Jackie in pearl and it's lovely - like the color of a chocolate-vanilla milkshake. So pretty.

The dress in pearl? It looks like a white tee that got dipped into the basin of a washing machine that had a load of medium darks washing. Just dingy and dirty and icky and not at all attractive. I was so hoping this would be a cute, flirty, frothy, springy off-white dress. Sorta like the Playa dress from last summer. Seriously, the color of this dress is an insult to pearls everywhere and they should complain.

By the way, the dress is also available in dark pewter and rosy peach. Even though I just don't do warmer pinks/peaches, I think the rosy peach is probably the best option.

Outside of the unattractive color. the dress just did not look good on me. I know "hot mess" gets overused, but that really explains how I felt when I put the dress on. Too young on me. Too many ruffles. Weird bottom with the puckering under. No waistline. Weird ruffle thing at the sleeve.

If you go to Fabulous Florida Mommy's post with the scanned pics of the March catalog...or if you have a catalog yourself, the dress appears on the 12th picture, on Amanda Brooks. The stylists were wise enough to hide the dress with a large jacket. It looks much better that way.

So yes, that dress was immediately packed back up and returned. Yikes. But here are a couple of Polyvores that I made with the dress. Maybe I'll find a substitute for the spring/summer - I love the idea of it, but the actual dress was just a horror on me.

Checkered Puckered Shift Dress by HeidiGblog featuring J Crew

Winterizing the Checkered Puckered Shift Dress by HeidiGblog featuring J Crew

Wardrobe Challenge, Day #3

Big Day - 1st Vet Appointment - Lucy was so well-behaved. I was so proud!! That Puppies for Dummes book has really been fantastic - so sad, but it really is helpful. We are really working on the not jumping up.

With the vet visit, today's ensemble needed to be totally washable. And it was supposed to actually get to spring weather. Time to bring back out the J Crew Tissue, adding my tank and Chicos jeans... plus some cute canvas flats from LL Bean, and some pearls. Gotta have a little sparkle, huh? Looking at the pics I realize that I really probably did buy this hoodie a size larger than I needed. (this was the slimmest look of the hoodie in the pics) Oh yeah, and the camera totally cut off my head because it was one of those days and I took the pics later than usual and we were downstairs and I don't have a good pic spot downstairs yet.

I have been wearing a lot of short necklaces this week because they seem like the smartest choice. I can't wait to go back to longer and layered necklaces and/or bracelets - but right now with a 12-week-old puppy, I feel like that is just asking her to chew on me, you know. We are going to a happy hour on Friday and a dinner party on Saturday sans chien, so I am definitely jeweling up for those.

And what a gorgeous day it was! Back to colder temps tomorrow.

Just a little fun accessorizing at Target

I know the famed Target pearl cluster necklace set off a frenzy of JCA Target activity. I was never lucky enough to acquire one pre-shopping ban. (Does it count if I was trying to get it before Lent and now suddenly it's available? I don't think so.) Anyway... on one of my Target forays, I stopped to really check out the jewelry.

And I found this... $16.99 for Merona's Ribbon Bead Necklace. There's was only one left, so I snagged it. By the time I got it, I couldn't find it online. The first time I wore it out, I had 3 SA's at JC and BR asking me where on earth I got it. My favorite JC SA, Jill, was able to find one a few Targets up the road.

The ribbon is black satin and it ties in the back. I just did a simple know because I wanted the length. The beads are kind of like dark grayish metallic pearls. (I don't know if this picture gives you any better idea of what the beads look like because it's really a pretty lousy closeup.) It looks so great with anything I've put it with. I love it with the sweater as shown above (J Crew Dream something or other, last winter). Also, lots of visual impact without too much weight, because some of these necklaces do get heavy.

So if you missed out on the Target pearl cluster necklace, there's still reason to check them out.

J Crew library shawl cardigan

This one was a purchase from several weeks ago. The J Crew Library Shawl Cardigan, (#13377, orig $98, currently on sale online for $59.99). By the way, I don't think I'll wear it like this because I just don't do belts. I haven't bought a belt in years. I like the look of them. They just don't work so well on me. Although I like the idea of it with shorts. I plan to wear it with jeans, trousers, a mini, and a dress. Lots and lots of ideas.

The cardi comes in light pewter and putty. I chose the putty although it was a toss-up; I really liked both colors. It's only available online in the light pewter, but my B&M had putty when I was there last Thursday.

I can't even begin to tell you how cozy this is - but not too heavy. I was wondering why it was so soft until I looked at the tag and realized that it was cotton AND cashmere. (cashmere, squee!) Per Gigi's post, the blend is about 70% cotton/30% cashmere. (I cut my tag out, so don't have it, sorry.)

I love the weight. It's soft enough to wear now in Feb/March. But I think I'll be wearing it through about June at the very least. It would be a great cuddly evening sweater at the beach. Because the colors are both so light, it makes the sweater last longer through the seasons that it might in a darker color. I think that is the very definition of a transition piece.

I just love the longer length of it. Long tops work best on my figure. I've worn it open and closed. Sleeves are long enough. I think it's just a classic piece that I'll wear a long time. I wear it with the top 3 buttons done, and lower 2 undone (don't like it hugging under the booty so much).

Here I had it on this week with a navy tissue boyfriend vneck tee, my trusty Chicos jeans, navy patent BR flats (Spring 08), and pearls. I'm still experimenting with the right necklaces to wear with it when the top buttons are closed. Any ideas?