Monday, November 5, 2007

Day 2.2: From the Style File

Greatly encouraged by you all to go ahead and just look at clothes, I spent last night cruising the websites of Land's End, Anne Taylor, Reitman's, Tabi, and Coldwater Creek. I'm glad I started with the last, because that is where I found most of what you will see.

For Stalwart Staples, we have the turtle neck and the V necked Tee. I actually own only a few V neck tees. Most of my Tee shirts are of the Fruit of the Loom variety with round necks and big droopy sleeves. These are not like that.


This purple is, for me, a joyous colour.



The wine/burgundy is another colour I love. But this sweater seems a bit close-fitting. I much prefer the one on the right. In fact, I love it so much, I was quite ready to rush out to try and buy it when, as I was playing with the picture, I noticed the arms, as in Mella's or was it Zooza's emphatic "I will not wear 3/4 length sleeves. I will not chop off my arms." I'd never thought that. I like their warmth-without-getting-in-the-dishwater ease....but I saw it. And now I don't know what to think.

But look at these--for summer.


The middle makes sense: a joyous colour. Linen--a joyous fabric. But definitely a style that demands skinniness. And what's with the lacy stuff to the left and right? I'm not really sure....

I saw my "dream" uniform at Coldwater Creek. It's this:
The jeans, the shirt, the vest. Bright red. And it's the right length. But at this weight, I never wear my shirts tucked in. But we're dreaming right?

The shirt as jacket. I have always loved this look. But as I browsed, I thought, well, what about a real jacket?


OK, so the one on the right is more of the same, but the one on the left? Wouldn't that look terrific in the grocery store? I can see it now, the long pendant dangling among the green peppers as I choose the best one. Though I don't think I'd ever yell at the kids dressed up like this. Nor, dressed in these ensembles:


The one on the left is not my colour scheme, but I love the texture of the jacket fabric and the sweet collar. And the image to the right? I could wear it to death with the right shoes (but without the belt). And speaking of denim jackets, look at this one.

Who knew I'd like embroidery? But I do. On this too:
But wait, there's more!


Look at the drape in these tops. Ooh-la-la. So sexy. And that skirt on the right--well, that's verging on Diva (with no place to wear it). And so is this:

and this:
Who knew I was such a romantic?

10 comments :

zooza said...

Ooh. Pretty clothes! I say 'go for it' for that lovely tunic. I wear 3/4 sleeves all the time (so it wasn't me who said the emphatic no). Do they do it in the purple?

Mella DP said...

Very, very good job, Alana. Reading this really made me smile because it's so clear that you're turning your mind around on some of these things, in such a positive way.

I'm the one with the near-psychotic aversion to 3/4 length sleeves. But it's just for me - I find them awkward and uncomfortable and a bit funny looking for myself. It's actually kind of ironic, because I always push or roll up my long sleeves to just below the elbow. And sometimes it drives me to distraction how difficult it is to find an alternative. But, hey, if they work for you and you like them, go for it.

(On the other hand, if you wear them all the time without thinking about it, and come to the honest decision that they aren't doing you any favors, then you, too, can turn up your nose at limb-severing fashion.)

Alana in Canada said...

Which tunic, Zooza? That last one?

And mella, I doubt I'll forswear limb severing fashion, but it's hilarious. And I'll never, ever get that expression out of my mind, now!

drwende said...

Excellent! See how good you can look! Your choices are exactly what should look fabulous on your figure right now -- it's just a matter of making the stars align so that you get well-fitting garments at comfortable prices.

If you're leaving blouses untucked because tucking-in is making you think WAY too much about your waist/hip ratio... the jacket or overblouse takes care of that, so to tuck or not to tuck is just a matter of what you want seen through the parting of the jacket.

scb said...

What everybody else said. I like 3/4 sleeves because I don't have to push them up -- they're already there. I'd never thought about them being arm-severing until I read Mella's previous comment. hmmm... (I always push up long sleeves, because they grumble me.)

I think you could wear that white shirt, red vest, jeans combo very successfully with the shirt untucked. No problem. Depends on the style of the shirt hem -- some of my shirts look weird untucked under a jacket, some look just fine. I don't tuck unless there's absolutely no other option.

zooza said...

I was thinking of the v-neck sweater (which I mistakenly called a tunic) - the fourth picture you posted, where you were uncertain about 3/4 sleeves. Not sure why I pushed that one over the others - probably my practical side talking.

Alana in Canada said...

Ah yes, the one from Land's end.

That brand used to be only available by catalogue and mail order. I did buy two turtleneck sweaters from them many years and many punds ago and I just loved them. The line is coming to a local department store (Sears) soon and I'm very excited.

As soon as Wende gives us the green light to go buy something, I'll definitely make it a priority.

scb said...

I just read your comment on my blog -- you don't have electricity upstairs??? I sure hope that's a temporary thing, and that you have a good flashlight or four!

I nearly emailed you on Friday when I saw in the Sears flyer that Lands End sweaters were supposedly on sale. I was in a hurry on Saturday morning when I was in Sears, so I didn't look to see if they've made it into the stores yet. That would be so helpful to our cause!

Alana in Canada said...

I have my flyers still--stuffed under the sink for recycling. No collection this week as we've gone to the winter schedule of every ten or so days instead of weekly. Wouldn't that just be fantastic?

About the elctricity? We think we've blown a fuse. We have called a guy who may be able to handle this for us....but the husband is talking "re-wiring the house" and I dread it. I cannot say how much I do NOT want some idiot banging holes into my beautiful plaster and lathe walls and then covering it up with sheets of drywall. The walls will forever look patched and ugly.
I actually went for a nap and couldn't sleep for fretting about it.

scb said...

Ack. I hope that rewiring isn't necessary. I don't want your beautiful walls mutilated, and I've only seen them in pictures!

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