Friday, August 7, 2009

My Review of the Jakarta Halter Dress...Hint, It's a Winner!

I will keep this short and sweet, but I know some of you have been eyeing this dress, so I really wanted to get this post up. Hopefully, even if you are on vacation this week you are still able to read this, even if it is a bit late. :) This dress is NOT on sale, as our dear friend Summerilla mentioned yesterday.

I bit the bullet with a 20% let's open a J. Crew Credit Card savings, which helped...and that was over a month ago. I have no clue when this will go on sale. I know that I may be the only person to review it, so it can't be THAT wildly popular (like the "headache" tee or the Frances cami or the Eden blazer). If it isn't that popular of a dress (and it could be, who knows, right?), then why is it not on sale?

So, onto details. Purchase it here, if you want. ;) No, I am not enabling. Okay, yes, I am.


Here is the polyvore of the outfit I created to wear to (and this is not a joke)...Whole Foods. Yes, I get dressed up to go to the supermarket. Whatever--in my book, leaving the house always is an occasion for dress-up.


Here it is on me...size 6. It is made for us pears...it is fitted on top, with a vee to show off what little assets we have, and is fairly voluminous on bottom to hide our other more substantial assets. Heehee.

I also love that it is an empire waist, which means it shows off the ittiest-bittiest part of my body.

And...it has...pockets. I love pockets in dresses and skirts, so long as they are the type like on this dress...hidden until all of a sudden, oh, my hand wants to go somewhere...hey, I KNOW, my pockets! I feel very retro when I can do this. Yes, I know I am a dork.


Here is the view of the back. Normally, I would never ever subject you all to this view, but look at the bow of the halter...so precious...but not overtly twee. Swoon!

Oh, and look at the smocking (elastic, to boot) on the upper body...does this say "fat day dress" to you all, too? Here's the thing, though...it may be a fat day dress but it sure looks real pretty for a fat day dress. Perfection.


And because I love the BOW so much...here is another view. And once again, SWOON.

Have I enabled you yet? Have a great weekend. :)

24 comments:

Unknown said...

That dress is so gorgeous on you. And a halter bow? You can't go wrong! I'm with you about dressing up ... throwing on a dress makes you feel better about whatever errands you have to do!

Drewablank said...

You're such a funny lady, Dina! If I wasn't all shopped out, I'd totally be your enable-e. Heehee.

That dress looks sensational on you! Or should I say, you look sensational in that dress! ;)

And who says you can't dress up for the supermarket? That's one of the advantages of being a lady, goshdarnit!

AppGal said...

um, yeah, I'm gonna need that dress now. Thanks a lot for looking so fab in it! :) hehe.

Anonymous said...

That looks so cute on you !
I wish it would go on sale :-/

HeidiG said...

Love love love the dress on you!! And you know I love a summer dress!

I dress up for the grocery store...by adding layers...I'm always freezing!

Unknown said...

Ooh -- that's so nice! I love the back of it. And pockets? TDF!

Suzy said...

That dress is so so pretty! How did I never even know it existed! I go through the catalogs a zillion times, search online - I was even specifically looking for dresses this spring/summer - sorry, I'll stop!
You look great! I'd wear it to whole foods or anywhere too!

Have a great weekend!

GingerSnap said...

I love this dress on you! I haven't even seen this one at my local B&M...maybe J.Crew is not carrying it in a lot of stores. I love the bow too (ok...I might obsessed with bows...)

Deco Aurora said...

Looks simply marvelous on you Dina. Looks like summer is your time of year, everything looks really nice on you these days!

tm said...

You look great in that dress! Anyone who is on the fence about this one should go for it.

Oh, I am with you on looking presentable when you leave the house, no matter where. I have been known to wear a velvet blazer and fishnet tights to the market... at 9 in the morning. I can't stand when ladies have the time to do a full face of makeup, but are wearing sweatpants and Uggs out of the house. bleh.

Summerilla said...

MUST HAVE MUST HAVE! I want it even more now..... definitely an enabler but the best kind - a fashionable one!! Thank you so much for doing this!!!

TarHeelMom (formerly JCAUNCMom) said...

Dina, I just love it that you dress up for Whole Foods! What a LADY you are! :-) This dress is beautiful on you and really shows off your honey coloring. Good purchase, pretty girl, good purchase!!!!

Patina said...

the dress is beautiful and you look beautiful wearing it. the bow detailing on the back is so adorable. the charm bracelet is the perfect accent.

Anonymous said...

ohhhh...the back looks sooo elegant...if I saw you walking from the back with some big sunglasses--I'd say to myself "that chick's got it goin' on!"

dinagideon said...

Stylestance: Thank you. Based on your blog, I know that you keep style right at the forefront of your daily life! ;)

Drewablank: Ooh, you are my favorite person to enable (outside of AppGal and HeidiG., of course)...

I bet you have worn some FABULOUS outfits to the supermarket, huh?

AppGal: I did love wearing this dress. Here's the thing, everytime I think of all my blog friends, I can see every darn one of you looking great in this!

MissMasala: The first day this goes on sale, I know it will be sold out. Hands down winner!

HeidiG.: Even I have to wear a cardi to go grocery shopping...I was a bit cold that night when I was perusing the freezer aisle. ;)

Gigiofca: Thank you! I think the pockets may be my favorite feature (outside the bow, of course)!

Suzy: LOL. It was in the July 2009 catalog on some random page in the middle...not even on a model or anything. And then on the website, they used a model who may not have shown it off the best so I am not sure it sent off any flares in people's minds. I think the model they picked has the wrong coloring for this dress...so while she rocks it with her fantastic body, the color looks sort of off on her!

GingerSnap: I wonder if it made it to the stores. This is a dress that probably does need to be tried on. I wonder what the impetus was on J. Crew to not have this item (and others) in their stores? I can never tell with them. I KNOW with your coloring this would look FANTASTIC on you...

Mslay: Like you I ADORE summer. I could easily move to a place that has a winter of exactly two weeks. Even our relatively short and mild winters here are WAY TOO long for me. But then, having said that, I do love fall fashion. ;) But, yes, I do love me some sundresses and shorts and linen sweaters, etc. And although I am not brave enough to show off my bathing suits, I own about 30 suits (both for lap swimming and for lounging).

dinagideon said...

Tastymoog: Your comment made me laugh. Around here more people will dress up but leave their face bare and their hair undone. My mother-in-law is the opposite, she will go out with full makeup and pretty hair with a very easygoing outfit. One time we were in a hurry and we told her not to fuss with her hair and makeup (she was wearing a pretty sweet outfit) and she was all stressed out. Then when she got to the grocery store she realized that by simply wearing lipstick she was the most dressed up person in the entire store. I think that gave her a confidence boost. :)

Oh, and fishnet tights, AWESOME! BTW, there is a look in the Boden catalog of Edda (the Icelandic model) wearing a cute 40s style dress with fishnets and some mary jane pumps. I WANT to look just like that this fall...amazing!

Summerilla: Your wish is my command, Birthday girl. So did you take the plunge? I hope you got the 0. Too bad they didn't have a 00, which would be the best size for you. :)

JCAUNCMom: Thank you so much. My favorite compliment when I was growing up was when my dad would say what "a pretty young lady" you look like. So nice. I love that you said a version of that...it made me smile!

Patina: Am I patinaliscous yet? No, probably not, but I have my days when I almost achieve it. :) Thank you for inspiring me with your own jewelry collection (I LOVE my BR Garden necklace, for instance)...

luvallthingsjcrew: You are so nice...I just hope that I can be presentable on a daily basis, so to hear you say that is so empowering! Thank you so much!

sparrowsandsparkles said...

Dina that is absolutely lovely on you!

A said...

That dress was made for you Dina! You looked gorgeous in it and good on you for dressing up just for the fun of it. :)

Amy said...

Dina- LOVE it!!

JKW said...

Love this dress on you. Thanks for a great review! I do like the Jakarta print. I picked up the navy Jakarta shorts a while back...love, love, love.

tm said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
tm said...

dina,

Cool! I had not noticed them at Boden, I will have to look out for my next catalog. Fishnets I guess can get a bad rap. But they can be fun and sophisticated and not, how do I put this, streetwalker-ish. hehe. :)

With a cord or wool pencil skirt, it's totally unexpected. I tend to stick with a smaller weave fishnet, as it is less noticeable at work (plus, once I was sitting on my foot--bad habit-- while wearing a more open weave of fishnet, and I made a huuuge snag with my heel. whoops.).

I guess most people have their little rituals they need to do to feel 'ready.' One of my cousins would refuse to leave the house for any reason until she had flat ironed her hair. But she was fine with wearing ratty flip flops or yoga pants our to lunch. :P

dinagideon said...

Sweet Tea: Thank you so much!

A Bigger Closet: Thanks! Oh, and you will be seeing a lot more of me dressing up just for the heck of it. :) A lot less work means I have to "find" reasons to dress up.

Amy: Thank you, I LOVE it, too. ;)

JKW: I know. This Jakarta print is FANTASTIC. Why did they only make this print in the items they chose? Why not make this print (with the dark bronze color) in a v-neck sweater, or a cardi? Why didn't they make the halter dress in the navy jakarta print? I will never get why J. Crew does what it does. I guess that is why I just blog about fashion and not get paid to actually "do" fashion. :)

Tastymoog: I agree 100% re: fishnets. BTW, now I TOTALLY want the outfit in the Boden catalog..I am slightly obsessed. AGH! :)

Anonymous said...

Yay to you Dina!This dress looked so pretty on you I just grabbed one on sale !