A Spring in Your Step - Tempting our Wallets with New Releases

Happy Thursday!

Ah - you know it is not spring where I live.  In fact, we got a dump of 35 cm of snow over night.  Sigh...

But in other parts of the world, Spring has well and truly sprung and the retailers want us to embrace their vision of spring and hop to it please. 

Many of the online retailers have released their new things, some of which have caught my eye, others of which have scared me with their lack of quality materials and pricing.  Lots of pictures in this post, but not a lot of love or hope, save a few items which I assume will be of good quality.

J Crew:

I still love to take a gander at the new j crew releases.  Old Habits die hard and J Crew does have the best of the web sites to whip one into a fury, I think!

Some things caught my eye:

The Dree Dress in Stripe:

This dress looks promising, but it is silk (and you know how I fare with silk) and it is expensive and I have had lousy luck with the placement of the waists on most J Crew dresses in the last few years.  They seem to be vying with my breasts for placement!

I also really liked the melon jacquard dress below.  This would be aspirational dressing at its worst, as I cannot think where I would wear it, but you know I do love me some bling!  I could do a Kathy and wear my jean jacket with it.  And I do love the melon colour!  But...

There were other things to like, but what I really liked was just too darn expensive (see further down!), so here is what I am actually thinking about because of the sale:

Lightweight Bermuda Shorts

I love the lighter cotton of these and the length and am looking at navy for summer.  I would normally not consider buying shorts in March, but they are on sale for a good price and I find that the classic colours almost never go on sale later or are all gone in my size:

The other thing I am contemplating is the Downtown Field Jacket in Navy.  I need a new spring coat for bouncing around - all of my coats are dressy for spring.  I know some of you have it and would like your thoughts, since it is on sale for $125, which I consider to be a good price!

What I was most disappointed about was the prices.  Even with the 25% -30% off, J Crew has just gotten crazy expensive.  All of the really nice prints are in the $400-500 range.



I always compare these to my dream skirt that got away, the 2008 Giverny, which was silk, lined in cotton I believe and $150.  The skirt on the left is $400, the skirt on the right is $576.  Again, at these prices, I will buy better quality elsewhere, but how disappointing. 

A cotton dress for $430 Jcrew?  Really?  It is lovely, but what am I missing?



Banana Republic:

Oh Gosh, I wish they would get a nicer website.  Is it just me?  Banana Republic suffers from the exact opposite problem from J Crew, whereby the clothes on the website seem uninspiring, but look much better in person.  They also use too much polyester, which may be fine in the spring, but when things get humid around here, watch out!

Still a couple of items look promising:

If I could wear orange on top I would buy this cotton shift in a heartbeat!

The Monogram Belted White Sheath:

Kate Spade

Kate Spade has gone too trendy (or maybe I have gone less trendy?).  Nothing in the new releases would work for me, save a white linen-tencel dress and I already have a white linen dress.  sigh...

Tory Burch

The only thing which really caught my eye was the Gene dress: 

Brora

Saving my cheddah if I buy due to exchange rate, but...

Linen-Cotton Cardigan in Kingfisher

Washed Linen Shift Dress

Herringbone Linen Skirt

Lands End

I really liked the skirt below, but at 100% poly, it is likely not going to work for me...I am noticing a LOT of poly everwhere this year!

Eileen Fisher

Love this flowy, short skirt in ink:

This dress doesn't appear to have been released yet, but I think it would be the perfect summer dress for me:

Garnet Hill

I have yet to order from Garnet Hill but do like some of their things quite a lot, like the retro cap-sleeve dress:

One of these essential summer sundresses: I amthinking the green would be lovely!

Or this Eileen Fisher Dress:

Nougat London:

How about a lovely blue dress with embroidery?  Even the lining is cotton!

Or a silk cotton blouse?

Brooks Brothers

Brooks Brothers spring items impressed, more so than their winter offerings, which are a little too preppy for my taste:

Sleeveless Shift Dress:

Okay - absolutely classic!

And how about this silk rose print dress?  I might wear it to the races, darling!

How about a gorgeous pale gold dress to the wear to the royal christening this summer?

and hat, natch...

If I had to give a prize, I would say the Brooks Brothers has won my heart in the new releases lottery...

Oh I know - all very dressy, but one can't get over the habit of thinking one will be invited to VERY important events all at once...


THING I HAVE NO BUSINESS EVEN THINKING ABOUT BUT AM THINKING ABOUT ANYWAY

Like, for instance, this Elie Tahari skirt:




So how about you?  Any of the new releases from any of the companies catching your fancy?  Or are you like me and wondering why some of the clothing is just getting so darn expensive and of such cheap or man-made material?  And I highly recommend that for those of you who live near a JC Penney, that you get yourself there ASAP if you like trendy little items, as Joe Fresh is absolutely ripping off J Crew, but with much better quality IMO!

SO as of this moment, I am contemplating the downtown jacket on sale and maybe a pair of shorts and that is it.  That would be April's budget blown, but could be worth it if the quality was good!

Sorry for the long post - once I started looking I had to share my thoughts.  Am I the only one not absolutely mad over this spring's pickings?

Have a happy Thursday and Stay Safe Out There!

Style Question \wednesday: Why is the Silk Road so Bumpy?

Can we talk about silk?

Ah silk.  For centuries, coveted the world over for its sumptious feel, its delicacy, its coolness to the touch.  Silk says: "I am desirable", "I am rich", "I am fashion"

For me, silks says: "I am afraid."  cue the scary organ music and get those people off those camels - this is NOT a big budget blog with sponsors!!!!

Why so afraid, you may ask me kindly.  But then you already know the answer to that.  I am a klutz.  And just as nature abhors a vacuum, it also abhors me wearing silk...

I am officially going on record as saying I have yet to own a piece of silk clothing that does not eventually end up with a stain.

And I never notice them until I am ready to go to the cleaners.  And then the cleaners say "we cannot guarantee that we can get out this ridiculous stain, you-who-shall-not-wear-silk!"  and they are always right - they NEVER get out the stains!

The latest victim?  My brocade blue J Crew silk blouse.  Worn exactly twice. 

From a distance, all looks well:

But to the left of the third button from the top are two little stains, created by god-know-what and forevermore to live upon the blouse...

Subtle?  To some, perhaps.  But not to me.  I know they are there.  Sure I can wear this under a pullover or with a scarf.  But I will never feel comfortable wearing it plain, alone, unless I am alone in the house.

So today's question is this - how do you all wear silk and not get it spotty?????  Are there any tricks?  do you only wear silk where you are nowhere near food or drink?

All advice is greatly appreciated, since I think that silk and I are about to break up forever, to be replaced by wool or cotton.  I do have better luck with nubby silk chiffon, but there is something so delightful about a nice smooth silk.  How do you keep it well?  Or am I simply too klutzy or too fussy?

Please help!!!!!

Stay safe - and spotless - out there!


 

Things I Didn't Know I Needed...In which WMM tried to kit out her feet, house and garden with no money!

Oh I have been very good, sticking to my budget, actually making a budget for that matter.  And then, you start seeing "stuff".  Stuff you think you would like to have in your life.

It is truth universally acknowledged that

a) when you have no money, there is a disproportionate number of items you would suddenly like to acquire
b) when you actually have money, money for the specific purpose of buying something, anything, it appears there is nothing to buy.  nowhere.

The world is a cruel place sometimes...

Besides the wallpaper I mentioned yesterday and which I have absolutely no spot for (oh darn, wait, I just had a good idea...), here are some other things that have caught my fancy lately and will remain just that, a fancy.  I am not yet at the higher plane, able to live those immortal words of Sinead O'Connor, I do not want what I have not got.  It seems not she may not have wanted some of those things as she was high, but see, my budget doesn't even allow for THAT these days!

Red Coral Ballet Flats from Aerin.com:

And from the same web site, an expensive little bauble , called the Tiger Cowry Shell, for my desk...Why would I need this???? Why not?

Aurora Enamal Charger/Plates/Dessert Plates from MacKenzie-Childs:

I do not need these.  But oh my gosh, I would love to see them on my dining room table!

An outdoor chesterfield:



Get your here

Isn't that divine?  I love a chesterfield, I love sitting outdoors.  Wait, I love NAPPING outdoors....  I just see a lot of good things coming from that Chesterfield...There doesn't appear a great hope of this however, since the website does not list prices and you know what that means.
I am also jonesing for the Careen Metallic Loafer that was not yet in stock at the Tory Burch shop I visited in NYC:

They look so retro cool to me.  Tory is so helpful and has even show me how to wear it:



There, I feel much better, having gotten all of my gimmees off my chest.  It could be spring fever again.. We are scheduled to get a whollop of  storm today!  I need to get out in the garden to clear my head.  In the interim, I am going to paint today.

And I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge that today is the 18th birthday of one of the lights of my life, my son, who was born exactly 18 years ago at 4:16 pm weighing 10lb 6 oz.  Both of my children are pisces; my daughter is the pisces who goes with the flow.  My son is the pisces who has been swimming upstream since the day he was born and life will never be easy for him, but it will always be interesting.

About 2 hours after he was born, the doctor came in to see us to see how things were going.  My son was laying there with his head on my chest.  When he heard the doctor speak, he lifted his head up and turned and looked at him.  The Dr. was flabbergasted and said he had never seen a newborn do that in his entire career.  That my friends, is called stubborn will.

So how about you?  Any gimmees these days or are you being blissfully good?  I am being good, but perhaps not blissfully!  Have a happy Tuesday and stay safe out there!



Mrs. Peacock, in the Library with the Candlestick...

Well Happy Monday!

After a very S-L-O-W Sunday, in which I nurtured my hangover (damn sparkling rose! and red wine!  and maple ice wine!), I am back in the pink (and no, that is no pun related to the rose, which at present moment, is DEAD to me...)

So I am a little behind in catching all the latest decor news, but I have been on a rest (this sounds very Virginia Woolf and I am okay with that!) and continue to catch up on the world around!

Imagine my delight to see the latest wallpaper from Osborne and Little - Penguin Classics!

I think Tabs may have already written about this, but never mind, as I do not mind being a copycat!

Last week, I was besotted with green velvet wallcoverings.  This week, I want a wall of Penguin Classics books!

The press release states:

Introducing PENGUIN LIBRARY wallpaper, produced with the kind permission of Penguin.
Penguin is synonymous with beautiful design and has played an important role in the development of graphic design, typography and illustration for over 75 years. Its iconic triband book jacket has ingrained itself in public design consciousness, recognised around the world from London and New York to Beijing and Rio.

This design heritage dates back to the origins of the company, when its founder Allen Lane launched the first ten paperbacks in 1935. They broke the mould in a number of ways. First, they were designed for the masses and priced at 6d, the price of a packet of cigarettes. Second, they were quality titles, previously unobtainable unless you had significant money to spend or a library card. Third, they were designed and packaged attractively in order to encourage not just traditional bookshops, but also railway stations, tobacconists and chain stores, to display them.

The Penguin tri-band design was the work of Edward Young, a 21 year-old office junior who went on to become the company’s first Production Manager, who was also dispatched to London zoo to sketch a penguin for the now well-recognised and much-loved logo. The template he created consisted of three horizontal stripes: upper and lower bands colourcoded by genre (orange for fiction, blue for biography, green for crime, cerise for travel and adventure, for example) and a central white panel containing the author and, of course, they came printed with the iconic Penguin logo. The distinctive simplicity was a radical departure from the more ornate approach of its competitors and spoke volumes about the new company.

This classic tri-band book cover design subtly changed in its early years. The Penguin imprint, initially Bodoni Ultra Bold, was substituted with Gill Sans typeface and the Penguin logo was re-drawn several times, gently evolving from the original life-like penguin seen on the Ariel cover, becoming a dancing penguin as shown on A Room of One’s Own, to the affable penguin featured on Brighton Rock which is similar to that used today. Two non-fiction titles Civilisation and Explosives are shown on the wallpaper, identified by the famous Pelican imprint logo and pale blue covers.

The PENGUIN LIBRARY wallpaper is a collage of front covers of those iconic early paperbacks from this famous publishing house and includes Ariel, the very first Penguin paperback published in 1935. The book covers were chosen for their diversity of colour and to illustrate the breadth of Penguin’s publishing backlist. Great care was taken in the design to truly represent the original paperbacks in all their, sometimes well-read and a little worn, glory. The resulting PENGUIN LIBRARY wallpaper is a glorious colourful ‘conversational piece’ which we hope will be received with as much affection as the books themselves.

Now, I would like a wall of this wallpaper but it will not go in my library, since THAT room is completely filled up with books and things, thank you very much...We are book crazy Chez WMM and it is to our detriment, as the books threaten to overwhelm us at every turn...If they were only limited to the library, that would be one thing, but no... they are everywhere and they multiply constantly.  And when they fill up the kids' rooms they are relegated to the library and then I do my best to control it all.  But every room, including the kitchen, is home to at least 20-30 more books on top of the library.  I have told my children they MUST take their books with them when they go, because I will need the room.  But I am not hopeful...

Our library was built a few years ago by guess who - Barry.  We already had some book shelves and then he built a whole wall of shelving that is 9 feet high and probably 8 or 9 feet across (I am no good with measurements and refuse to get off the couch to check).  We always wanted a library.  For me it began by playing Clue and seeing that room on the board:

Drama Queen that I am,  I always loved that moment when you "accused" one of the other players with your cunning intellect!  My house is too small for a ballroom or a billiard room, but bloody hell, I will have a conservatory someday!  (sorry - that was the Colonel Mustard coming out in me).

There is something so wonderful about a library.  All those books, all that quiet.  Divine.  Our library currently only has one chair as Barry has moved his home office into the room..

Walking into the Library:

Some of the original shelving I mentioned...

One of the other original shelves...

When I see pictures of people's bookshelves I am obsessed to see what is on them.  What books do they read? what are their knicknacks?

Kathy - do you see the Wizard of Oz memorabilia?

Books and sentimental favourites, some of which we will discuss in coming days.  Did I mention I LOVE geraniums?  Best scent for me ever!  You can see one of my summer guests at the bottom of the picture below.

The encroachment of the children's books, or as I like to say, a Series of Unfortunate Events.. (very punny Wendy - I see the books on the shelves..)

In the picture above, you can barely see a picture of my grandfather, at age 18.  Dani mentioned pictures of ancestors looking like their descendents earlier today and it made me think of my grandfather, my dad, myself and my son, who all looked remarkably alike.

A close-up of the picture above:

And my son this afternoon

He refused to look at me to have his picture taken, but you get the picture (!).  I wonder if my grandfather was alive today if he would be stretching his ear lobes and piercing his nose...

So happy Monday - I will meet you in the conservatory later for a glass of wine..

Stay safe out there!