OOTD/Review: Jacquard Roll Neck and Lace Peplum.

Good day!  I hope everyone had a fabulous Monday.  I also hope that if you are affected by this *ridiculous* cold snap that is sitting on top of our country like a mean viper on top of rocks that you are able to stay relatively warm.  Most of the counties around us canceled school today (laugh at us MN, go ahead), but not Arlington county which is where the kids go to school.  So I have to bundle tiny Angus up and settle him in his new car seat (just installed yesterday) and hopefully get him to watch a movie or show on our video player in the car instead of him wanting to run around before pickup (usually his preferred activity--which is fine 95% of the time).

Anyhow, enough blah blah, onto the reviews and outfits...

Jacquard Roll Neck.  This one is currently in clearance over at Boden.  (The new Spring items are available, btw, I wrote more on that here at this post.)  It is a great price at $55, and since I had received a $50 gift card from my mother-in-law, I was able to buy it for $5!  So yay.

Okay, I purchased the size extra small since I read it was running large.  I had to do the same with last spring's hand knit sweater.  I could have purchased the small and had a larger, more casual look, but I think it looks nicer on my frame more fitted since the jacquard design makes my waist look fairly trim and I think the effect would be less so in a larger size.

The wool is very thick, a mix of lambswool and nylon.  I think I would prefer the wool if it were all lambswool, but I suspect that would have made this sweater even more expensive (but probably still reasonable on sale).  I found that the sweater looked a bit ratty by the end of yesterday, a few pills here and there, and had I purchased this at full price I would have been a bit ticked.  A good wash and flat dry should bring it back to life, though.

The color I am wearing is the lightest shade and the one on deepest discount.  There is also a pink and green version, too, but those are more expensive.

The shoulder seam is dropped.  As I mentioned in my review on the Vintage sweatshirt in metallic triangles, this may not be a look you want for your shoulder line, so keep that in mind.  I love it, but I seem to be in the minority.  I don't know that you can even really tell it's dropped on this sweater, but it could just be because my shoulders are narrow.

The design is pretty cool.  I dig the 70s ski lodge look of the design, and had I wanted to, I could have gone full on hipster with this, but chose to keep it more preppy and tailored instead.

This is the sort of sweater I would think Anthro would sell, so I was pleasantly pleased that Boden issued it.

One last thing, the weave of the jacquard design is on the inside of the sweater, so it adds an additional layer to the fit (so two layers of wool instead of one).  It makes this a bit warmer, but if you like to have super warm sweaters, this would be a bonus, I would think.

This is how I wore it yesterday on our trip around town doing errands (like getting the new car seat).  It was getting cold, but it wasn't cold cold yet.  Had it been like it is today, I would have for sure swapped out the pants, socks, and shoes for more weather appropriate choices. 

The shoes are on 50% sale, too.  They are the Embellished Ballet Flats, and you can find my original review of them here.

Lace Peplum Top.  Size small.  Like my Vintage sweatshirt in metallic triangles, this top was one of the *only* items I have liked from J. Crew recently.  Not enough to get this one at full price, but definitely enough to grab at sale price minus 40%.  ;-)

The fit is wonderful, if a touch too big at the waist.  It has enough stretch in it to size down if you would prefer a more fitted look, but since I wanted a top that I could wear around with my kids, I knew I wanted something with a bit more room overall.  The top still has enough vavavavoom in a bigger size, so you could definitely dress it up with a cute pencil skirt, heels, and tights and wear it on a date.

There is a back zip and while I can slide the top over my head without unzipping it, the zip is a welcome feature, especially if you are the type of lady who puts on makeup before putting on your top.  I usually put the clothes on and then the makeup, but to each their own...

I love how curvy I look here, it is rare for my bustline to be that enhanced, so go lace peplum for adding a bit of oomph to my ladies.  It almost looks like I am an hourglass instead of a pear here.  Woo!  That said, this may steer you away from the top if you are very busty and would prefer not to show off all of your assets.  ;-)

We were meant to visit Philadelphia's historic district and have lunch on South Street that day, but as you can see from the view from our hotel room that those plans disappeared.  We woke up on Sunday morning to Philly newscasters telling everyone to stay off the roads since they were super icy.  Rather than tempt fate, we decided to head home instead.  Sigh.  The waitress at Denny's got to see my cute top, lol.

Gigi and Shopwithm did reviews of this top, btw.

Okay, that's it, you all have a great day and STAY WARM!

If you want to grab something from the sale section at Boden, and you need free shipping, you should be able to get it with this link.  Let me know if it doesn't work for some reason.  The clearance items do not go further down in price, though, only the regular (in season) items do.