Kimono Sleeve Sweater
I went to the sale at Lela Boutique in the Third Ward on Saturday. I found it kind of a strange combination, and I was a little bit out of my shopping comfort zone.
When you walk in to the store your are immediately butted up against a horizontal rack of new, boutique clothing. It seemed kind of strange that the racks were set up like that in the center of the room rather than vertically, against the walls of the store. It seemed to really impede the traffic flow into the store, creating a kind of traffic jam at the entrance. People kept gravitating to the first rack of items rather than moving farther into the store.
In any case, the boutique clothing was amazing and I was disappointed at the lack of sizes. It was about 2:00 in the afternoon though, so it is possible that I had missed out on everything that was my size (10) that morning. Half off of everything in the store does tend to clear it out a little bit. Everything was divided by color, and it made for a strange mix of clothing. A vintage inspired sundress was right next to a mini-skirt made of old ties. Both of which were a size 4. But there was one really neat rack that I thought was a great idea. It had samples of dresses made by local designers that you could have custom made in your size. That is the kind of thing that appeals to me.
Another strange thing about Lela was that the back had resale clothing in it. Now, I don’t know about you, but if I am going to go somewhere and drop $250 on shirt or $400 on a sundress, I am not going to follow it up by buying a $25 used pair of jeans. Or used shoes. But that is just me. It seems like a strange combination, but there were lots of customers there, so you go Lela! The resale clothing was clean and some of it looked really good if you wanted to get some 80’s vintage wear. The jewelry didn’t jump out at me, but they had some great handmade tote bags with naughty sayings on them, including a parrot giving you the finger. I thought that was very eye-catching.
Since nothing really fit at Lela, I decided to head down to Brookfield Square to check out The Gap for my trouser jeans and NY & Co for the satin shirt I have been lusting after since I saw it in SHOP ETC. I never even made it down to that side of the mall. Here are some of the things I picked up.
A great find at H & M was this great classic trench for $59.00. They had it in this fantastic red, camel and black. I was totally pumped to find this coat because it has a high belted waist, which is very flattering on my figure. But they were going fast! I was standing there trying to decide between the red and the black, and someone popped up and took the black one in my size! I snatched up the red pretty quickly after that, but after I finished the rest of my shopping the coat rack was well on its way to being empty. So, if you are after a classic trench from H & M you had better move fast!
The pants here are a great brown “tweed” with a purple stripe from H & M. They were $24.90 and are incredibly soft. I was thrilled by the selection at H & M, and the fact that the sizing seems to have returned to normal there. This summer I would try on something in a size 10 that would be too big and something else in a size 14 that was too small. Now, everything that is size 12 in the store fits me. (Hey, a little bigger than sizing at The Gap, but I will take it).
The shirt is a purple kimono sleeve sweater from Old Navy that was $24.50. It matches the H & M pants perfectly. I normally don’t buy too many things from Old Navy, but these kimono inspired sweaters are great. The sleeves are loose and the body is a tighter fit that is going to look great with my Michael Kors brown belt. But one thing at Old Navy to watch out for are the tweed capris. They are pretty much the itchiest things in the universe. I didn’t even bother trying them on, I was afraid I would break out in a rash just from looking at them.
In sale news, there is a 10% off coupon for Target online. Just enter the code TCMSRPCW at check out. But hurry, this expires 8/23/06
When you walk in to the store your are immediately butted up against a horizontal rack of new, boutique clothing. It seemed kind of strange that the racks were set up like that in the center of the room rather than vertically, against the walls of the store. It seemed to really impede the traffic flow into the store, creating a kind of traffic jam at the entrance. People kept gravitating to the first rack of items rather than moving farther into the store.
In any case, the boutique clothing was amazing and I was disappointed at the lack of sizes. It was about 2:00 in the afternoon though, so it is possible that I had missed out on everything that was my size (10) that morning. Half off of everything in the store does tend to clear it out a little bit. Everything was divided by color, and it made for a strange mix of clothing. A vintage inspired sundress was right next to a mini-skirt made of old ties. Both of which were a size 4. But there was one really neat rack that I thought was a great idea. It had samples of dresses made by local designers that you could have custom made in your size. That is the kind of thing that appeals to me.
Another strange thing about Lela was that the back had resale clothing in it. Now, I don’t know about you, but if I am going to go somewhere and drop $250 on shirt or $400 on a sundress, I am not going to follow it up by buying a $25 used pair of jeans. Or used shoes. But that is just me. It seems like a strange combination, but there were lots of customers there, so you go Lela! The resale clothing was clean and some of it looked really good if you wanted to get some 80’s vintage wear. The jewelry didn’t jump out at me, but they had some great handmade tote bags with naughty sayings on them, including a parrot giving you the finger. I thought that was very eye-catching.
Since nothing really fit at Lela, I decided to head down to Brookfield Square to check out The Gap for my trouser jeans and NY & Co for the satin shirt I have been lusting after since I saw it in SHOP ETC. I never even made it down to that side of the mall. Here are some of the things I picked up.
A great find at H & M was this great classic trench for $59.00. They had it in this fantastic red, camel and black. I was totally pumped to find this coat because it has a high belted waist, which is very flattering on my figure. But they were going fast! I was standing there trying to decide between the red and the black, and someone popped up and took the black one in my size! I snatched up the red pretty quickly after that, but after I finished the rest of my shopping the coat rack was well on its way to being empty. So, if you are after a classic trench from H & M you had better move fast!
The pants here are a great brown “tweed” with a purple stripe from H & M. They were $24.90 and are incredibly soft. I was thrilled by the selection at H & M, and the fact that the sizing seems to have returned to normal there. This summer I would try on something in a size 10 that would be too big and something else in a size 14 that was too small. Now, everything that is size 12 in the store fits me. (Hey, a little bigger than sizing at The Gap, but I will take it).The shirt is a purple kimono sleeve sweater from Old Navy that was $24.50. It matches the H & M pants perfectly. I normally don’t buy too many things from Old Navy, but these kimono inspired sweaters are great. The sleeves are loose and the body is a tighter fit that is going to look great with my Michael Kors brown belt. But one thing at Old Navy to watch out for are the tweed capris. They are pretty much the itchiest things in the universe. I didn’t even bother trying them on, I was afraid I would break out in a rash just from looking at them.
In sale news, there is a 10% off coupon for Target online. Just enter the code TCMSRPCW at check out. But hurry, this expires 8/23/06
