Friday, May 8, 2009

Wearing Today - J Crew Stripes & Dots

I started the day in a lightweight cardi and jeans, and was roasting by the time I finished walking the puppy after the bus stop this morning. Clearly I had to change...and to what. Well, first of all, let me tell you about the blue hangers. When I did my big closet clean out 2 months ago, there were a number of items that I hadn't worn in about a year and a half due to some weight gain due to very poor habits and my 6-week streak of vegetarianism brought on by the graphic chapter on meat in that awful book, Skinny Bitch. Seriously, it messed me up for a while. Stay away if you ever want to eat meat again. Ugh. (mental shudder, shake it off)

10-14 lbs make a huge difference in sizes, duh. (that's a duh to me, not to you) But there were some pieces that I really wanted to keep because I knew I would get back down to that size and I would wear them. (other pieces - it was a good reason to say good bye.) The whole point of a closet clean out is to streamline the closet and make it easy to get dressed because everything fits, it looks good, it's in good condition, etc. Solution? The need-to-drop-10-lbs pieces were put on blue hangers to distinguish them from the fitting clothes. There weren't too many of them to be discouraging. And it did help motivate me to see them. So now, I am wearing my blue hanger clothes - and so happy about it!

I would have loved to throw on one of the J Crew strapless jersey dressed today, but I really wanted to wear this - one of the blue hanger items. It's a black and white striped polo dress from J Crew, Spring 2007. (anyone recognize or have a clue about name?) And it was perfect today. Along with some gold jewelry, including the Dina hoops, and black ballet flats.


And I switched out to the J Crew purse (pictured at top) from last spring - my $15 purchase (so on sale at my local B&M) for a trip to Aruba that May with my best friend from high school. She traded her timeshare, so I just needed to get a plane ticket. It was gorgeous there! Anyone recognize the purse from last spring - name, etc? Anyway, I love the colors. Love the polka dots. Perfect purse to spruce up the outfit today. It's a nice size, too - bigger than a clutch and holds a lot! Of course, it totally reminds me of the Papagallo purses from when I was younger. (wow, I just dated myself yet again.) Any suggestions on cleaning the fabric? The fabric actually discourages me from using it more.

And I don't have a Polyvore because I couldn't find everything. But I will be clipping the purse to add to my items. And speaking of clipping to Polyvore...I finally got a semi-decent pic of the white rosette tee. Which I will now be clipping so that I can use it in my Polyvore sets. Yay! (Stupid J Crew for not ever putting the tee online, grumble, grumble, grumble.)

Enough grumbling...it's a beautiful day and I'm going to take Lucy for another nice walk. It's good for both of us! Weekend is looking a little busy, so not sure how much I'll be posting. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend and Happy Mothers Day!

25 comments:

sparrowsandsparkles said...

TOO cute for words in that striped dress and polka dot purse.
Holy cow, I remember Papagallo... even had one of those frequent buyer cards where you buy 11 pairs and the 12th is free or something like that?? I remember you could get bows to clip on your ballet flats and I had those wooden handles with the change out button fabric purses. Good times. :) :) :)

Emily said...

I LOVE it! That purse is adorable and just love polka dots! The yellow purse is a really nice contrast with the dress. Happy Mother's day a bit early- I don't usually blog on the weekends.

CECE said...

awww Heidi, your outfit made me smile...soooo adorable!

fiyah said...

I like the polo dress and purse combo. I actually have that JC Spring 08 purse but it has swirls and circles of glazed pecan, blue, pewter, white and tangerine colors. I just pulled it out last week for work and a concert. What a great idea colored hangers.

LRA said...

Yay!! A pic of the white rosette tee for pv!! I love my white rosette tee so much! Can't wait to see more pv sets you make with this tee. BTW---I stopped in jcrew this afternoon, they now have a rosette tee in gray!! i didin't like it as much, though.

HeidiG said...

sparrowsandsparkles - thank you! I didn't have the shoes, but I sure had that purse.

Emily - thank you! I am going to try to take a break this weekend as well. Or at least wait until later on Sunday. But we have the DC JCA tea on Saturday, so I may not be able to wait! Trying to practice a little self-control here...

CECE - so glad I made you smile- thanks!

fiyah - I remember they did have some great prints in this purse - probably more when it was closer to full price. Yours sounds gorgeous!

mrsanketell - I saw pics of the gray oneon JCA . It's pretty and would be great on the right person, but the white one is just much better for me - so crisp. Feel free to use my PV pic if you want. (just don't use on eBay, please, hahaha)

HeidiG said...

sparrowsandsparkles - thank you! I didn't have the shoes, but I sure had that purse.

Emily - thank you! I am going to try to take a break this weekend as well. Or at least wait until later on Sunday. But we have the DC JCA tea on Saturday, so I may not be able to wait! Trying to practice a little self-control here...

CECE - so glad I made you smile- thanks!

fiyah - I remember they did have some great prints in this purse - probably more when it was closer to full price. Yours sounds gorgeous!

mrsanketell - I saw pics of the gray oneon JCA . It's pretty and would be great on the right person, but the white one is just much better for me - so crisp. Feel free to use my PV pic if you want. (just don't use on eBay, please, hahaha)

Slastena said...

Yew-hoo! So so pretty! Love this nautical look! Sunny!

GingerSnap said...

Aw, congrats on being in the "blue hanger section" it must feel good! Hope you have a great weekend!

Posey Ford said...

I really like the striped dress with the cute yellow bag!! You look great! The contrast is perfect! And now about the rosette tee: why aren't they selling the different colors online! I've seen bloggers with the gray one and now you with the white one. I have only been able to find the pink one. Grrr JCrew!

Unknown said...

You look sooooo cute! I love the dress on you.

Kristin said...

You look so pretty! I have that purse but in the yellow madras plaid color. It is so awesome for spring/summer and I always get compliments on it. I too remember Papagallo! Reversible covers were great!! Congrats on getting into your blue hanger clothes!

Summerilla said...

Cute outfit! The purse is super cute.

Can I just say I have been a vegetarian for 19 years!!! I had a "mental shudder" like you say when I was 6 and I've never been able to shake it off. I'm staying away from that book!

HeidiG said...

Slastena - thank you! Like you, Bobbi's got me in a nautical mindset.

GingerSnap - thanks - yes, it is a good place to be. Hope you enjoy your exam-free weekend!!!

PoseyFord - thank you! And the story on the tees (from Ema's blog - My closet, My Baby and I - great blog if you haven't seen it yet) - they sold out of the shell and natural and then decided to do the white. I guess they added the gray at some point. If you are really interested in the white or gray, I would try posting on the JCA blog - most posters are really helpful about which stores/ locations have specific items if you ask. (sometimes we're all enablers, aren't we?)

Gigi - thank you!

Kristin - thank you, and thanks for visiting! I remember seeing that plaid - it was way cute and I was torn btwn the plaid & polka dots.

Summerilla - stay far far away from that book. :) You are in a good place right now.

Patina said...

you look so beautiful. Congrats on your weight loss. I have heard horror stories about that book, so i am steering clear of it. It turned out to be a perfect day for your outfit. Hopefully, we well be rain free for our individual functions or, I may just end up wearing pants and ballet flat...boo, hoo

Anonymous said...

That is the striped pique dress from April 2007 catalog(p.12). Love your blog!

Jemma said...

I was really mad when I bought that book a few years ago because I thought it was a normal, motivating book, and I did not think they would preaching vegiteriam and using scare tactics-I really despise that book and the false marketing around it.

You look great- navy and yellow is a fantastic combo and congrats on getting to the blue hangers- I have to do the same and you are so inspiring! I also have about 10 lbs to lose and not quite sure where to start!!

HeidiG said...

Patina - thank you! and yes, stay away from that book - shudder, shudder. Weather is looking gorgeous right now (of course it is, hubby mowed the lawn yesterday evening so he could get it in before the rain today.) will miss you today!!

Anon@8:56 - thank you!!! This was before my JCA days when I was just an occasional shopper. Now I know what page to hit up one of my JCA pals to scan in for Polyvore. (Dina, are you reading??) Althought I did find a reasonable facsimile on PV, just without the collar.

Jemma Ruby - thank you - but the dress is actually black and white. I know you all see it and immediately assume it's navy, which with me, is usually a pretty safe bet. :) Wish I had great advice on the 10 lbs. For me, it was just finally getting my head in the right place so that I wasn't sabotaging my exercise with bad eating - because no matter how much your exercise, if your eating habits aren't good, the weight is not going too far. and it was, honestly when we decided that we were going to get a dog (just the decision itself). For some reason, that was my last puzzle piece falling into place. And tht book? Arrgh!

Anonymous said...

I luvvee mixing patterns like you did here! You look adorable!

AppGal said...

The navy, yellow, and white is such a beautiful combination! Congrats on venturing into the "blue hangar" world! I haven't read Skinny Bitch, but have become what I like to call a "flexitarian" after reading the books "In Defense of Food," "Omnivore's Dilemma," (both by Michael Pollan) and "Animal Vegetable Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver. They weren't so graphic, but realistic and common-sensical. GREAT books, if you like reading about food & health.

AppGal said...

ha...just read that the dress is black & white. oops! but this is even better...you're wearing my alma mater's colors...black & yellow :) hehe

Anonymous said...

Happy Mother's Day!

post-fab princess said...

Adorable!! Love the purse with the striped dress. Perfect colour/pattern combo!!

Happy mothers day with hubs and the little ones - and Lucy!

Anonymous said...

That outfit is so cute! perfect for spring :)

HeidiG said...

luvallthingsjcrew - thank you!

AppGal - A friend of mine read "In Defense of Food" and recommended it - I'll have to try it! I do enjoy reading about food & health...doesn't mean I always practice what I should, but at least I have the right information. And alma mater, hehehe, go Team!!!

PBP - thank you! Lucy let me sleep until 7:00 - it was good!

parkaveprincess - thank you! and thanks for visiting!!