Toil and Bubble

Those Loehmann's points coupons were burning a hole in my wallet, so I made my trip to store last week as the last shopping trip for quite a while. Let's see how long that lasts.

I just wanted something Springy, fun, but suitable for work. I can always use another cardigan or two, and definitely a shift dress. The first thing I came across was a Rebecca Beeson bubble top. The color is bright--typical of things I wear when I'm not in the office--but not outrageous. The bubble hem, however, was a bit questionable. It's certainly fun, but can I pull it off for the office? Since the top fits and drapes fairly well, I didn' think the buble would be too much of a concern. I'm glad I went for it--here's my Spring office outfit.

[Old Navy cardigan, Rebecca Beeson bubble top, my own necklace, Forever 21 pants, Pink Studio green suede wedges]

One morning I just knew the zebra-print cardigan had to go with the top. I'm not a twin sets type of office gal. Initially I was even opposed to cardigans, but ever since my friends got me a few cute, interesting, non-twin-set-looking ones, I've been pretty hooked. The zebra-print one I found at Old Navy a while go is exactly what I like--because the color is subtle, the pattern is modern and exotic, without retaining the tackiness usually associated with animal print. Because the fit is so great, it contains the bubble hem while letting enough of it to show.

I've also been looking for a black shift dress--something easy to throw on but looks like I made a lot of effort. I found this dress at the Max Studio outlet a while ago; I love the contrast stitching and how the stitches run from the collar like rays of light, but I wasn't willing to pay the price then for something that didn't fit quite well. When I found a whole bunch of Max Studio dresses at Loehmann's, I was hoping that I'd find it there eventually. It so happens that on this particular occasion, it was there and in my size. I knew that I didn' t like the fit when I was at the outlet, but I decided to try it on again now to see if my opinion has changed.

Even though the garments were labeled the same size, the variations were huge. The dress I tried on at the store was not flattering on my back end. The dress I first tried on at Loehmanns did look very good in the back, but the front had a problem--the neckline was way too wide. I don't want to buy a dress that will make me think twice about doing something common, like leaning forward to read or pick something up from my desk. I went back to hunt for another one in the same size, and sure enough, the fit is great all around.

[Target cardigan (from the said friends), vintage scarf from Ebay, Max Studio dress, Target sandals]

Now I'm pretty happy to not shop for a while, except for wedding gifts for the many weddings for the next few months. I have plenty of dresses for those weddings already, but who knows? This might be the perfect excuse to get more (stop it! Stop it!).