J Crew Matchsticks - Lived In? You Better Believe It!

 J Crew Matchstick Jeans in lived in wash (#28163, $108).  $108?  Really?  These were a ton of these in the sale pile at my B&M.  For $29.99.  Add on the Mickey card's 20% off and I got them for $24.  Thank you B&M.  It seems like there is always a pile of jeans in the sale section at my B&M.  I don't usually go for them because it seems like you need to try on at least a dozen to find the right pair.  But they are always so well priced in the sale section, maybe I should make the effort more often.  Not that I actually need any more, I think this pair pretty much rounds out my jeans wardrobe for a while. 

But price issues aside...let's talk about the "lived in wash." I love the online commentary on these jeans "hand sanded for that had-it-forever softness."  So true.  So so so true. They are so soft.  So not only did they fit, but they were so comfy. 

I took a 29...which is likely meaningless, because I always have issues with not buying my jeans small enough and having them loosen up too much later (I hear my sister's voice in my head right now).  I just hate it when I put them on and they still are uncomfortable.  Although I think I've been getting better after the weight loss this fall, trying on smaller sizes first.  Of course, right now I'm wearing a pair of Crewlet matchsticks in size 31...so they're more like a boyfriend fit. But lately I've been skewing to usually a 6 in pants and taking a 28/6 in LOFT jeans, so I guess this is the equivalent of an 8?  And it would make sense to go with a larger size in a slim fit to avoid muffin top. 

In any case, $24 jeans that fit and were really cute...of course I got them.  Love the wash - great for spring and summer since it is softer.  I wore them yesterday, April 1, and was glad I did get them.  April Fools' Day...oh yes, Mother Nature had a fun time with us.  Chilly, chilly, chilly.  And way breezy.  But I'll just be happy it wasn't rainy. 

So I paired the jeans with the tissue turtle in...shoot...dark charcoal, I believe.  I love how it picked up the gray in the tweed Dauphine jacket.  Oh, the poor Dauphine jacket, which I've hardly worn, bad me, since getting it late in spring last year on mega-sale.  Really need to rectify that because it's such a great jacket!  And then a pair of croc mocs to round out the outfit. 

I felt comfy, casual, and chic all day.  Gret for running around doing errands.  Didn't even change into sweats later in the evening after dinner.  *That's* how comfy the jeans are. 

Bottom line...if you've got the time, definitely dig through that pile of denim in your B&M!

Gray Cardis...with an unfortunate splash of red

I have been on such a gray kick lately. Wearing gray, looking at and sometimes purchasing gray clothes. I think it's a reflection of the weather - but not the gray of the cold. It's actually a reaction to the need for constant coats - specifically the yummy yellow Winnie coat and my much beloved workhorse, the gray hooded wool coat. I love how the yellow wakes up a simple classic outfit - and I do love gray with yellow. But other days, I love the tonal combo of pairing a gray coat with other gray pieces. I do think charcoal gray looks good on most people, and a lot of my gray does tend to the darker shades. And quite honestly, J Crew's dark charcoal is one of my all-time favorite colors - something about that particular shade works really well with the yellow tones in my skin. I realized that I had a lot of gray going on this week as I was looking back at pics, so I thought I would share the last couple of days before I get back to party prep. We're hosting our annual Christmas party tonight, so lots to do.

Starting with yesterday...Friday's outfit - This is the J Crew Knox Sweater Jacket that I posted on 2 days ago. So here I'm actually wearing it intentionally (size M). I picked up the JC striped tissue tee in the gray/white combo this week since my BR gray/white striped tee got a hole in the wash. (See? It's not just JC...) The tissue tee is in an M, like my navy one - and I believe I will enjoy it just as much as the navy one. I did get it on sale ($19.99 in store), though, so that made me happy.

Oh wow, was it windy on Friday. Wardrobe selection consisted of my opening the closet and saying "Which pair of boots do I want to wear and what do I want to wear with them?" I went with my new Chicos Ultra Slim jeans that I posted on earlier this week and my black boots. I added my Silpada pearls to finish off the neckline of the Knox.

I am still experimenting with what works best here - but I did like it with the scoopneck tee instead of a crewneck - less crowded looking to me. And next, I want to try a scarf or two. And of course, the Winnie jacket makes any outfit more fun. Plus requisite hat & scarf. Did I mention I picked up the JC Bucket Hat in store for $9.99? See...patience pays off occasionally...

Friday's Polyvore:

12/11/09-Brrrrrrr by HeidiGblog featuring J Crew

Thursday was a fun post-birthday day. A friend was hosting a Holiday Brunch, so I wanted to be festive - but I also wanted to stay warm. So I pulled out a Chicos cardigan from a couple of years ago - I love the faux fur trim. It makes it so cozy and just looks fab. I loved this cardi so much, I got one for my mom that Christmas. Both of which were purchased with coupon, of course. I got mine at 50% off...and it has been so worth it. You all know that I'm always cold, so this is the perfect piece to wear out in the winter with a black tank, jeans, fun shoes (or boring black flats), and some chunky but sparkly jewelry.

I did once have a funny incident at a friend's house where her dog was very weirded out by the sweater - usually Cody was my best buddy, but he slunk around the perimeter of the room for quite a while until he figured out it was me. Lucy had no problem, but she did see me put it on, so maybe that made a difference.

Given the outside temps and the wind, I chose a JC tissue turtle in dark charcoal (M again) instead of the usual tank, and then paired it with my black Minnies tucked into black boots. Between the fur collar and the boots, I did feel a bit bad-a$$, like I could pretty much take on the world. And oh, how warm I was. I am going to experiment with this cardi over some of my (many) black dresses for Christmas eve - I hope one of them will work so I can be festive and warm. If I find one that works, I'm sure I'll post it here.

Thursday's Polyvore:


12/10/09 by HeidiGblog featuring J Crew

Ok, now here's the promised splash of red. When I was at JC on Wednesday picking up the above-mentioned gray striped tee, I did fall into the Crewlade. Oh I know better. I know I don't usually love Essie polishes. But sure enough, I grabbed a bottle of Russian Roulette sitting by the counter, thinking that there was enough orange in it to maybe work. And here are the results:

Hmmmm....maybe I've been doing too many light and dark colors for the past few...years, but this was just way too bright for me. Or just not at all the right color or what I wanted. I had applied Thurs night...and took off Fri afternoon and applied another color. If E wants me to keep this one for her, I might. Otherwise, I'll offer it up to the DC JCAs at our next outing to see if anyone wants it.

Like the Tango Tank Actually Needs *More* Layers...

Told you I would be catching up... starting with today's outfit.

Ok, totally honest...I was going to just go with my tissue turtleneck and Chico's boyfriend jeans with a statement necklace to break up all the blue. (you know me and my simple, I mean, classic, outfits.) But then I thought...what if I added a statement top...on top? I know the tango tank will be just fantastic in spring & summer, but I'd like to try to wear it more now since 1 - it's cute, 2 - I like the shape and thinks it's pretty figure flattering, and 3 - trying to use what I have and stop buying all new stuff, you know.

So, attempt #1 at layering with the tango tank. (I have a M in both of these tops, btw.) Navy tissue turtle under the gray tango tank. Then gray fireball necklace, Dina hoops, and gilded daisy ring. And navy patent flats.

What did I think of this outfit? Ummmm, ok. It looks a little heavier in the picture than I thought it did IRL. Maybe that's because my hair is down. I actually think this would have worked much better with hair up. And I kept feeling like I should be layering a navy blazer on top for some reason...hmmm, I'll have to work on that since I don't actually have one.

Next time, I'll try this with a regular tee underneath. Have you done any creative layering with your tango tank?

Polyvore of today's outfit:

11/25/09 by HeidiGblog featuring J Crew

Items in this set:
J Crew top, $50
J Crew top, $40
Current/Elliott jeans, 243 GBP
Maloles flats, $130
Forzieri earrings, $449

Still Nuts About Navy

Yes, still loving the navy this week. And last week...this post includes last Friday's outfit which did not qualify for the last cardi party post. You know, since it wasn't a cardi and all that... But I think my current navy phase is entirely due to the J Crew classic stripe tissue tee (#20019, $32.50) and the tissue turtleneck tee (#17656, 39.50). They are such great fall pieces - I love the color (navy...duh) and I love the weight - soft but not too-too thin - and they layer up beautifully.

Last Friday, I pulled out my J Crew cashmere femme sweater from last winter. How many of you have this? I love love loved it last year. Love love love it again. I took an M, and if anyone wants to sell an M in another color, let me know. I really should post that on the JCA weekly exchange but well...yeah, I'll get to that. Not much blog reading this week, as it started on a real down note since Lucy was not able to shed the cone of shame. Her stitches came out, but the patch of skin above the incision that had razor burn from them shaving her tummy had gotten infected as well and even though she couldn't get to it by chewing (thanks to the cone of shame), she was able to scratch at it with her back paws - which we realized too late and it started getting worse because she was able to scratch at the (sorry to be so gross) scab to get most of it off, so that infection just continued. At least we did get the stitches out, so we are in 1 more week of cone - and now she needs a tshirt 24/7 to keep her from being able to get at it with her back paws. Funny as it sounds, we both were really down about it on Monday and Tuesday...but we have both adjusted and bounced back. We go back to the vet on Monday and I hope hope hope we will be cone & tshirt free after that. I won't actually ask you to say a prayer for my puppy, but feel free to keep your fingers crossed and say a prayer for my sanity. thanks.

Back to the outfit...honestly, I was looking for another way to show off the JC heirloom floral earrings that the lovely Summerilla passed on to me. I do really like them with the navy. However, just adding the garden pearl bracelet wasn't enough to jazz it up (esp when the bracelet is clasp-forward in the pic). I think the earrings alone were definitely more glittery in person, so I wasn't sure about adding a necklace. But photo-wise, it definitely needed something else. Ah, live & learn...that's one reason I take the pics - I learn from them too.

Polyvore from last Friday:


10/23/09 by HeidiGblog featuring J Crew

Then again on Monday, more navy in the form of the tissue turtleneck tee, which I love with jeans and the cami peeking out at the hem. This time I added the confetti necklace, which I really liked with the turtle. I asm so glad I got that necklace. I believe those are the Chicos boyfriend jeans - way comfy for a day where I spent a good chunk of time at the computer working adn the rest of it moping around about the fact that my puppy & I were sentenced to 1 more week of cone-dom.

Polyvore from Monday:



10/26/09 by HeidiGblog featuring J Crew

And on Wednesday...


Striped tee again. Have I worn this once a week since I got it? I'm definitely dropping its CPW (cost per wear) fast. I really could wear this about every other day. Since it was warm on Wednesday, I layered it with my navy short sleeve cardi and then added some necklaces to chunk up the neckline a bit. And I even wore my hair up (just for you FFM), which interestingly enough, works better since I got 2+ inches chopped off the ends.

Polyvore from Wednesday:



10/28/09 by HeidiGblog featuring J Crew

Where's the navy train headed? I don't know...but much as I love these pieces, black may be taking a more predominant spot for a little while. Why?

Reason #1 - (hello, Halloween on Saturday)

Reason #2 - 212-Sephora polish - funky, but love it - mani'ed it tonight - pics soon, I promise.


And Reason #3, for those of you who haven't seen my Polyvores today/yesterday - this little lovely arrived at my doorstep on Wednesday....


J Crew Selby satchel in black (#18260, $orig $275, black on sale for $149.99) Can you believe I actually didn't have a black purse in my closet? I mean, I'm certainly not a bag hoarder - just a nail polish and mascara hoarder, but I actually didn't have one in black. More on the bag later - it's lovely, must post pics. I will say this - perfect!

Why am I up this early? That crazy puppy is running around the backyard with, I believe, a green tomato in her mouth. At some point, she realized that "balls" grow on the tomato plants by the side of the garage. How convenient for her. (Detached garage in back - no, I don't have tomatoes growing in my front yard. Seriously....) I'd just like to go back to bed since we have kiddie Halloween parties at school tomorrow.

In The Navy...for Fall? Featuring J Crew Classic-Stripe Tissue Tee

I have been on a navy tear lately. Not sure why...I usually think of navy as the ultimate spring color. Maybe it's all the back-to-school-ness? Or maybe I've been feeling it because of the new fab J Crew Classic-Stripe Tissue Tee(#20019, $32.50)? It's one of the new arrivals at JC, has been in store for a couple of weeks and actually appeared online last night with the other new arrivals. (Yay for Polyvore clipping - although Dina's pic that I was using was pretty darn good, I must say, so props to her.)

What can I say about this tee? It's absolutely perfect. I have been looking for this tee for at least 2 years. First of all thanks to jmpb for first alerting me to the striped tissue tee and then taking pics (what a doll!). I believe I mentioned this before, but the very first one I tried on had the twisty-side seam thing going on, so make sure you try on before purchasing if possible! The 2nd & 3rd are just fine in terms of side seam. 2nd & 3rd? Oh yes...if you recall, I purchased this tee with 2 of the new sequin beaded tees (that I later returned). The SA put them all in the bag together, sans tissue. So when I went to put on my new fab striped tee, I had it on about 10 minutes when I noticed a small hole in the middle of the shirt around the belly button. Now, I'm an innie, so it wasn't that. It was from the sequins on one of the tees I got. But I was able to return/exchange without incident, thankfully - or I actually would have coughed up another $30 to get the tee, it's that perfect. But let it be a lesson in packing with sequins & beading...

Back to the tee. Love love love. Nice long length in the body & the sleeves. Fitted but not restricting. Fab neckline - nice scoop, with navy banding around to set it off. Classic. Simple. Perfect. Wow, I am blubbering - but this is probably my fave fall release item so far. Well, tied with the merino striped sweater and the Minnies. I took an M and there is still plenty of room in the midsection. And the stripes help camouflage and lumpiness - trust me, I always check for lumpies.

I wore the striped tee on Monday with jeans and the Atelier jacket. Plus the dangling crystal shapes bracelet and navy patent ballet flats. Later in the day, when I realized it was really cold, I swapped out the jacket for my navy Wellesley cable turtleneck (the antecedent of the Cambridge cable). Love the layered look with the stripes peeking out of cuff & hem. I also loved how this looked when I held it up to my charcoal and beechwood Michelles. Plan to wear lots this fall - maybe into winter if I get the right scarf. (Remember this at right from Glamour's JC fall preview?)

Polyvore from Monday:

10/12/09 by HeidiGblog featuring J Crew

More navy fun for fall...all lumped into 1 collage. See, I'm getting better at this - I saved it *with* text this time.

Tuesday was a perfect fall day. Really and truly. Sunny but with a crispness in the air that screams Autumn. This is my first Tissue Turtleneck from J Crew (#17656, $39.50). But I can promise you it won't be my last. I'll probably hold out for special pricing or a discount before I acquire more, but that will give me a chance to do a proper road test on this. Love the spicy olive color but I don't remember if they had that one in store. For a warmer day, this was a great top to layer with a cami, jeans, and some fab accessorizing. I kept it simple with my Hawthorn necklace from Anthro. It will be a great underlayer when it's colder.

Last Friday...maybe the last truly warm day for a while...pulled out the navy short sleeve cardi. I really hope JC has these again next spring because I will definitely stock up on some more. Such a great piece for the warm/cool days. I paired it with French Market tee and golden hickory cafe capris. I love how the capris pick up the gold in the tee.

Last pic...gosh, back in September...this is fun because I hardly even take pics with full outerwear. This is how you jazz up one of my standard outfits of navy vneck sweater and jeans. Add yellow jacket and olive scarf & sneakers. This was a soccer day outfit. Layers and warmth at the neck. I took the pic with jacket since I've worn that exact sweater/jeans combo a million times over - but it shows how much wear you can get out of a classic item. And I'm still not bored with it because it makes a fab backdrop for accessories.

Last 3 Polyvores:

10/13/09 by HeidiGblog featuring J Crew

10/9/09 by HeidiGblog featuring J Crew

9/26/09 by HeidiGblog featuring Old Navy