OOTD/Review: Whale Critters and a Pencil Skirt.

Hey, all...Happy Monday night to you all.  I hope everyone had a lovely holiday weekend, whether you were celebrating Memorial Day here or the Bank Holiday in the UK.

Up first is the review, followed by my very casual outfit of the day.

Linen Tippi Whale Sweater and Factory Printed Pencil Skirt (succulent green).  Tippi is a size extra-small and the pencil skirt is a size 8.

I rarely get to the stores anymore, but I have been able to get to the Pentagon City store twice in three weeks, since I have had so many returns lately.  Of course I can't resist walking around seeing what pretty is laying on the table, and one of them was the tippi whale sweater.  I hadn't thought I would be interested when it debuted on-line (even though I love a critter) because I thought the whales were screen-printed on the sweater.  Instead I discovered they were embroidered green whales, which made the sweater much more appealing to me.  I also love the linen tippi I own in neon orange since it offers great coverage against the sun but is still fairly lightweight.

I had read that the sweater ran tts, and I would say it does since the extra small is just fitted enough without being too tight.  It does stretch out, so if you are between sizes, go down because it may be too slouchy by the end of the day if you size up.

The skirt is wonderful.  I liked the last "regular" J. Crew rollout, but man, the prices were so expensive.  The factory rollout happened one day beforehand and I fell hard for two of the skirts (the poppy mini was the other) and because the prices were actually reasonable, I could bite on both without feeling super guilty.

The skirt fits true to size, and because it is a stretchy cotton sateen, it moves with you and with your curves, which is awesome if you are curvy in your lower half.

The print is so pretty, and the succulent green name is perfect for the color the green is...sort of a delicious mid-green that is neither too lime or too kelly. 

I don't know that the two pieces work well together, but they do match.  :)  I tried them on together because I happened to be wearing the tippi and the shoes with a pair of green shorts that day (last photo in this post), and I was being a tiny bit lazy. 

Side view.  The tippi's length is a touch shorter than my other tippis, so if you have a longer  torso, this may be a deal breaker for you.

The skirt is longer than my other factory pencil skirts, so yay for that.  Tall ladies, rejoice!

Back view.  I didn't snip the thread on the back vent, but there is a back vent that will make moving around even easier.

See the Tippi on beach chic girl and rynetta.  See the pencil skirt on Gigi.

Day: Friday, May 24, 2013.

Where:  School Pickup.

Ease of Wear: (4.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  I almost contemplated not putting this outfit on the blog since this outfit is not anything special, other than the fact that I am preppy enough to happily wear a whale embroidered critter sweater alongside a pair of really bright green Bermuda shorts.  It is like living preppy heaven here in VA.  I just need to get a pair of navy blue sperry top-siders like I had in high school and I would be the preppiest person at pickup (not hard with all the lululemon butts, lol).

The shorts are from J. Crew and although I find their shorts usually too restrictive in my size (they fit but are too short in the crotch depth), the lightweight version have a stretchy cotton blend which makes them fit so much better.  And because I am a huge sucker for comfort, I sized up to a 10 and it feels like I am wearing pj bottoms out in public.

Cool Factor: (2 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.)  This guy would think I look "cool."  And so would anyone who regularly shops for clothing at Vineyard Vines and/or their grandpa's closet.  The Lululemon moms probably were blinded by my shorts, though.  Thank GOD they were wearing their expensive Chanel sunglasses.  ;)

Anecdote from the day:  Really stupid day for me to wear shorts, though, since it was raining and 55 degrees outside.  Oops.  I can't believe that after the last few years of crazy hot we have had here in VA, we can't get our summer properly started.  (We went to the pool today and basically put our feet in the baby pool so we could at least say we went to the pool.)

Okay, that's all for tonight.  Have any of you tried the above items?  I would love to hear your thoughts on them, especially the pencil skirt!

Tissue Beaded Crest Tee and a Tartine...

FIRST!!! PLEASE ENTER MY GIVEAWAY CONTEST WHICH ENDS TONIGHT AT 12:00 AM (EST), 1/18/10.

All rules, etc., are posted at the original post. If you enter, you could have a chance at winning this J. Crew Collection (fancy!!!) flamingo-colored cashmere beanie hat.


Second: We were insanely busy this weekend, but it had NOTHING to do with the hot water heater blowing up last week. A long time ago, my hubby bought tickets to go to the Inaugural ball in Richmond for the current governor (as of yesterday--actual Inauguration day here in the Commonwealth of Virginia) Bob McDonnell.

All pics of our weekend down in lovely Richmond will be posted tomorrow. I have them edited, but am pretty darn tired tonight after an evening full of dancing and fun. :)

Tartine and Tissue Tee... by dinagideon featuring J Crew

But I knew I wanted to get up Friday's outfit, so here it is in Polyvore form. The pants and shoes are different, but the ones I own are so ancient, I doubt you would even be able to find them on ebay.


Sizes:
Cardigan: Medium.
Tee: Small, last seen on me here under a v-neck sweater. I want to find different ways of styling this tee. I love this tee, regardless of others' opinions. ;) BTW, those of you who own the tee, I washed it on a cold cycle, inside out, and with the "hand wash" cycle going. The beaded embellished part is fine. Only thing is that the coating for the green sequins is starting to flake off, so some of the sequins are more of a pearl-ish, silvered color. This may bother some of you, but I quite like the color. As long as the sequins stay on, I am a happy girl.
Pants: Size 10. These are from J. Crew back when the had the "frayed" summerweight chinos, maybe 2005?
Shoes: Size 10. I believe these are Etienne Aigner.

We went to dinner on Friday night at a steakhouse. Turns out that I am anemic, and so is CW!!! I have been anemic before (which is why I am always on prenatals), but CW??? So she has to take supplements. I knew it was bad when the nurse didn't even bother to hide her shock at CW's hemoglobin level. Sigh. This is one drawback of nursing into the second year, both momma and baby have the potential for this happening. Still plan on nursing, but I am going to be smart about her supplements and extra food...for instance, if you take something high in Vitamin C and add the iron supplement to it, the iron is better absorbed...pretty cool. Good thing applesauce is high in vitamin C. :)


There's my sweet, pretty, little anemic girl. She is wearing the cutest outfit. I was *this* close to pulling out my silk tiered cami in papaya and wearing something similar to her. I think I will wait until summer. I have no great white cardigans. ;)

And with CW's wave of "bye-bye," I bid you all farewell. Giveaway winner and Clothing choice winners announced tomorrow. BTW, a lot of you love my blushed tweed pencil skirt. :)

I Still Watch the Real World. And This is What I Will Watch it in Tonight...

Tonight the 23rd season of the Real World will debut on MTV. This season it is in D.C. Yippee!!! Little known secret (not so little anymore): I desperately wanted to be on the Real World (back in the 90s), but I only wanted to audition if it took place somewhere near where I lived...so that narrowed it down to D.C., Baltimore, and Richmond. Well, there wasn't a chance in heck MTV was going to have the show in Baltimore or Richmond (population is too small), but I kept holding out hope...and then I got older, graduated, got a job, found a husband, found another job, had some babies, and THAT is when MTV brings the Real World to D.C. Sigh. Read more about it here at the Washington Post. I like the writing in this article and I agree with most everything said, but who cares if the show is too staid and boring and formulaic? I say, BRING IT ON. I kind of like watching the messes these trouble twentysomethings create for themselves. I am morally 100% different than most of these cast members, but these lovely young people take me to a place that I have been before (if only we could mature emotionally as quickly as we do physically) and remind me that I never, ever want to go back there. But I doubt I will ever stop watching. Sorry, Mr. Dina.

Untitled by dinagideon featuring J Crew

The polyvore of the outfit that I am going to be wearing while watching the premiere (also to the mall if we go there tonight). The shoes are different. I actually am wearing some Etienne Aigner flats in navy blue that I got at TJ Maxx for a song.


Sizes (info on pieces is in the polyvore):
Blazer: 8.
Top: Small.
Pants: 8. (Quick Review--I love the look of these cropped ripstop cargo pants. They are long enough and the right color to wear in the winter but can definitely be worn, easily, in the summer with a tank--maybe yellow--and a pair of flip flops. I am wearing my normal size in these pants. They seem to be getting looser--bit stretchy--as I am wearing them. One thing, one of the two buttons popped off. The pants are made well, but the buttons are not tacked on very securely--GRRRR!)
Shoes: 9.5.

By the way, I apologize for the quality of these photos. I need to get Mr. Dina to take the photos before he leaves in the morning. But of course I can't seem to really function until after he leaves the house, so I guess this is the best I can offer. I DO have a tripod but I was too lazy to pull it out. Whatevs...


This photo was done with the timed shutter release on the camera. I was incapable of making a normal face, but at least precious CW snuck in and made the photo more interesting.

Pretty Dress by dinagideon featuring J Crew

One more thing. Take a look at the polyvore above. The dress is GORGEOUS and one that I got today with the extra 20% special, but I don't think this ever was on jcrew.com until today. I would have surely seen it before. It is such a beautiful print (and I have seen the print before but cannot remember what it is called). I believe the dress shape is the same as the ruffled cotton-sateen dress that I wore here, but in that amazing print.

The dress is available in all sizes, so I got an 8...which should be loose but in a good way...

Does anyone know anything at all about this dress? Do you think I am right and that it has never been on the website before? It just seems weird that an old print (from a couple of years ago) would show up on a dress and then be 100% available in all sizes at a great sale price--but Final Sale, so let's hope it works out for me!!! Help me out. I tried googling its name, and not ONE thing popped up. Bizarre.

Have a great day. I won an award--yippee--and this time I 100% promise to do the post on it. I let the ball drop (good timing on that pun what with New Year's Eve being tomorrow) on the last award, and I feel really bad about it.

P.S. Last warning--I am taking my stuff to the consignment shop tomorrow. My goal is to have it all gone by 4:30 pm tomorrow afternoon. Just saying, if you are eyeing something, let me know...I have a piece on hold for someone for a little bit so that way I don't take it tomorrow (the buyer will buy it in the future--so it works for me)!