Sveta's Blog

I have already posted the first 2 outfits because i have a question about the PPL for them but I want to get them to my blog in one set for the week so here they go again :-)
#3 is the new dress I got from the Rack last weekend - purple silk shirtdress from Donna Morgan. I might have gone ALGO on this one with all these colors and patterned belt in the same outfit...
#4 is a cross of ##1 and 2 - completely casual version with BF jeans with flats and tucked in shirt from #1. Trying out those jeans in different incarnations because they are so comfortable and I want to make them work. I am all set and ready to implement fture Angie's post as soon as it is out!
This is it for now. Not the most exciting week but work is very crazy now and I don't have any time or energy left for anything :-(

Thanks for looking - sorry if it was a disappointing week...

Just last week I wrote on Julie's thread that I am not sure about the BF jeans trend for my body - and look what I got at NAS!
These are Kut Catherine BF jeans and I really need to learn how to wear them. This is my first attempt for work today - I wore them rolled up to the length in pic 1 on the right. Was it too long? I tried to roll them up once more like in pic 1 on the left but it is too much of the fabric...
They are long enough to pass my ankle bone so I am reluctant to chop the length off because I am not sure if I want to wear them longer length. Here in pic 3 I tried them unrolled and rolled just a bit.
Please tell me which is the right way to wear them. Somehow I feel the length in pic 3 frumpier but it may be an adjustment factor.
I have included back view in pic 2 - you know, this is my least favorite and most sensitive view...:-) Passable?
I really like how comfortable they are and I think I am warming up to this trend. I also like the wash - all other jeans I have are dark - and that fabric is very soft, almost velvety for touch.
Here is another debut here - my new white cotton blend blazer from Melanie Lyne. I am so happy I popped into their store last Sunday because I was looking for a longer length white blazer all summer without success - and here it was on 75% off! It is a bit tight in the hips if I close it but I am not going to close it anyway and it looks fitted open. I think I am going to wear this baby at least twice a week now! I only hope it will stand the hand wash because there is no way I am going to dry clean it every 2 wears and you have to do it that often for a white blazer.
I am afraid none of these is K/R because I love both items!

I had a mixed feedback on the best length for these cropped trousers I bought recently. I adore the mini hound tooth pattern and the fit is great - relaxed without being baggy. What I am not sure about is the length.
I have shortened them 1" - do you think it works or do I need to shorten them even more?
For comparison I am attaching "before" photo of the original length - pic 2

So does this length work (pic 1) or do I need to shorten them more?
Thanks!

...because I did not have time to post it before my NAS trip and now I cannot write anymore so here it is. I think it should be fine if what they say is true (that a picture is worth a thousand words)!

pic 1- Le Chateau silk tunic, Kut bermudas, Hush Puppies oxfords

pic 2 (excuse my hair - it was a long and very hot day):
denimjacket from ON, skirt and tank from Winners, Franco Sarto sandals, Chromia baf

pic 3 - BR silk shirt, Nine West cropped jeans, MK animal print belt (from Angie's post!), Fidji's pumps.

pic 4 - BB shirt, consigned skirt, Chromia bag, Trotters wedges.

pic 5 - Laura shell, BR shirt, Kut bermudas, Chromia bag, Hush Puppies oxfords.

Thanks for looking!

Yesterday was the day when Jonesy and I met at NAS! It was a very long day for me - we left home at 7:30 AM and came back after 10:30 PM. The start of the day was pretty rough - I could not find my passport just before we were ready to leave. After a short panic attack and going 3 times through the document box the passport was found in the same box on the forth attempt - which just shows the state of my mind that morning! :-)
I think they were ready for me at the Customer service this time: they found my boxes right away and did not ask me if I want to bring my car to the service area to take them home :-) Instead they lagged them out into the waiting area and the feast began!
After ordering 22 pairs of footwear last NAS I was pretty restrained this year - just meager 16 pairs. Pic 1 shows all that bounty and SA helping me to unwrap the shoes. The first pair I tried on was SW Accumulate (pic 2). Gorgeous boots! I was really afraid they will be too narrow in the foot but they were comfortable. Encouraged I pulled them on and - what a disappointment! They gape too much on the top. It is hard to see in the picture but believe me - they do. If this was the only problem I would have considered to try and take in the elastic a bit by the cobbler but - alas - they were too tall and dug into my knee when I sit down. I removed them with tears in my eyes but with the hope that other boots will fit better.
Well, long story short - they did not. With every new pair of boots my heart fell lower and lower. It was good that Jonesy joined us at this point because that cheered me up.
So out of 9 pair of tall boots there was a single pair which fit me - and they were not balck and sleek: Steve Madden Bankker (pic. 10) I was considering to get them because I felt pretty bad but then I had a nice surprise: San Eldeman python booties were a good fit (pic. 3 - 5)! That cheered me up again and I decided to get them and pass on the Bankker because my main goal was black riding boots and booties. See how strong my will is! :-)
After that I tried on SW Adoptable flats - they are so gorgeous and very comfortable (pic 8). I have a huge problem with ballet flats: they usually don't work with my bunions. These were very comfortable and though stretched on the bone but not digging in. I was seriously considering them but in the end decided to pass because I could feel slight pressure on my bone and was not sure how they will behave after a couple of hours of walking. If they come in wide width they would be perfect but they do not after size 10 :-(
I also was excited to try Fryes Melissa Trapunto - for the first time they made boots in my size. Oh boy, I had really hard time getting them on - I was afraid I could not take them off at all (pic 6) In the end I prevailed - they are beautiful boots but they felt a bit snug on the calf where the seam is (pic 7) I could have slouched them down a bit but again it was not what I was after so I passed again.
So I ended up with SE python booties and Me Too leopard print pumps. Pumps are a bit tight in the toe box so I am stretching them now (Shannon's potato trick) and we will see what happens.
Poor Jonesy has to endure all this shoe show and then give me her YLF critique on several pairs of jeans I also ordered. So from my order of 16 pairs of shoes, 3 skirts and 5 pairs of jeans I was left with two pairs of footwear and two pairs of jeans!
Then we went to the shoe department. Jonesy did not find anything for herself there and I asked SA to bring me all tall boots they have in my size (pic 12-13) Again long story I tried 7 more pairs with the same result - too tall and too much gaping. This concludes my NAS shoe woes...but the day was still young!
Some more browsing and shopping followed. I got a couple of more items from NAS but poor Jonesy did not find anything again. Then we left Nordie's and ventured into the mall and this is where she hit a jackpot - in Madewell.
We also went to Rack but our energy began to wane and it was soon time to say good-buy. It was a fun day - thank you Jonesy for staying with me through all this extravaganza and being such a sport! I hope we can do it again soon!

I was not even sure if I am up to post my WIW this week with all this NAS excitement but I have missed the last week so I decided to pull myself together for this one.
Nothing really new here, all true and tired basics
pic 1
When I walked out of the door in this outfit in the morning my husband told me that I am all dressed up. Weird hah as all I wore was a button down shirt and trousers. I guess optic white color does have a dressy appearance.
Blue shirt with white trim -BR, white Editors trousers - Express, nude wedge sandals - Franco Sarto, faux python tote - Winners

pic 2
I ws inspired by Angie's birthday skirt from Valentine in Monday's post and decided to wear my black skirt on Tuesday. Alas- I think I gained some weight because it is pretty tight on me. Oh well - cannot be faultless all the time, right?
BB ministripe shirt, black flared skirt - thrifted, red Chromia bag, grey heringbone pattern low wedges - Trotters

pic 3
Another skirt today! This outfit reminds me of 50s and my mom's outfits when she was a teen.
Black and white polka dot skirt - Jessica Howard, hot pink tank - Le Chateau, whiet denim jacket - ON, nude Fidji pumps

pic 4
Yet skirt again! Hot day so something cool was in order. I tried wear the shirt untucked to de-bombshell the skirt but I liked the tucked in proportions much better so I switched to that mid-day. Oh well, I think my flat oxfords did some de-bombshelling anyway :-)
coral shirt and black / white patterned skirt - Winners, yellow and white oxfords - Hush Puppies.

pic 5
I was in really casual mood today. (and also with half of my wardrobe in a laundry basket) so this is what I wore to work. I also tried a semi-tuck to showcase my studded belt but I am not sure it worked: I don't usually do it.
Striped boatneck tee - Gap, denim clams - Nine West, white studded belt - Winners, white and black silk polka dot scarf from a boutique in Paris, nude wedge sandals - Franco Sarto, red Chromia bag.

pic 6

Bonus - the only picture I managed to take last week before my kitty got sick (he is OK now)
coral shirt (as in pic. 4), white Kut bermudas, turquoise beads from Nordstrom, yellow and white flat oxfords - Hush Puppies.

OK, I am done here and now I can get back to the forum to revel in all those gorgeous NAS purchases! I won't see mine for another week so I have to survive through all of yours now!

If you remember my last year's NAS report you know that I take it very seriously. This is my 3rd year and I am trying to learn from all my previous NAS experiences - good and bad.
Because I live in Canada I don't have an easy access to the sale. Sure I can order online with international shipping and custom duties but the cost mounts up. However I am lucky enough to live 2h away from the closest Nordstrom over the border and I take full advantage of it!

These are my lessons learned from the previous years:
1. My shoe size is very hard to get and selection in the store might be pretty slim in my size. My strategy is to order everything I want to try on online to be delivered to the store, drive there, try everything on and return what I don't want. Because this happens in matter of days my credit charges don't go through before I return what I don't want.
2. Take into account exchange rate. Last year I I lost some money there because US dollar went down between my purchase and my return and I got back less than I originally spent.
To solve this problem I am charging everything on my Nordstrom card this year (I have to for pre-sale anyway). However it is a real pain to pay it off as they don't accept Canadian checks and I cannot make a direct payment from my account to the US business. I had to buy a money order and send it and it is additional cost and bother. Well, I have a solution this year - order everything on Nordstrom card online, then in the store return everything to this card and then buy what I want to keep with my Canadian VISA. Hopefully it will work.
3. I have to be more selective with my purchases. After my 1st NAS I returned almost all footwear (thanks God for Nordie's return policy!) and also gave away to my mom come clothes I did not wear that much. My second one was much better, with no returns. However I am not very happy about quality of some footwear I got. My BP Ruston boots seem pretty low quality: the leather upper got some deep wrinkles and I had to replace the heels after 5 wears as they were worn completely. I am going to be more selective this time and make sure I buy quality stuff of the utmost comfort level.
4. Some more specific points:
- don't buy any cardigans as you don't wear them much;
- don't get any more indoor blazers in thick fabric. I like my Hinge and Trouve cropped blazers from previous sales but they are very often too warm to wear indoors and their design makes them not suitable for outdoor wear: fabric is thick and warm enough to wear in pretty cool weather but they don't fasten or have very open front so it is not warm enough. As a result I don't wear them as often as I would like.
- very careful with the fit of the pants and jeans: I don't like them too tight on my hips and thighs; otherwise I can wear them with tunics only and this is very limiting.

I am trying to limit my NAS purchases to a few high quality things which are the right comfort level for me and fir well into my life style. Let's see how successful I am this year!
Do you have any NAS strategy this year or any lessons you want to share?

We were again in the soaring 30s temps last week and this week does not look any better. I am a bit late to post my weekly outfits because we all our evenings were busy with visiting friends - this is what long summer weekend does to you! :-)
pic #1 - dressing down my polka dot dress with a denim vest
Jones New York dress via Macy's, thrifted denim vest, nude wedge sandals - Franco Sarto.

pic #2 - debut of my new BR shirt which Angie ordered me to get - and I did. I really like it, it looks a bit like chambray in texture and color but white collar and cuffs make it dressy.
Paige Hidden Hills bootcuts, TRouve flat oxfords, green riding jacket (my mom), BR shirt, Chromia red bag.

pic #3
It was a business casual day at work (step up from usual casual) and I decided to take advantage of not needing to dress down the pencil skirt for a change :-)
Both tie-neck blouse and lace teal skirt made by my mom. red Chromia satchel, Ros Hommerson open toe pumps.

pic #4
Hot, hot day! I decided to wear my breezy sleeveless sack dress to keep cool, adding a denim jacket for the office. I like how these color blocked oxfords play with the dress.
Dress (again my mom), Calvin Klein denim jacket, Hush Puppies white and yellow oxfords, cropped leggings from Costco.

pic #5
Another hotter! Wore this to work and then to a friend's backyard birthday party. Of course jacket was for the A/C office only :-) Teal with coral make me happy! With all Angie influence ai have not been wearing my neklaces as much lately but this time I decided to go for some vintage feel and wore my large faux pearls.
coral lace dress - BR, white denim jacket - ON, nude wedge sandals - Franco Sarto, teal tote - Winners.

Thanks for looking and have a great week!