I was actually glad to get to the dentist!

Wednesday was a crowded day, but somehow I was early for an appointment on 51st Street. I hate sitting in lobbies or reception areas for more than two or three minutes, so I was not unhappy to realize that I was only steps away from the corner of Anthropologie and J.Crew. With 12 minutes open, I opted for a fast lope through J.Crew, where to my STUNNED SURPRISE, I saw: striped shirts, plaid shirts, flowered shirts, checked shirts, spotted shirts.. All were cut on one of two bodies, the Perfect and the Boy. The originality of this concept was staggering. And Capri pants, solid and patterned. Enough with the ankle fetish.

the Max Mara version of the
Fatigue Jacket

Saw some cute striped cardis in a lightweight cotton-nylon blend which made my fingers itch while I was looking for the content labels.

Saw two floppy, unpressed "fatigue" jackets which would have been wonderful had I been planning to be a camp counselor this summer. I finally figured out while I was typing who could get a lot of use out of them: Honey! (of Doonesbury?) This is Max Mara's version of a fatigue coat, lighter crisper treated fabric, much nicer on. Given what JC is charging for their versions, the price of the Max Mara version didn't shock me. I bet we'll be seeing many more versions this Spring, too, these things hunt in packs.


While at JC, I tracked down this shirt that I'd thought I might like, it had vanished from the website but it might easily reappear. It is silk.

Those pale pink-or-lavender pockets have a lot of droop to them, which gives an unfortunate look. Update: Kind of the opposite of  Anne Hathaway's Oscar dress. The collar doesn't quite meet when buttoned. Also, on all 14 (I counted) of the shirts I examined, in the finishing process the front placket had been pressed down so hard that little round ridges in the fabric showed where each button had been. This was too bad, because the buttons are on the inside of the placket and are not supposed to show. I'm dubious about steaming those marks out. Left the shirt there.

I also had wanted to look at the microcheck cashmere twinsets. They had the shell in all 3 colorways, but none of the cardis. The biggest disappointment was the navy/red combo, in my photo it looks navy/pink, and in real life it looked more like black/salmon. I am tired of salmon. I'd like to say something profound and witty about swimming upstream, but I'm drawing a blank, consider it said. The bright pink/purple combo also missed, in my opinion, because the two colors are so close that from more than a foot away the pattern vanishes. And I saw a navy/pale blue combo, which was nice, but as I said I had wanted to see the twinsets, not just the shells..

The store also had a kind of retro, kind of Mondrian cashmere pullover which flickered briefly on the website and disappeared. I thought it  missed also, again, the colors weren't sufficiently distinguishable from one another from a short distance.

 I loved the windowpane cardigans, but would have to do some serious pre-purchase outfit planning for these, since I didn't think the shells were a great color match. Of course this was before Mrs. O. was seen in a windowpane cardi with shell. I probably no longer have time to wait and think before they vanish.

I also liked a quilted cotton cropped jacket, which I envisioned with jeans and possibly also with a Favorite Tank over a long cotton skirt.

Finally, I liked a blue-and-white striped silk blouse - I know, I said I'm bored with stripes, but I could easily see this one with white jeans this coming summer, which means there's plenty of time to wait out the price.


I thought that for the right person, this sweater with sewn-on necklace would be a dream come true. To me, it screamed "Hand wash!" I also worried about getting water in the interstices of the necklace.




like everyone else, I loved the Hummingbird accessories, and so I have tabled a decision on their practicality - spills? fingerprints? - until markdown/popback time.


Speaking of birds, am I the only one who's been wondering why, with all the birds and critters around,  the flamingo hasn't surfaced for Spring or Summer? Well, it has. There's a flamingo-print silk blouse on Macy's third floor, not far from the elevator! Did you know that Macy's give a 10% welcome discount to people with non-US passports?

I breathed a sigh of relief and headed for the dentist.