Tuesday, April 30, 2013

My New Dresses and What I Wore to Pick them up!

After what has seemed like quite a long time, the dresses I bought a few weeks ago were finally ready.  So I gussied myself up to go and pick them up!  Though I am having a decidedly casual Spring, I like the idea of dressing up to run errands in town.  Plus I wanted to get my red dress altered, so wanted to have bare legs and my wedge heels.

Today's outfit is an oldie, but a goodie: the schoolboy Morse code blazer, which really can only be worn in Spring or Fall due to its heavier weight, last year's pencil skirt in the bright pear colour and my Pink Tartan blouse with the bow tie collar.  I am a sucker for those little details, and I wanted to do a little pattern mixing.  I wore this with my Tory Burch wedges, which were very comfortable for walking around downtown in.


Close-up with blouse:



This outfit was dressy enough for my old job and it was fun to be a little fancy after mostly living in jeans lately.  My daughter and I went to return all of the books she had borrowed from the university library first, mailed a package, sent her old, salt-laden Uggs off to Montreal to be refurbished (for $50 which I consider a steal compared to buying her a new pair!) and then went to the shop to pick up the dresses.

I am very happy with the dresses.  The first dress is a simple black vneck linen dress.  I did not have a black dress for summer and I have wanted a linen one.  There is a viscose lining and it is very comfortable.



The dress is a-lined and has a little row of ruffles on the bottom above the straight hem and around the vneck, which makes it look dressier if you want to wear it dressier.



I paid less than $100 for this and consider it a good deal and imagine it will get a lot of use this summer.

The other dress is my new Nougat London dress.  I really am crazy about Nougat London; they make interesting clothing that has a timeless appeal to me.  This dress is a cotton shift in a watermelon/white print with a vneck again - yes I am listening to you ladies!



It has been perfectly altered to me, which is very nice indeed.  The back of the dress has an exposed zipper, which I quite like, but I know that is a show-stopper for some of you!


It is 100% cotton and a very sturdy cotton at that.

And on:



It actually looks more flattering than this in real life, but I was too lazy to go find my daughter to take a picture!

There was one more goody in this shopping spree of a couple of weeks ago:  A pale pink top by Nougat London:



100% cotton with little appliqued and crocheted flowers.



This is just the kind of piece that I am always drawn to and that Nougat London does exceptionally well.  It's what the love child of a meringue kiss


And Battenburg lace might look like...



When I brought it home and introduced it to the closet, guess what it decided it wanted to meet first?  The pompon pants of 2012!


Flowers echoing flowers, tone on tone.  I sort of felt like I was channelling my inner Ema!

Well then I had to look and see what shoes it might want to meet.



There seemed to be a great camaraderie with the vince camuto rose gold sandals as well as a lovely pale pink pair from J Crew from a few years ago which have held up remarkably well.


When the Kersh cardigan showed up it was old home week.  The top has expressed interest in many other items in my closet as well and I plan to start rotating this right away, now that the weather is warm!

After the excitement of picking up the new lovelies, I went in to have the red dress altered.  My tailor is a lovely Romanian immigrant who is very blunt.  "This is a crazy dress with too many pieces." she told me, pinning here and there.  "This dress is too big in some places but the wrong places!"  Finally, she figured out how to fix it and sent me on my way.  It was quite a morning!

All in all, I feel quite set for summer.  I really hope the white skirt works, as it would go very nicely with many things, including my two new Nougat London tops.  I will cross my fingers! 

Have the loveliest of Tuesdays and stay safe out there!

43 comments:

  1. Wendy, love your errand-running outfit - that pear colour is lovely!
    Also thrilled to see your dresses. They both look fab - that melons and white is particularly lovely!
    It's so satisfying to have nailed a few 'perfect' clothing items, isn't it?

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    1. Hi Ruth - I was glad to find them - though I must have tried on 25 to get these 2! No matter - they are comfortable and well-fitting so I am now set for summer dresses!

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  2. I read your blog while putting on makeup and preparing for the office. Your so smart-looking errand outfit inspired me to wear my secretary blouse today. I love all your spring outfits. I like texture in my clothes and applique meets pompom can't be beat!

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    1. Hi Marie! Yay for secretary blouses - they are wonderful, aren't they? I so wish I could have afforded the hummingbird one this year! Thanks for the nice comments!

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    2. Marie, thanks for your input about Stylebook - I bought it and have been having fun with it. It's pretty hard to get decent looking pictures, but I'm really enjoying being able to search by colour, season, etc.

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  3. CLOSET BFFS WMM, cracking up at idea of meringue meets battenburg, only you. Also smiling at those sandals. (And still kicking myself I did not get the JC Cecelias last season.) Now all you need is a pink pedi. Excited that your blouse has so many new friends already, that's great smartie. And you do look lovely and happy all frocked-up. Happy Tuesday!

    Looking forward to seeing Lady in Red after the nip-tuck.

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    1. J Crew Factory has had a flat version of the Cecelia sandals this year.

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    2. Thanks GF - It is going to be a nice day here again today - so happy the weather has changed! WIll post pic of red dress when all nipped and tucked appropriately!

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    3. Thanks Cate, I did see them, but they are some sort of PVC, not leather, and I'd be worried about lack of stretch, rub and blisters.

      WMM second day of dark and rain here, exterior window cleaning delayed, again. Please soak up the "nice" for your neighbours to the west.

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  4. I have a big crush on your pale pink top! Never mind, I love it all, the watermelon dress is also gorgeous. Nougat London really make some pretty things!
    I'm sending my shearling boots off today to be cleaned, my daughter's too.

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    1. My uggs are really house ones, so they are great, but hers were a mess. I am looking forward to getting them back and seeing the difference!

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    2. Oh and thanks - I love them all, too!

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  5. Love your dresses ,esp the navy one!

    The pic of the meringue reminds me of a cake i ate on saturday and it was so delicious!
    It was a rhubarb-meringue cake and it was one of the best i ever had:)

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    1. Did you make it Ina or eat it out someplace? I will have to search the net for a recipe, as my rhubarb is just beginning to come in!

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    2. One of the moms made it on the spring festival.
      It was kind of like this.

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  6. How great you have made these dresses what you want/need for the season. Enjoy!

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  7. A good tailor really can make such a difference. I really admire your new Nougat top. It is lovely, and the handwork is amazing. I love your shoe closet choices too.

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    1. Hi Knityarns! I agree about the good tailor. My tailor kind of intimidates me, but they do great work!

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  8. Oh the detail of that pink top, I die! So pretty. Love so much that you had your dresses tailored to perfection. I'm off to mine this week to have some done as well, as you and Dani have inspired me. Have a lovely week!

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    1. The top is amazing! I have the JC battenburg top from last year (I think that is the name - Tabs has it as well I think) and while i like it, it is nothing compared to the Nougat London. Have a great week, too! I keep eying the new tunic dress you bought, but I think the print is too large for me!

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    2. I have that JC top too and I never wear it. The neck is a bit high. That's why I liked the one JC offered this year, a better neckline for me, but the fit was off so it didn't work. Don't these big companies employ people to research things like that? I know all styles don't fit all people, but I'm a pretty much off-the-rack size and it surprises me when the fit of something is so off.

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    3. Funny - I am actually thinking of selling it on JCA - it needs someone with a more swan-like neck than I!

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    4. I hear you. I wonder if the neckline could be altered? Your (and DaniBP's) tailoring successes have me pondering all the possibilities.

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  9. What a happy clothing post, I love every bit of it! You look great, WMM! I am partial to the lace top and it is perfect with either of those sandals and the pompom capris. But the dresses are perfection too, I love them!

    I had no idea you could have Uggs sent away to be fixed. Mine are extremely salt-stained. I finally bought a replacement pair this winter but then I would only wear the new pair on days that weren't wet (which was hardly ever). If the weather was messy, I'd just run out in the salt-stained pair. So I think I might actually keep them just the way they are, they serve a purpose :) But oh, they look soooo bad!

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    1. Our local drycleaner does it - you might want to ask around in your town in case you ever do want to send them away!

      Thanks for the kind words about my new things!

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    2. Same here, our drycleaner sends the boots away to be cleaned. It takes a couple of weeks but who cares, we finally won't be needing boots for a few months!

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    3. Thank you both, that's good to know! I will ask next time I'm in there.

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  10. By the way I am working my way through my shoes, your post the other day got me going!

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  11. The pink top is so pretty, I love the feminine details. Your dresses look smashing Wendy, well done.

    It's wonderful when you find a label that you love as you do with Nougat London. I'm the same with Lacoste, it's like they design just for me, although the designs are not complex like your red dress. Hope that one turns out perfectly. I think I'm a bit weird as I kind of like it when the tailors are tugging and pinning garments when I'm wearing them. I get some sort of cheap thrill from it, like a child being tickled or something.

    I love Kersh as well, their knits are divine.

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    1. xoxo - that is too funny! my daughter said I looked VERY uncomfortable! I do like Nougat - not everything works, but when it does it it very nice indeed!

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  12. You look great!

    The Nougat pieces look perfect on you. Am curious to hear how useful the linen dress ends up being. I like it on you a lot. I have some black linen pants that ultimately don't get much wear because black and linen spell different seasons, respectively, for me.

    I'm so glad you started talking about Nougat because I realized that an old favourite but underworn of late cardigan was from that brand. I will keep an eye out now.

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    1. I will be curious about the linen dress as well, but I have vowed to wear it regularly, so will let you know - it is very comfortable!

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  13. Hi WMM, I love your jacket and skirt outfit - so fresh! Everything else is lovely too - and I especially like the meringue kisses and Battenberg lace analogy!

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  14. Love the skirt outfit and the cute dresses. You rock those pompom pants, Wendy!

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  15. Your new dresses are lovely. Perhaps I am foolish, but I wash my UGGs in the machine following instructions I found on the Laundress blog. IMO they came out fine - not pristine but more than acceptable. A friend thought that I had bought a replacement pair. I stuff them with plain packing paper and let them dry naturally – it can take several days.

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    1. Hi Muffy - I bet it does take them a few days to dry naturally - they are thick, aren't they? It never even occured to me that they could be washed at home!

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