Confession: I Still Wear Crewcuts

Yes, Crewcuts as in the children's line for J. Crew. Now before you judge me, hear me out!

Crewcuts is really cute - seriously. Now obviously, some of the clothes are a little childish. But some are totally normal - like this chambray shirt I bought from Crewcuts this summer!

chambray shirt

I bought this when the chambray shirt I previously owned from J. Crew got a hole in it. Buying the Crewcuts version rather than the women's version saved me about $20! I wear a size 14 in this shirt - and really, I have super long arms and am 5'7", and it fits great. 

Something I do have trouble with sometimes with Crewcuts is the length of their dresses. Because I am decently tall, sometimes the dresses can be a little bit short. I do have a couple of dresses though that are long enough, and ones that I really liked but are too short I still purchased and wear them with leggings! 

Something I definitely do not advise with Crewcuts is ordering online. It can be difficult to tell the length of some of the dresses on the website, and some of the shirts and dresses that are defined at the waist definitely do not work for women. If you so choose to explore your Crewcuts options, I recommend doing so in the store! It really is worth it, you save a ton of money and some of the stuff is super cute.

Here are some of my favorite Crewcuts pieces:

Sweaters & Dresses:

framed sweater

embellished baseball sweatshirt

jules dress in windowpane

jules dress in neon coral floral

Shirts & Tees:

tee in pale mint floral

crinkle voile tunic in mini hunter plaid

beaded oxford tunic

jeweled collar oxford shirt

This is one of my best kept secrets, seriously I usually get a ton of compliments whenever I wear something from Crewcuts. I definitely encourage you to try it out!

Shhh!

Brrr Event

Aaaaad just when I thought I was being a good girl and not spending too much money on fall/winter clothes, J. Crew tempts me with the Brrr Event. The sale features 25% off of J. Crew's winter favorites, which in my mind means buying 5/4 of what I normally would, because it's on sale, right? ;) I am trying my hardest to hold out, and so far I successfully have... but we'll see how long that lasts. 

Living in Charlottesville is the best because the J. Crew Warehouse (not the factory store, the actual warehouse) is located just one hour away in Lynchburg, Virginia. They occasionally have massive warehouse sales, and thus the ultimate shortcoming of not having a car here is not having a way to get to these sales and make the most of them! My friend went to one in October and got 17 sweaters, for under $200 - unheard of. I'll for sure be finding my way there before the year ends, though.

Here's what I'll be giving into if I can't hold out:

elbow-patch sweater

crystal stud earrings

button glittens

fair isle trouser socks

midrise toothpick cord

macalister wedge boots

convertible leather clutch

waffle-stitch infinity scarf

PS - I took some of these items from J. Crew Factory, which is also having a massive sale: 40% off everything. Doubly enticing, doubly hard to refrain from splurging.

Also - I am having a grave internal debate over what color I want in the double-cloth lady day coat. It's the classic battle between neutral (dark camel) and statement (bright red). Let me know which one you like better! 

Happy shopping! 

Animals...?

I've been spending a lot of my free time recently reorganizing my closet/drawers and packing up all my summer-y clothes to take back to Tampa over Thanksgiving Break. Considering I haven't worn shorts in over a month, it's time for them to go back to a place where they belong. In doing all of this, I noticed I have a really, really strange amount of clothing that has animals on them.

The weird thing is, I don't even like animals all that much. There are a few dogs in this world that I love, and I do like cats. But as far as everything else goes, I am completely indifferent. We had a First Year Formal this past Friday for our class, and I wore a silk dress from Anthropologie covered in flamingos that I bought in May. (And I also have a different pink dress that is covered in flamingos... it's a dead giveaway that I'm a Florida girl.)

Emma & me at Alumni Hall - 11/15/13

In my opinion, animals are better than animal prints. Clothes with animals are fun and different, definitely quirky - but you'll be sure to get some comments and compliments if you're bold enough to wear them!

Here's a collection of some of my favorite sweaters for sale now with animals: 

warmspun intarsia hen sweater

camel sweater

jeweled llama sweater

warmspun intarsia cat sweater

Nothing like a cat dress! (I promise I am not a cat lady).

Happy Monday!

Cozy Comfy

Wow. Today is definitely one of those days when no amount of coffee can get me into the swing of things. The overcast sky and cold air have encouraged me to have a lazy and unproductive afternoon.

As far as lounge apparel goes, I am probably the worst. This is really not a good thing, especially in a dorm environment, which requires me to use my bed for just about everything I do - studying, lounging, eating, and of course napping/sleeping. 

About two weeks into college, I sold my soul to J. Crew sweatpants. I was hesitant, but I am here to tell all that they are absolutely wonderful. I wear them all the time when I'm hanging out in my room, doing laundry, etc. Though I most definitely have not worked up the courage to wear them in the eyes of the public, I have grown to accept the functionality and comfort that they provide! Plus, they are actually long enough for my legs, which never happens, and run true to size.

I've learned that dressing for class or the typical daily activities I engage in every day is just not the ideal time to put my best shoe forward (literally). The UVa campus is relatively small, but I still have to do a lot of walking every day! I recently learned that the average college student walks 5 miles a day - and from my experience this is pretty accurate. Five miles in my cutest pair of flats just isn't going to happen.

This outfit is very typical of something I would wear on a day to day basis! Cute, yet cozy (necessary in lecture halls) and comfy (feeling uncomfortable without being able to change for 5+ hours is the worst).

Side note: I totally wish I could have Warby Parker glasses (they are all SO cute), but my glasses prescription is wacky. I wear progressive lenses, and only a few name brands can accommodate for that so far - though word on the street is that WP will soon be able to jump on this wagon, I wear these Ray Bans (which I still love a lot).

What's your favorite cozy/comfy piece? 

November Must Haves

I grew up in Florida my whole life. I never truly understood the implications of what that meant...

until I experienced 28 degrees in November.

Seriously, this is about as foreign of a concept for me as camping. Or eating healthy on purpose. I am so accustomed to getting through winter with a Patagonia fleece being my heavy duty winter coat.

The plus side of living somewhere with real seasons (you know, other than just hot and hotter) is having a wardrobe fit for all types of weather. I have been slowly picking up what a real coat should be, and have been saving up my money to accumulate some warm gear!

Here's what I can't live without this November! 

Do you have any pieces you couldn't live without this month?