J. Crew Factory IRL, Now with Better Photos.

My post from yesterday served its purpose by putting out info quickly and efficiently, but it turns out that the photos from the Blogger Droid App are really tee-tiny.  LOL.

So I uploaded the photos from my phone this morning and they should post much bigger than yesterday.

Unlike a lot of folks, I really enjoy going to the J. Crew outlet.  I never expect to find the best of the best (I keep the expectations in check--not ever looking to find the Library Doll dress, for instance), but I know that I will always find things that are GREAT additions to my wardrobe. 

I went on Thursday night looking for stretchy shorts and red items for my summer wardrobe.  I found both, including the Amory Floral Castaway dress that you saw the tee-tiny photo of yesterday.  The dress filled the "red" desire as did a tank I found.  I also found a hat.  Turns out I continue to foster my desire to be a hipster.

That smile means I like these pieces.  All three came home with me.  Before I begin, can I just mention how BAD the lighting is in these dressing rooms?  It is really hard to grab camera phone photos AND the shadows the lighting creates often makes me question items...sometimes I find that an item I was iffy about in the dressing room looks way better in the natural light.  You would think ALL stores would have the highest quality lighting in dressing rooms, but maybe I am just being too persnickity.

The straw tribly hat is from the men's section (!!!) and is a size small-medium.  It reminds me of my Lola hat from last summer, and based on how much I wore that last year, I knew the $25 or so I spent on it would be well worth it (almost all items had a discount on top of a sale and add to that an educator discount and we can spell S-C-O-R-E). 

The Factory Stripe back zip tank is one of two colorways I tried on, but this was the only one that came home with me (I stuck to my goal of stretchy shorts and the color red--well minus my "Brooklyn twentysomething artiste" subconscious self purchase).  The tank is a size extra small and even then was too big in the straps.  The torso fit great, if the straps don't shrink in the dryer, I will just sew them up to make it fit better.  There is a zipper at the back, and it is a YKK zipper, so high quality there.   It is superfluous (teehee) but I kind of like it.  I have no pics of it because it is INSANELY hard to take photos of yourself from behind in a dressing room.  This tank is in the cerise stripe color.

The factory print carson shorts (slate colorway) are a size 8, and I knew they would work as I actually own this pair in another shade (lilac colorway), and considering I wore those shorts an ENTIRE day in Florida last week (those photos to come), I figured a second pair in another shade would be great for my summer staple wardrobe.  These shorts do have a bit of stretch which are almost always a requirement of mine as I gain weight in my lower half and can feel the weight gain (even a pound or so is enough to make a difference) here first, so if a pair of shorts or pants have a bit of stretch, you can color me a happy girl.

I also live in bermuda length shorts all summer, and the stretch type that J. Crew makes are a huge winner.  Turns out the factory also makes great stretch bermuda shorts.  I can't find these on-line which makes me wonder if they will be in the next factory roll-out on-line.  If so, I may pick another pair up.  This shade is a light aqua blue color and replace a pair that I LOVED from around 5 years ago that are far too big for me now.  This color aqua looks divine with red and orange, so I have a feeling I will be pulling these out quite a bit this summer.  I took a size 8 in these, so again TTS.

I flex my tricep muscles just for you, dear readers.  LOL.

From the side.  I think these bermuda length could be too long on some women, they are a around an 11-inch inseam which falls right above my kneecaps.

One more look a bit closer up.

I mentioned trying the tank on in a different shade earlier.  Here it is in the avocado colorway, and while I like this, I tend not to wear these real dark shades in summer, and have plenty of both colors in general that I felt I could leave this behind.  This also is an extra-small and while this one fit better in the straps, the torso was a bit big (see the wrinkling?).

I also tried on this silk pocket tank in a poppy shade, but I can't find this shade on-line.  This is a four and a big FAIL.  It was way too big in the straps and bust but way too tight in the hips.  Clearly this was made for a longer torso than mine.  If I had a longer torso (so my hips sat lower), I would have had to buy a size 2.  As it was, I needed a size 2 at the bustline and a size 6 at the hips. 

Having said that, the silk was nice and soft and the color was very saturated.  So if you have the right body shape, two thumbs up.  All of us pear shapes?  Stay. far. away.

Yesterday's pic of the Amory floral castaway dress was so bad.  This one is larger and you can see the definition much better. 

I plan to belt this dress as the elastic waistband leaves much to be desired...but at $20 and with NOVA's hot summers coming up, I can take the elastic waistband.  ;)

Alrighty, hope this helped some of you in your quest for Factory items.

P.S. How many of you have been feeling out of sorts since Blogger's cah-ploo-ey on Thursday?  I had barely gotten back into the swing of regular posting and then my itchy fingers were put of commission.  I am glad that I found some time to post today, but honestly, it took me a couple of days to *want* to come back, that is how frustrated I felt.  I am SO GLAD I have disqus, though, as all my comments were saved from the debacle.  I feel for the blogs that use the blog commenting system and lost all comments.  (Especially at a place like JCA where info is passed around through the comments.)

P.P.S. Boden is still offering 20% off women's swimwear and some men's clothing.  I don't know when this promo will end, but I will let you know when it does end.  For now, you can use the 15% off maternity coupon in the sidebar to access the site and that 15% is stackable with the 20% off.  :)