Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Shopping Ennui.

M: have you tried on the colored jeans at Loft? I am intrigued.

A: I don't know about these jeans?

M: Loft was talking about them on their FB page. They look possibly cute but I don't know. Where do I like to shop? Everything has been from eBay/consignment for so long.

A: I can't even remember when I was in Loft last. It's at the scary mall. I don't know where I shop anymore, either. Like, I used to be all BANANA REPUBLIC and now I don't even look at their emails before deleting them.

M: I feel like no one is making clothes for me right now.

A: ME TOO. I am way over Antho and BR and the Gap is just no and Ann Taylor has been weird lately. WHAT IS LEFT. Ross? Is that where I shop? Because now I'm sad.

M: The only new things I have bought all summer came from T.J. Maxx. I will say that I really like this dress, though I'm sure it would be a catastrophe on me:

A: I feel like that dress is one of those things that looks cute until you touch it. Flammable. I just went to the Ann Taylor website and saw this in the new arrivals section:

A: Related: I have set my computer on fire.

M: What in sweet hell is THAT.

A: I KNOW. I mean, what am I supposed to do? WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO.

M: I think that Gabrielle Carteris wore that on 90210. With a Blossom hat and possible short-alls.

A: You are not helping. I have moved on to J Crew and I like this, grudgingly:

A: But it's dry clean. And ugh.

M: Well that's kind of a perfectly pretty little dress. I keep looking at this one thinking it might be cute with cognac boots, but then I get tired and close the browser:

A: Gap has been exhausting me lately. I don't know. I think I'm just going to keep looking at $500 Issa dresses on eBay.

M: That seems smart.

A: Is this what we've become? Where is our store? WHERE.

M: Where is it? Is it Zara? Oh god. I take that back:


M: Back to eBay?

A: I feel like we're giving up too soon. Maybe it's Madewell?


M: Oh for fucks sake.

A: I'm just going to start wearing paper bags to work. I'll belt them, don't worry.

M: Just cinch it!

A: I hope it doesn't rain.

M: Maybe you need a sweet raincoat.

A: I quit.

M: I fired myself.


  1. So we really are heading into 1991-ville? Yikes. This is a pretty tragic era to return to, but I will cop to enjoying the return of chiffon.

  2. I read "sweet raincoat" as "sweat coat." Yeah, that's probably Freudian.

    I'm having a hard time shopping lately because I don't know how to shop for my age. I'm almost 40 but it seems like stuff out there is either too young/too short or too old. sigh.

    Oh! I scored THREE! suh-weet dresses at Ross earlier this summer. So maybe that's where I shop now, too.

  3. madameQueen, I have the same problem. I'm in my mid-forties and some stuff goes instantly matronly on me now but would have been cute when I was 30. I don't want to do mom jeans so the options are difficult.

  4. I ordered the cherry print dress from Gap and returned it. Cute on the model, but it made me look like a short-waisted sister-wife. Ugh. Blouson dresses are just not for me.

    Lately I've been buying "wardrobe staples" that my closet was missing.

    Cute green military jacket

    Straight khaki pencil skirt (I thumb my nose at you, stiff Jcrew #2 pencil skirt)

    Cream cable knit sweater

    Grey jeans (which are actually very Patti Smith rock-star IRL)

    You guys should do a post about cute scarves, belts, bags and accessories I can pair with all these boring basics :-)

    1. Nice, Wren! I especially like the jeans. I think we can do an accessories post for you.

  5. CTC is NOT a scary mall. Plus there's excellent thrifting in that area. I grew up there and it's perfectly nice. Unless you mean Short Pump because yes that mall is super scary because of the crowds.
    I LOVE Loft's jeans/cords. They cut them for ladies with hips and there are good sales. I stopped wearing dressy pants because they make me feel old but Loft's are made from horrible polyester that feels super yucky so avoid them.

    1. CTC is a little scary, but I was talking about Short Pump! Loft never seems to fit me quite right.

  6. Aw man, I feel the same exact way... and I love autumn clothes the best of all.
    I actually just ripped apart a bunch of Anthro clothes over on Roxys EA site; I just don't even feel like being nice about the overpriced fug that is out there at the moment.

    And YES, as Deirdre mentioned, it IS totally 1991 again! Good call.

  7. Maybe you should be PiperLime girls? I feel like Rachel Zoe is (purportedly) our age-ish and she picks good clothes for a living. Here, look at their Girl on a Budget fall collection:

    I like it.

  8. I feel you pain, but I will admit that I just ordered a nice-looking dress from BR - I think that's the first order I've placed with them in about 2 years. Let's see what it looks like in real life.

  9. i second Lilli for Piperlime. I've had success there. I am still loyal to my J Crew sales and shockingly, LOFT has become my new favorite place to shop/look. I agree, everything else is...blah.

  10. I can so relate! I think Boden and Kate Spade both have some nice items....
    Sassy in DC

  11. There is some seriously ugly crap out there these days. I love Boden, but the prices can be a little high. I tend to have a lot of luck with Lands End Canvas for staples. And I actually really like ModCloth, but the quality of pieces can be all over the board. Sigh, if only I had an unlimited budget and could afford all the designer pieces I covet . . .

  12. Thanks, y'all! Some great suggestions.

  13. Y'all read my mind.

    I spent last week trying to get some new items for work. I went to the Loft because I had a 40% off coupon. 40%!!!! I tried on a few things (including those colored jeans) and was unimpressed. I liked the jeans, but realized I had nothing to wear with them. And my rule applied -- would I buy these at full price or is the sale wooing me in? I also tried an adorable skirt, but again...nothing to pair with it. So even with a great coupon, I left empty-handed.

    I also tried Nordstrom Rack, and found a couple some Paige skinnies and shoes. But I didn't really help my work clothing dilemma.

    Then I went to Target and combed the clearance racks and came out with a 3 dresses, 2 tops, and 3 pairs of shoes for less than $100. Go figure.

    Thanks for letting me vent on your blog.

  14. Yes on the dry clean only crap! The last dress I bought from AT/Loft was machine washable, but they were out of my size in store. The sales lady "helpfully" tried to get me to buy another dress that was the same color (because I'm a moron, apparently?). But I'd already checked all the tags and knew it was dry clean only and sorta yelped that at her. It's one thing for me to buy a $98 dress, but I'm not going to pay $5 every time I want it cleaned.

    And yes on the Anthro stuff. I don't understand the dress that looks like a hospital gown and why people admit to not really loving the stuff, but still shell out over $100 for it!

  15. I still check out blogs to get ideas but I dont' feel like shopping for the exact same reason, boring outfits...sheer tops, peplum, blah blah blah.... And Anthro is sucking donkey with their expensive crap. So I shop my own closet. Yea I know, nothing original. I pulled out a dress I bought maybe 12 years ago at Express. LOL.. That's been hiding in my closet and still had the tag on. It was on sale for $49.50 but I'm sure I didnt' pay that, maybe $15. I'm cheap. And guess what, it's in style. Go figure. I'm in a fashion/clothing funk. So ready for "the" new style to wow and woo me. Afterall, I'm just an average everyday middle age old fart. Is that too much to ask for? LOL..

  16. The Zara jumpsuit...THE CROTCH! Why??

  17. I bought the LOFT jean in red last week. I'm waiting for it to get cooler to wear them, but they look really nice on me. In general their stuff fits me nicely so I tend to get stuff there. But I have to totally agree. I'm pretty much at a loss on where to buy fall clothes. I really might have to take a look at ebay.

  18. I've had pretty good luck with LOFT in general (great shorts this summer) but YMMV.

    Mostly I've been sticking to the flash sale sites and Bluefly. Belle & Clive (Bluefly's flash site) has come through for me a few times in the past months. You have to watch, though; mostly they have pricey designer stuff. I wait and pounce on the not-as-well-known label collections.

    Jumpsuits aside, Madewell seems to have slightly trendy but not overly so basics at slightly less than overpriced levels.

    And hollaback to all the fellow over-40 commenters ... (I can say that, right?)

    1. Thanks for the suggestions! I just get so nervous ordering unknown brands online because stuff fits me so weirdly and then I have to pack it up and send it back and pay return shipping and it makes me cranky. (But everything makes me cranky.)