The collar says classy, the signature animal print says sassy.
Recapping yesterday: it was a slightly unusual summer of fun day that definitely was not free; I went shopping in SoHo. The sun was shining, the people were out, and the sales were surprisingly good. I saw a lot of 40% and 50% off signs, and H&M had plenty of clothes labeled $5, $10, $15, and $20, so if you're in need of clothing, I suggest you check your local mall or retail outlets. It might have been the area, but I saw a lot of basics and casualwear on sale, neither of which I have too much interest in. There were also a lot of dresses, but frankly, looking at the hard numbers of the dollars I've already spent in June was a good method of putting the fear of debt into me, so I refrained. I limited my shopping to strictly work safe apparel, and given my conservative work environment, that basically limited me to dress shirts of differing sleeve length and colors/boring patterns, dress pants of various colors/boring patterns, and possibly suits. Honestly, though, I don't feel I need too many more full suits, so it's limited mostly to the shirts and pants. I've given up on buying skirts unless they're plain/work-ish pencil skirts or the like because they're just too damn difficult to match and I'm too lazy to wear stockings anyway. It was hard, and there was much temptation, but I was good.
I ended up visiting Topshop, that lovely British clothing sensation, and enjoyed the experience of walking through the store. I liked the Barbara Hulnicki and Kate Moss collections--the dresses were really nice, but the prices weren't something I could conceivably justify to myself. So, fun to look and touch, but no buying for me. I'm glad I finally got to go though.
I gave Uniqlo a second chance even though I've been in a few times before and emerged unimpressed every single time. There were some basic dresses on sale that weren't bad, but I was concerned about the durability of the fabric. One featured a really unique french linen and cotton blend, but I could feel how thin it was and how likely it would pull in a day. The other dresses were too basic for my tastes--half my wardrobe already consists of dresses and I have no need for anymore basics.
Pretty much everything in Mango seemed to be on sale. I looked at the dress pants which were priced decently, but all were hopelessly too long for me, and I'd rather buy petite lengths that fit rather than going to get them hemmed. No dress shirts.
I wasn't going to go into Kenneth Cole, but something inside me just pulled me in. Turns out that something was a friend of mine from college I haven't spoken to in over a year--Jimmy, one of my entourage of gays. He's apparently going to be in the New York area for the summer and working as a retail drone on weekends, so hopefully we'll get the chance to meet up in the near future. In a city of 19 million people, what are odds that I'd run into him at that particular store at that particular time today? Well, I suppose if a gay man is to be found anywhere in New York, one of the likeliest areas is probably Soho.
The only place I ended up actually buying something was a store by Korean designer Eryn Brinie. The sizing there was some fo the tiniest I've ever seen--and that's saying a lot, considering I am a quintessentially tiny asian woman and usually wear between a 0 and a 2 in clothing sizes. In any case, I found a pretty blue silk dress that ended up looking a lot cuter on the hanger than on me. Since I dislike bothering with going to a changing room just for one article of clothing, I ended up perusing a rack of wool dress pants on sale--I picked out two pairs of pants to try on (same style) in camel and black. I'm pretty sure I have 4 pairs of black dress pants already, but I always say you can never have enough black dress pants (much like you can never have too many white dress shirts). I tried them on in a size 2 and 4, and both fit--but barely. I don't like my work pants to be tight fitting so I tend to go up a few sizes if possible. I ended up having to size up to an 8! Craziness! I think the only other size 8 piece of clothing I own is another designer piece, a halter dress. Anyway, the blue dress went back on the rack but I left the store with two pairs of pants (once I determined the correct sizing), each pair costing $29, having been marked down from $115. Score! Given the bizarre sizing issue, I could see why they were marked down so low.
Lastly, I hit Brooks Brothers and picked up 3 short sleeve non-iron dress shirts for $159 in pink, white, and lavender. They're nice shirts, and once I've received the Land's End shirts I ordered online on the advice of chrismm, I think I'll pretty much be done buying dress shirts for now. Now that it's actually starting to feel like summer, maybe I'll consider buying more work skirts, but the bulk of my work shopping is done. Yippee for me!
Today (as in Sunday), I met up with my parents and my brother in City Hall Park, which I'd never been to and is surprisingly lovely. We walked to Chinatown and ate some cantonese food, which was okay but didn't knock my socks off. Then I went to the Gay Pride Parade, which was fun, although by that point I was rather tired and hot given the excessive amount of walking I've done today and yesterday. My friend A was meeting up with some of her friends and invited me to attend a party, which I had to decline because at that point my legs and feet were in so much pain I could barely stand. I got home, did some of my fastest grocery shopping ever (I am infinitely grateful at times like these that I have 2 grocery stores within 3 blocks of me) and came back to sit down on the couch. I played a little Fallout 3, watched some TV, and still, 5 hours later, my legs burn like Hades. At least I have an office job and can plan on sitting on an ergonomic office chair for 8 hours tomorrow, and then coming home and sitting on my couch for the next 5.
Ugh. I am still exhausted.
I ended up visiting Topshop, that lovely British clothing sensation, and enjoyed the experience of walking through the store. I liked the Barbara Hulnicki and Kate Moss collections--the dresses were really nice, but the prices weren't something I could conceivably justify to myself. So, fun to look and touch, but no buying for me. I'm glad I finally got to go though.
I gave Uniqlo a second chance even though I've been in a few times before and emerged unimpressed every single time. There were some basic dresses on sale that weren't bad, but I was concerned about the durability of the fabric. One featured a really unique french linen and cotton blend, but I could feel how thin it was and how likely it would pull in a day. The other dresses were too basic for my tastes--half my wardrobe already consists of dresses and I have no need for anymore basics.
Pretty much everything in Mango seemed to be on sale. I looked at the dress pants which were priced decently, but all were hopelessly too long for me, and I'd rather buy petite lengths that fit rather than going to get them hemmed. No dress shirts.
I wasn't going to go into Kenneth Cole, but something inside me just pulled me in. Turns out that something was a friend of mine from college I haven't spoken to in over a year--Jimmy, one of my entourage of gays. He's apparently going to be in the New York area for the summer and working as a retail drone on weekends, so hopefully we'll get the chance to meet up in the near future. In a city of 19 million people, what are odds that I'd run into him at that particular store at that particular time today? Well, I suppose if a gay man is to be found anywhere in New York, one of the likeliest areas is probably Soho.
The only place I ended up actually buying something was a store by Korean designer Eryn Brinie. The sizing there was some fo the tiniest I've ever seen--and that's saying a lot, considering I am a quintessentially tiny asian woman and usually wear between a 0 and a 2 in clothing sizes. In any case, I found a pretty blue silk dress that ended up looking a lot cuter on the hanger than on me. Since I dislike bothering with going to a changing room just for one article of clothing, I ended up perusing a rack of wool dress pants on sale--I picked out two pairs of pants to try on (same style) in camel and black. I'm pretty sure I have 4 pairs of black dress pants already, but I always say you can never have enough black dress pants (much like you can never have too many white dress shirts). I tried them on in a size 2 and 4, and both fit--but barely. I don't like my work pants to be tight fitting so I tend to go up a few sizes if possible. I ended up having to size up to an 8! Craziness! I think the only other size 8 piece of clothing I own is another designer piece, a halter dress. Anyway, the blue dress went back on the rack but I left the store with two pairs of pants (once I determined the correct sizing), each pair costing $29, having been marked down from $115. Score! Given the bizarre sizing issue, I could see why they were marked down so low.
Lastly, I hit Brooks Brothers and picked up 3 short sleeve non-iron dress shirts for $159 in pink, white, and lavender. They're nice shirts, and once I've received the Land's End shirts I ordered online on the advice of chrismm, I think I'll pretty much be done buying dress shirts for now. Now that it's actually starting to feel like summer, maybe I'll consider buying more work skirts, but the bulk of my work shopping is done. Yippee for me!
Today (as in Sunday), I met up with my parents and my brother in City Hall Park, which I'd never been to and is surprisingly lovely. We walked to Chinatown and ate some cantonese food, which was okay but didn't knock my socks off. Then I went to the Gay Pride Parade, which was fun, although by that point I was rather tired and hot given the excessive amount of walking I've done today and yesterday. My friend A was meeting up with some of her friends and invited me to attend a party, which I had to decline because at that point my legs and feet were in so much pain I could barely stand. I got home, did some of my fastest grocery shopping ever (I am infinitely grateful at times like these that I have 2 grocery stores within 3 blocks of me) and came back to sit down on the couch. I played a little Fallout 3, watched some TV, and still, 5 hours later, my legs burn like Hades. At least I have an office job and can plan on sitting on an ergonomic office chair for 8 hours tomorrow, and then coming home and sitting on my couch for the next 5.
Ugh. I am still exhausted.