some follow-ups - more material things

first, an astounding coincidence. The very next day after I posted about wishing for tailored navy slacks, J.Crew's new arrivals included -- just that! And to my surprise and eternal optimism, they were called Cafḗ Trousers, not capris. The possibility of No Bare Ankles warmed my shins just thinking about it. After all, while these are spring trousers, the strong likelihood is that they will be worn mostly in air-conditioned circumstances. They arrived almost immediately -
- vision of JC inventory van circling perimeter of neighborhood with wireless receiver triangulating for signal from clothes-crazed woman on high floor - and of course were immediately tried on. I had the foresight to order two sizes, and they are closer to the body than the last time I had pants called Cafḗ, so I'm keeping the larger. The navy is a true dark navy, dark without being confused with black, looking at you, DK blue pumps and almost-twin black pumps.

Back to the pants - nice weight linen, the "herringbone" texture doesn't bother me because it's barely noticeable, the pants are not lined, but, oh, joy, the waist is somewhere near my waist, not dangling from the mid rear end. Keeper.

Also an idea whose time has come, the featherweight long-sleeve cashmere tee. I intend to collect these in every color I can, except of course the neons. Nicely finished neck, real sleeves, not boxy, again, I ordered the larger of my two JC sweater sizes and guessed right. There's a black, a navy... and a blue that reminds me of the "Nightfall Blue" of a past season but has a new name this year. I hope this sweater stays in rotation for a while. Wearable cashmere tees - what a happy thought.

The "punk floral" cashmere sweater had everything going for it except sadly the main color.



Nice intaglio work, nice texture of cashmere, I loved the flower on the back of one shoulder, loved the little buttons at the neck. For some reason, I expected a true deep emerald green, probably because I would have used this color were I the colorist. Not. This piece would have been a gem in a darker, richer green, but the color that arrived is just garish against the flowers. It has to go back. I note that when I returned this in-store, I looked at the silk pieces in this print, and the green was in fact significantly deeper.

I won't be investing in any of the other items that are available in the print, however. I just figured out why it looks so familiar. I have a pair of thin cotton pajama bottoms in a very similar print.

Summer shoes! I've finally disposed of things I've worn to death - an especially sad goodbye to the first Michael Kors espadrille wedges ever. I've been looking for a substitute, and this shoe came in multiple colors.

Rather than run all over town looking for my color, my size, I ordered them from Macy's. Friends and family sale, right? I'm friendly! Oh, do I recommend these, with shorts, pants, maxis....  In perusing the web, I've seen them in black, navy, white, natural, and some kind of animal prints. With the discount for being friendly, they were about $85. Warning: they're made in The Great Eastern Creditor, so I had to try two pairs OF THE SAME SIZE before finding one where everything "hit" in the right places. Once that was addressed, the shoes are supremely comfortable. I will be watching for more of these.

My summer sneakers were also begging for a kind and easy end. I replaced them with these - London Fly. Or maybe it's Fly London?


well, that's what happens when you shop and return calls at the same time, some of the details get a little blurry, fortunately never anything important. Anyway, madly comfortable, definitely not dressy. I had music festivals in mind when I grabbed these, New Orleans in particular. They're on the web at Jildor.com, unfortunately Jildor's  friends and family sale has ended and without a significant discount the price of these is not friendly.

Other news: the pinned vintage blouses that had radical shoulder pad surgery came back from the tailor with their new darts. Success! I'm planning raids on the closets (archives?) of all my friends and relations who were old enough to buy real clothes in the late 80s. They'll be happy to unload the things (I think), and I'll be happy for beautiful fabrics, lapped seams and kind buttonholes. Thus: a strategy and a tactic. No IRL pics, because the blouses had busy patterns, paisley, mini-dots and such, and therefore the darts didn't show up when I snapped. Here's a sketch showing the approximate location of the new shoulder dart on the front of the blouse.It continues down the back, tapering more gradually for a longer dart.
Well, now that I've solved the problem of shoulder pads, I'm off to work on exaggerated dolman sleeves. After that, back to world peace.

There's a great sale going on at the US ralphlauren.com - up to 40% off plus another 15% off, which makes an awful lot of the stuff half price, or when applied to sale merch, less than half price. It's called a secret sale, but if you go to ralphlauren.com/private sale, you'll see the lowered prices. Update: this sale ends 5/1/13. Tally-ho! (or for the scholars among you, t'il est haut!)