It was a slow burn to say the least. I actually have owned the Cherry Blossom Lucaya Espadrilles for almost two years now, in fact I purchased them for $10 at Rugged Wearhouse, which is a local store much like TJ Maxx or Ross, in that it sells overstock. I just couldn't seem to find a reason to wear it...
I know, I know, kind of lame. LOL.
Then I saw the wonderful Cherry Blossom dress modeled on shopwithm. I didn't know if I would find her exact dress, but she, like me, loves the ebay, so I thought I would give it a try. And lo and behold, a seller was selling a factory version of the retail dress that shopwithm owned. I ended up winning the auction, and now am the proud owner of the very pretty Cherry Blossom print dress.
I even added to my own cherry blossom fervor (I live in the DC area, I guess I should just accept my fate) and bought the Cherry Blossom necklace when it dipped down to nearly *HALF* of its original cost (love the extra 30% off sales). I had loved it styled in the catalogs, so to get it for half off felt like the best score!
Finally, just two days ago, I won an auction for the cherry blossom cafe capri pants (the actual retail version, too!) for $15! YAY! :) Cannot wait to model these!
Anyhow, onto the pretty!
The shoes are the current retail leather ballet flats. This poppy color is a very vibrant tomato red and is exactly the right shoe for this dress. Score!
That said, if you can find this factory version on ebay, go for it! (And polyvore peeps, I have a pic of it saved!)
The dress is a size 4, and I highly HIGHLY recommend that if you have a smaller bustline to size way down. I wear a 6 in most J. Crew dresses, sometimes an 8, so I am either down one or two sizes. The hips are free, so even those of us (lucky) pear-shaped ladies should be in our smallest size. Unfortunately, Land's End's smallest size is a 2 petite, so many of you will be sized out...but on the other side, this dress goes up into many of the women's sizes, so if you love the prep and get angry at J. Crew for not having anything above size 14, this company may suit your prep desire. :) Very very cute stuff!
The shoes are the Lula Ballet Flats in the Liberty print fabric from this spring. I jumped on these when they went on super sale, with an additional 20% off. These are so COMFORTABLE. Highly recommend these flats for comfort. I am wearing my tts 9.5 in these.
The necklace will be reviewed in a few photos (there's a close-up).
Above is the polyvore of the outfit I am wearing below. This shirtdress may be familiar to you old timey J. Crew fans. :) It is from Spring 2007 and was from back when the Crew went boating on a regular basis in Italy (it was in the Capri catalog--February 2007).
That said, I did buy it at a larger, postpartum size (bought when Rex was a few months old), and maybe I would do better with a four or six, but until I find the right size on ebay or the exchange, I will continue to wear this size 8 chestnut stripe version (it also came in a light blue stripe).
It has pockets, love that. The dress also has a sash (like the Land's End one) but it looked boring that way, so I took my hot pink skinny leather belt (size small) and used that instead.
The shoes are the cherry blossom here, the Lucaya Espadrilles. They are in a size 9, which is 1/2 size smaller than I normally wear, but it was fine, maybe a millimeter too short, but nothing crazy.
You all have a great day. I want to thank each and every single one of you for reading my blog. I know I have been kind of busy lately, and not commenting very often, or commenting back, but I am reading other blogs (and enjoying the posts), and I am reading all comments that come to this blog. You all rock! Once this week is done (Rex has his last day of preschool on Thursday), I will have more time (gotta love that!).
P.S. If you have a Boden review for me, would you mind e-mailing me by tomorrow? I plan to have the Boden Weekly Review Roundup published by late afternoon! THANK YOU!
P.P.S. I have found the fresco cardigan that I so love in a smaller size! (The medium I had was a tad bit too big and loose.) So I have decided to sell the medium, below is the polyvore with info on that...
