Sveta's Blog

Life continues to get in the way of my forum presence: between crazy work (have to work on weekend again), deck construction, my sister and niece visit and my son's return from his exchange term in South East Asia after 7 months of absence my time is in a very short supply. I hope September will be quieter but for now my WIW posts are more of "post and run" thing :-(

 So without much ado here are my new  goodies for your viewing pleasure! :-)

pic 1 VC tube skirt.

I am SO glad I went for a bolder stripe against my better judgment and fear of horizontal stripes on my lower half. This skirt is so much fun that I can take a bit of unflattery with it if required! Thank you Angie for nudging me towards the fun skirt!

Vince Camuto tube midi skirt - Nordstrom

studded black tank - Winners

White cotton blazer - Melanie Lyne

Nude cage wedges - Franco Sarto

pic 2 Foxcroft white shirt

I LOVE this shirt! It is really non-iron, crisp, tailored without being too snug and LONG ENOUGH! I have my eye on Foxcroft white tunic now and if it goes on sale I will pounce at once!

Foxcroft shirt - NAS

Blush khaki pants - Gap

Bone slingbacks - Ros Hommerson

pic 3 Brooks Brothers striped tee

I have to confess at once: the length with the trousers did bother me during the day so I decided that this is a skirt only tee. But I really like how it looks and I think I have enough skirts to justify this purchase. Hmm, maybe I need a white skirt now because I adore it with white...:-)

White and silver striped tee - Brooks Brothers

Yellow academy blazer - Gap

White Editor trousers - Express

Nude pumps - Fidji

pic 4 Foxcroft shirt again

I think I really like the effect of this taupe mesh sweater over the white shirt - something I did not try before. Polk dots really stand out this way!

Mesh polka dot sweater - Madewell

White Foxcroft shirt - NAS

Kut BF jeans - last year NAS

Silver Isaac Mizrahi slippers - Nordstrom

pic 5 Pleione crossover blouse

I am struggling with the fit of this blouse a bit: the collar does not always lie flat and I am not sure if crossover part is supposed to be like this but this is definitely a fun top!

Pleione crossover top - NAS

White Editor trousers - Express

Nude cage wedges - Franco Sarto

Thank you for looking and as usual any suggestions and critique is very welcome!

Have a nice weekend!

In addition to NAS order I also placed an order to Brooks Brothers taking advantage of the sale and using opportunity to pick it up on the border. I planned to go to the BB store in the mall, try them on and return what does not work. Well it did not work out this way: when Suz and I were done with NAS fitting room and went to look for BB store we found out that it closes at 7PM and it was already past that :-(
So I had to take everything back with me to London and try on next day. Two short sleeve sweaters were a bust: they were too short and also they had an old fashion vibe. I will return them next time I am in US (Good BB has 90 day return policy!)
The third SS sweater (pic 1) has potential I think. It is too short for pants but should work with skirts and also with faux-tuck with some pants I think. It has the wider band on the bottom which makes it more modern that the other two. It also has an interesting silver semi-sheer stripe which adds the textural effect.
It will replace an old purple tank which is too short for me.

Pic 2-3 Tailored white non-iron shirt. I own a single BB shirt and I love the fabrication but it is a bit snug in size 10 - and also short because the style is fitted (the shortest of them all). This shirt happened to be a single one in stock and only in size 12 so I decided to get it. I love the black piping on the front. It does not feel snug and I think the length is passable (but maybe I am kidding myself?) This shirt will replace my size 10 shirt which I am giving to my sister.

Pic 3-4 Tailored purple stripe non-iron shirt. This is one size up - size 14. I decided to try a different size to see how the fit is. Suz told me that she would never forgive me if I don't keep it so I obeyed... I don't see big difference in the shoulder fit but it has more ease through the body and a tiny bit longer. It will replace Anthro tencel denim shirt which has uncomfortable sleeves.

 I am keeping them anyway and took the tags already but would love to know what you think.

This round of my NAS purchases is mostly essentials and therefore pretty boring. Three items were from the "needs" list and two fro the "wants".
pic 1-3 NYDJ ponte skinny pants. One of the "needs": I got rid of my Gap leans because they were too tight and needed a pair of ponte skinny pants to wear with tunics and tall boots. Suz assured me they are not too tight :-) I would not wear them with a shorter top like this IRL, just happened to wear one at that time.

pic 4 features 2 items: Halogen red skirt and Only Mine polka dot sweater. Both of them were purely wants! I was looking for a red skirt for years and this one is perfect in color. I also ordered a purple one but it was too muted for my wardrobe but the red was a keeper! My not very comfortable teal lace skirt is going out to make room for this darling (pic 5)
Polka dot sweater was also on my wish list for at least a year just because it is fun! It is also very soft and nice quality and I hope it will work well in my wardrobe. I have sized up to XL: L was fine but I would not be able to layer a shirt under it comfortably and this is how I like to wear sweaters now.This sweater is replacing my brown lurex sweater which is too stretchy for my liking (pic 6)

pic 7-8 Foxcroft white shirt This is purely an essential replacement for me. My current single white shirt has seen better days and is really embarrassing to wear. I was on the hunt for a longer white shirt for ages. This one is not non-iron but pretty crisp and I hope long enough. It is a bit roomy through the body and I am not sure yet if I should tailor it more or not.

pic 9-10 Born combat boots in charcoal to replace my deceased Steve Madden boots (pic 11). This was the need #1! However this is the item I am still not sure about. I love the color (dark bluish grey) and the comfort is great but I am not sure about the look because the toe looks very round and big. True it adds to the comfort level as my toes have a lot of room to move and not squished and I need these boots mostly for heavy walking activities. Even if I hesitated I still got them because I have such hard time to find anything in my size. I decided to keep them for now and see if I get used to the toe shape: if something better comes along I can always return them (they are already gone in my size from Nordstrom). I am also encouraged that Angie likes them and thinks they are good for me so I am hopeful here...

This concludes my NAS haul. As you see I did not get anything very exciting, for that you have to wait for Suz's post! :-)

I always prepare for NAS. I love to have Angie's picks to guide me but I feel that I need to do my homework as well. I need to identify what I need and what I want: otherwise NAS would be too overwhelming for me. I did it last year and it helped a lot to avoid expensive mistakes. This year I have added one extra category to my list: what should leave my closet when I keep NAS goodies. I am starting to follow this "one in / one out" rule religiously now to avoid closet overcrowding.
Some of my goals for this season were to add more colors and also add some interesting pieces which can revamp my style. I think this first NAS installment fits this requirement. These all were "wants" from my list:
1 - 3 Pleione striped cross-over top. This is just a purely fun piece. It fits the requirement of adding interest AND color - kill two birds! I tried it with semi-tuck in #1 and untucked in #2-3. I should work with all my jeans and trousers but maybe not the skirts. The blouse in #6 is what left my closet to make room for it. I have this blouse for 2 years, did not wear it much last year and did not wear it even once this summer. I think I am over this style so it goes (to my sister).
2 -3 Vince Camuto loafer I was looking for some fun printed flats and these filled the bill. They are very comfortable and I think I will get a lot of wear out of them. They are replacing my animal print pumps (pic 7) which give me bloody blisters on the balls of my feet :-(
4 -5 Vince Camuto tube skirt. After much agonizing I went with wide striped purely because it is more fun! This skirt is replacing my flared black skirt which is a tad too short and too tight for the moment (#8).
4-5 Munro Robyn booties in cranberry. Comfortable, manageable heel and refined enough for me. I also think they look good - and fun!:-) They are replacing my very old Clarks tan boots which were torn inside (#9)

This is the end of the first installment of my NAS goodies. Stay tuned for more!

This is my traditional "NAS extravaganza" post I am doing for the 4th time. However This NAS was very special for me because I had the best shopping mate YLFer can dream of - Suz ( after Angie of course! :-)  )
It was a very busy day from the morning. The border crossing was very busy and took longer than we anticipated. I also had a couple of packages to pick up on the border, then we dropped into TJ Maxx so I can try the shoes from Zappos on and send them back while still in US. Alas both pairs of Angie's Wow pumps did not work for me I so we also had to stop by the UPS store to ship them back right away.
Because of all these logistics it was past noon when we got to the Nordstrom. We decided to have lunch BEFORE we hit the Customer Service and we were so right: it was a whirlwind after that!
So here we are at the CS. Suz and I said our last names ad SA said with a feeling: " Oh yes, we are waiting for you" :-) Pic 1 is what was waiting for us in the back room: my pile is smaller - just the stack on the left, the rest is Suz's :-) OK, I have to add that all my shoes went to shoe department for some reason so they would make another pile like this as well :-) :-)
As my shoes were not in CS we started with Suz's footwear. You already know about her tall boot woes and yea, I was responsible that she did not get SW Panache dress boots which could have been altered to the height she needed: I was a somber voice of reason :-( ....but I have to add that she did end up with some beauties there (I would leave it to her to disclose those, this is just to build up the suspense!)
After we were done with Suz's shoes and returned the pile she did not keep we were transferred to a stylist dressing room. It was quite a parade with 2 SAs and us carrying all our stuff in multiple bags downstairs! We decided to share a fitting room for an instant feedback  - and pic 2 is how it looked in the process!
Long story short the whole process took us over 5 hours of trying on and making up our mind. We were totally exhausted by the end and lost the count of number of SAs we worked with: it seems they changed 3 shifts while we were in that room! Honestly I was surprised the sun was still up when we were done...:-)
So the next pictures are some of my misses.
pic 3/4: Elie Tahari Minka jacket. I have ordered size 12 and then warned by Angie that the sleeves are very slim I also ordered size 14. Well 14 was huge and 12 was on the bigger side as well and sleeves were not tight at all. This is size 12 in the pictures. I wanted to try size 10 but they did not have this jacket in the store in any size! It is a beautiful jacket and a very good quality but I decided to pass; I felt it was a bit too short on the back for me and this is pretty noticeable when a jacket has such a defined waist. For such an expensive piece (for me anyway) it should have been perfect - and it was not. 

pic 5/6: Halogen seamed sheath in purple. The color was great, the fit was good and it had about 1" to let out for the length which would bring it to the knee for me. However I passed as well because of the lack of sleeves and because I decided to stick to my budget and wardrobe size rule this time.

pic 7 Mural bomber I wanted to love it very much but I coud not get past the feeling of this faux-leather on my skin which I did not like at all. In addition it was really hot for me: I was sweating after having it on for 5 min so it was a no go. However I really like the style so I will be looking for another cool bomber in a different fabrication.

pic 8 Another Mural piece - faux leather vest, not a part of NAS but on sale. Loved the style and the length was good but again could not stand the faux-leather feel. It was sad because this vest would be a workhorse for me so again I am on the lookout of a similar piece with a better quality.

pic 9 SW heeled oxfords (cannot find them online but I think they made Angie's pick list). They were so comfortable and such a great quality but I had to pass because of the color: I just have a hard time to make black footwear to work with my style even though my  hair is dark. If they were 2-toned black and white or cream and tan I would snatch them in a heartbeat!
I don't have pictures of other things which did not work for me like Olivia Moon striped knit blazer (somehow I did not feel it for my style), Trouve purple blazer (felt too cheap), Trouve leggings ( I felt like a cat-woman in them), NYDJ mixed media "Megan" jeans (the rear fit was very weird on me)...

We did not leave the store until after 8PM. I managed to lose and then find again my Nordstrom card and that was the sign that we need to go home! Border crossing was pretty smooth and fast on the way back(even though we had to pay the sale tax) and we got home around 11PM so it was a VERY long day.
I will leave to Suz to write about her experience as a first timer :-)
I will do a separate post on the stuff I kept (or maybe 2 posts...) so stay tuned!

Thank you for reading my novel!

I have only 4 outfits for this week because Friday was so busy for me with wrapping the things at work before my vacation, meeting Suz and getting ready for NAS adventure that I forgot to take pictures!

pic 1 Blush khakis revisited
Starting point of the outfit was the blush khakis. It was a cool morning so I decided to wear a light sweater and grey and blush work really well together. I decided to stay tonal and added a faded denim biker as well.

Striped sweater - Banana Republic
Blush khakis - Gap
Denim biker - Gap
Silver tote - Danier
Bone slingbacks - Ros Hommerson

pic 2 Channeling Angie's Tin Tin outfit
Do I need to add anything else describing this outfit? :-)

Black / white silk shirt - Club Monaco
Micro-check long shorts - Winners
Black belt - Danier
Nude clutch from Portugal
Red Me Too pumps - Nordstrom

pic 3 What is yellow and striped but not  a bee?
I hope you are not tired of my yellow blazer yet because you are going to see quite a bit of it before the summer end! :-) Shannon, the sleeves were altered to fit slimmer from the elbows down.

Striped tank - H&M
Yellow academy blazer - Gap
White Kut  BF jeans - Nordstrom
Snake patterned belt
Python print tote
Gold Isaac Mizrahi slipper flats

pic 4 B&W pattern mix
I felt lady-like but adventurous that day so this is a result!

Striped b&w shirt - Suzy Shier
"Bottle bottoms" skirt - Winners
Red Chromia satchel - Winners
Bone slingbacks - Ros Hommerson

Thanks for looking and have a great weekend!