Three Old School J. Crew and One Boden Review Begin a Blog Post...

Hello, lovelies.

Yesterday I just about killed all your dashboards with all those Boden Review Roundups, but from what I can tell, the vast majority of you either did one of two things...either ignored them because you a J. Crew freak OR you read each and every single one because you are a Boden freak. :)

I lost one follower yesterday...I suspect the inundation of reading material was probably too much to take, and needed to leave my blog for awhile. But because my life is very fair, I gained a follower this morning! (Yay!) I feel like the sign Libra, life is in balance.

After all that, I felt like you all needed at least one day off from the Boden weekly review roundup, so I will publish that tomorrow instead of today.

However, if you really need a fix, head on over to my sidebar and click on the link that says "Boden Sale Review Roundups" to get links to all those *wonderful* OCD posts I created yesterday.

So you all know, I LOVE creating the review roundups. Next season I will start earlier and update my document every week so I don't have a lot of catching up to do like I did this last time. That said, I had the posts all done last weekend so I was truly and really ready for the sale when it hit.

Re: the sale, I have thoughts on that but I will bore only my Boden babes with them tomorrow during the weekly review roundup. :)

Instead I will bore you all with old school J. Crew. Har-dee-har-har.

Outfit One:

Tee: Love Japan Graphic Tee (crewcuts version), size 14.  LOVE the embroidered heart over Sendai, and love that 100% of the profits made is going to Japan to help with relief efforts.  It has been a few months but Japan was really and truly devastated.  Heck, I still wear my Haiti tee to remind people that there is still re-building going on there...

I chose to buy the 14 in crewcuts because I am short-torsoed and need to have a shorter length whenever possible.  Even still, this tee is pretty long (I could tuck it into the skirt!).

Skirt: Kauai Floral Penny Skirt, Size 8.  Bought off ebay for a song.  (Like 25 dollars.)  I love scouring old catalogs and finding goodies and then finding clueless ebay sellers who sell items like this under some ambiguous name like "j. crew skirt."  I will one day upload a pic of this skirt in the catalog, I believe it was the March 2005 catalog.

Shoes: Downtown Heels, size 41 (9.5).  Boden really delivered on these.  This is a great view of the front of the heels.  These are all leather, from sole to footbed to straps.

Of course girly CW got in the photo.  :)

We were going to her dance class today.  Her fave dance song?  Animal Action, of course.  Parents everywhere know Animal Action, I am sure.

Side view of Downtown Heels.  The size 41 was my compromise size.  I need length in the 42, which is contrary to what I normally have to do in Boden (normally the 42 is too wide AND too long), but I need the narrower width of the 41.  (I could have done with the 40 for width, honestly, but the footbed would be far too short.)  Having said that, I can adjust the fastener to make the straps tighter.

Back view of the downtown heels.  I LOVE the cone shaped heels, very very modern, especially for Boden.  I had no issues wearing these, and found that my feet were only slightly uncomfortable by the end of the morning.  These are great heels for summer.  Thumbs up, but only if you get the right size.


Downtown Heels. Click on photo for availability, etc. The price is decent, especially considering the all leather construction...just remember to follow my sizing advice and you should be very happy with your purchase.

 Gotta have my image for polyvore, you all know that.  :)

Outfit Two:

Dress: J. Crew Factory Vintage Violet Print Sweater Dress, size small.  This was correctly identified by all my fab blog friends at this post.  I love this dress.  This is another, very clear example of how Factory items are awesome and not inferior to the "real" thing.  Yes, I would LOVE to have the vintage violet shirtdress in purple in my size but since I don't ever see that happening, I will love my cotton sweater dress in its very pretty print in black and white.

For those of you in love like me, there is a size large for sale at ebay!  Yay!

Shoes: J. Crew Classic Leather Ballet Flats, Size 9.5, Poppy.  Yum.  All leather construction (pretty much what I will only buy now, except in cheap-y brands like Aerosoles, etc.) except that it has a canvas lining on the upper (which doesn't bug too much--I care more about the footbed and sole).  Definitely worth
full or near full price (I got 20% off with a coupon I had).  These are true to size, but narrow, so keep that in mind if you have wider feet.  I am sure they will stretch out, but they won't start off wide.

Necklaces: J. Crew Magnolia Leaf Necklace and Constellation Locket.

From the back.  This would be so pretty in that purple color, yes?

Arty view.  By the way, little one is wearing the Fifties Dress by Boden.  It is also on sale.  And everyone I know who has seen her in this just loves it.  :)

Outfit Three:

Top: J. Crew Bahia Print Crossbank Tank, size small.  This print is so special, very 60s, very unique, and I definitely know it is an acquired taste.  My hubby, though?  Loveth this.  (Funny funny Mr. Dina.)

Shorts: J. Crew Ripstop Cargo Shorts, size 10.  These are from Spring 2006, and they have literally been worn dozens and dozens of times and still are in great shape.  I miss the shorts from this era.  Well made and nice lengths and well-fitting (although this size is a touch too big, but I was postpartum when I bought them).

Shoes: Aerosoles Bora Bora sandal.  These are a nice pair of sandals for walking, nice and high, but super-super comfy.

Side view that includes a shot of the Boden merino wool cardigan I wore with it.  This cardigan is from the fall 2009 season.

You all have a great night.  I look forward to responding to all of my comments from the past few posts...probably tomorrow if I can get my act together.