Tuesday, June 16, 2009

The Double Serge Cotton Pencil Skirt...for Review and for Real Life!!!

Some of you...like the super-sweet Amy...have been waiting a while for this post!!! I am so sorry, my friends, for taking so long. As you know my weekend was chock full of family fun...the zoo on Saturday, and then the pool and church on Sunday. Yesterday I just had enough time to post the mini-skirt info (and by the sound of it...miniskirts ARE my friends...thank you all for the feedback). Today, and for this I do believe God will grant us teachers some grace, we went to a field trip on the National Mall (Air and Space museum, American History museum, etc.). Somehow...no one died...no one broke anything...the guards managed to not freak out when they saw us coming...

BTW, if you are in this area, there is a film being shot at the Mall. I so wanted to be plucked out of the crowd to be an extra. Sigh, maybe next time they will notice my inherent camera-readiness (snort...).

Onto the review...this outfit was actually worn on THURSDAY, JUNE 11, 2009. This was the same day my lovely coworker wore the orange shorts/white tee/grubby shoes combo that I talked about in this post.


Here is the outfit full-length. It consists of an Anthropologie top that I bought in 2006 (and have not been able to wear in close to 3 years...yay), the double serge cotton pencil skirt from J. Crew this spring 2009 (for sale here), and some Linea Paolo kitten-heel mules that I bought probably in 2004 from Nordstrom's.

The skirt is FAN-FREAKING-TASTIC. I had heard really good things about its predecessor (the double serge WOOL pencil skirt) over at J. Crew Aficionada but knew deep down there was something better for me. I love wool but honestly, because I run HOT, I can only wear the lightest of wool clothing (for instance, the Merino Michelle Cardigan is a perfect weight for me). Plus, I have a deep distaste for having to store wool. I have bags and plastic containers and a hanging implement in my closet for the storage of wool pieces, but it honestly drives me batty that such storage is required because of moths. Ugh. So the less wool and cashmere I have to store, the better.

I saw this for the first time in the May 2009 catalog and ADORED every single color it came in...especially the bronzed twig and slate colors. I decided to hold off on the slate until I tried the bronzed twig and I am glad I waited (more on that in a minute). I figured that if I could only own one of these skirts, I would want the bronzed twig because of it being a brighter neutral that would work so well with many of my summer tops. I went ahead and ordered in a size 10.

I tried it on and was happy to see it fit well. It was a tad big in the waist but the rest of it felt great. Then I wore it to school all day. This puppy stretches!!! By the end of the day, the skirt was very, very comfortable. :) It still looked good, but was very loose. So with that on my mind...I knew the slate skirt would need to be ordered in an 8. So an 8 I shall get.

So...here are the basic FYIs on this skirt:

Length (regular): Perfect on my frame, but bear in mind most of my height is in my legs. So if you are tall but have shorter legs you may need to hem this to get it to hit at the right length. Shorter ladies, I highly recommend the petites.

Colors: The bronzed twig is a bronze color but with a hint of a green...very special. I have yet to see anyone else do this neutral. It isn't khaki, it isn't brown, it isn't olive...just somewhere in between.

Sizing: SIZE DOWN. I may even find the 8, when I receive it, stretches out a lot. I won't get a 6 because I LOVE the comfort factor (plus it still looks good when I wear it a little loose). Or maybe I really am an 8 and keep buying 10s because of something psychological? Hmmm...

Price: At $98 (if you buy it outside of the secret sales), the price may seem high, but even at a regular price, if you wear it enough (which I anticipate a lot of us would...highly versatile piece and all), the price per wear would be very low.


Anthropologie Top close up...for polyvore, of course. :)


Linea Paloa kitten-heel mule...for polyvore, of course. ;)

Any further questions? I won't be able to post anymore today (million, trillion things left to do), but should be able to get to them tomorrow.

You all have a great afternoon. If you are in the Northern Virginia area, watch out for the storms...they appear to be a coming!

11 comments:

Unknown said...

SKINNY!!!!!!!! You look great! The skirt is awesome on you. Go for slate fo shizzle.

HeidiG said...

You look so fab! Love the shirt, love the skirt, love the shoews - so pretty on you!! Go for the slate!

Drewablank said...

Dinaaaaa!!! Of course you look sensational. Natch and double natch. ;)

I say, those colors are my favorite summer colors on you. :)

And the shoes?? Do NOT get me started! Whooooo....!!

*I think the coffee's kicking in.

J.CrewJD said...

Love it! Thank you so much for the review. I would never have known to size down without your insight! Also, those shoes are really cute and unique. Love!

Melissa@AllThingsSimplified said...

Hey you skinny minnie...you look FABULOUS in this skirt, actually the whole outfit is fab on you! I say definitely go for the slate in this skirt...it's a must have for you! :)

Amy said...

DINA! It was totally worth the wait- you look freaking amazing! OK, I NEED this skirt... :)

Petunia said...

I love this skirt! And this color.
It looks fantastic on you!

Sabrina said...

I LOVE those shoes!! Totally fabulous!!

The Argyle Martini said...

Looks very nice on you Dina.

For others who are considering this skirt, I found it TTS for me and about the same fit as most other pencil skirts from J. Crew. It fits me the same as the wool double serge skirt from winter.

Belinda K said...

Ooh La La! You are looking wonderful, and this is SO your color! (Just like the olive Victoria cami!).
Bee-utiful, Dina!

dinagideon said...

Hi all!

Thank you for your patience (first with how long it took me to post and second with how long it took me to comment back)!

I love this skirt. I now own it in slate. The slate in a size 8 is PERFECT. I think I may be a size 8 in skirts, however I will still prefer a 10 when wearing shorter skirts.

Here is something kind of crazy though...the striped-linen monterey skirt? I wear it in a 6. A 6! Umm...I definitely think that is an item with vanity sizing. I can see me wearing a 6 top or a 6 dress (that's what happens when you have very little on top, even while nursing) but a 6 bottom? Umm, I don't think so.

I think I may have to do a post about recent items and what sizes people are taking...is it up a size (probably not), regular, or down a size?

I probably shouldn't engage in the comments, though, for that post, because of losing weight at the same FREAKING time that J. Crew is screwing around with their sizes. I now literally HAVE NO IDEA what size I wear. Next thing you know I will be a size 2 on top.

Have a great day, ladies.