Sunday, March 6, 2011

J. Crew Paris Catalog Inspiration #2--Wool Jersey Dress (with a Ruffle!).

As I mentioned in my last post, I spent a good portion of February trying to become the September 2007 Paris Catalog from J. Crew.  LOL.  You saw the lovely baby cord Linda dress in red in the last post and today you will see a jewel that I have had IN MY CLOSET since September 2007 that I AM NOW JUST STARTING TO WEAR.  (There is a story there, of course.)

On Vanessa you see the wool jersey dress with cute darling ruffling at the hem and a mini siloheutte, paired with a citron turtleneck and adorable flats.  The love of this dress sang to me when I got the catalog, and even though I was way postpartum with darling Rex's pregnancy, I bucked up and totally bought it in a size medium for full price.

And then I wear it for Mr. Dina.  To which he said, "YUCK, what is with that thing at the bottom?" "I no likey."  Sadness.  :(  Sad face.  Sigh.  It sat forlorn, unworn, for three whole years with all my other wool dresses, protected from moths and dust, but unloved.

I needed to bring the love back.

Since I have started this blog and started wearing some ridiculous ruffles, etc., I think Mr. Dina has gotten used to the over-the-top foolishness of late, so in comparison, the teeny bit of ruffling on this dress seems quite understated now.  He saw it and said not one word!  Ha!  Victory is MINE!

Worn for the preschool run, I felt good and very comfortable.  The length is short, but nothing that matte black tights won't solve.  I paired it with a shorter sleeved striped turtleneck, and I like the overall look together.  The flats are from Boden, one of my favorite pair of flats, ever, actually.  You can find a similar pair here: Parisian Pumps, but unfortunately was not available in animal print this last winter (but at $35 on sale, a pretty decent deal--so watch for popbacks).

I didn't know there were brass buttons up the back until I received the dress, and I loved the detail...so cute.  Definitely ponytail worthy!

From the side.  If you were to want to get this dress, ebay would probably have them, but you would need to expand your search beyond "Wool Jersey Dress, J. Crew."  I have noticed older items sometimes get called the easiest simplest things like "J. Crew Dress," or "J. Crew Black Dress with Ruffle."  Also put a tick in the search area that says to "include description," so for this dress I would say for the search term: J. Crew Dress Ruffle Hem so that way even if the seller didn't put it in the title, the description might have it and I might find my sought after item.  Just my two cents.

You all have a fab Sunday.  Appears to be gully-washer Sunday here.  Yay!  ;)