The Little Things

Sometimes it's all about the details...

...especially when "the details" are on sale at J. Crew :)

Whether it's sparkly, patent, silky, or shiny that you're going for, J. Crew has options. My favourite? The ribbon headband. It just adds a the perfect little touch to a put-together outfit. (from top: $4.99, $4.99, $6.99, $9.99)





A new trend that's been popping up is detailed hair accessories. Yeah, headbands have been around for a while, but detailed hairclips and ponytail holders are starting to make their mark as well. My favourite out of the bunch is the red chiffon hairclip; I think it's a perfect contrast to a relatively basic outfit. The last item is for the more daring out there -- it's a fun find from the girls' section, perfectly suited for those that rock the Marc Jacobs look. (from top: $7.13, $12.38, $12.38, $2.99)

The Crew, Part 2

As always, when I visited the J. Crew website to post about the new fall offerings, I couldn't resist getting sucked into their sale section. So, here are a couple of my picks.

Even though I wear mostly neutral coloured pieces of clothing, I think that this print is absolutely stunning. I would dream to wear that top with a black high-waisted skirt.



This silver sweater may seem a bit glitzy for J. Crew, but I think it's a great compromise between glitz and glamour and classic style. I could imagine throwing this on over a typical day ensemble if I'm going out with my friends.


This dress is in a beautiful shade of blue, and the silhouette is very classic. I personally love strapless dresses with a silhouette like this one, and this is no exception. I could see this with classic heels, or with red lipstick and red heels for extra punch.


This dress immediately caught my eye...I love the silhouette, I love the polka dot print, and I love the braided neckline.


I'm not really in love with the price tag, so instead of adding it to my shopping cart I styled it three different ways. Love that red cardigan!

dress, sweater, flats

dress, sweater, flats

dress, sweater, flats

The Crew, Part 1

J. Crew has just posted a couple of advertising shots for their fall collection and they look amazing! I'm a fan of things that are buttoned-up and on the straight-laced side, but still have a touch of girlie. One of the items in their upcoming repertoire that caught my eye was this chiffon rosette belt. But it's $38.00, yikes!


You're probably wondering what I'm so hyped up about, because the belt doesn't look too interesting in the picture above. It looked a tiny bit DIY to me, but it had a bit of charm. Then I looked at the promotional pictures and how it's styled.



Chic, yet girly, but still put together? Count me in! That all-yellow look is so amazing (in pictures...I'd swap out the yellow trousers for dark skinnies in real life)...sigh. In the back of my head there's a little voice telling me that every item in this shoot is probably way more expensive than I can fathom, but still...the styling is absolutely genius. I would style it with these two dresses, swapping out their matchy belts for this girlie one.



By the way, speaking of amazing styling, how cute is this ensemble? I never thought yellow shorts could look so crisp and put-together.

Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot...Pair of Flats

So I was browsing the J. Crew online sale (which, by the way, is incredibly messed up web-wise) and I found this pair of flats that epitomizes all that is cute and lovely and pretty.

Okay, so they aren't Christian Dior or Valentino. But I mean, come on. Bright colour? Perfect for the weather. Polka dots? Love. J. Crew sale? Love even more. Ballet flats? Is that...even a question? LOVE! If I'm buying an expensive pair of flats I either want it to be a super-basic pair of, say, patent black flats, or, a statement pair of flats that still manages to be wearable. Though yellow might not seem like an optimal colour, it's surprisingly wearable in terms of shoes. Anyway, this lovely pair of ballet flats and my determination in conquering the J. Crew sale section inspired me to do a post about the wonders of yellow.

A coat is always a great way to add a pop of colour, and this yellow and white striped number is no exception. It has three-quarter sleeves, which makes it more spring-and-fall appropriate, and there's no fuss as to the shape of the jacket. It's on sale for $119.99.

If you don't want to go all the way with your yellow and white stripes, you could give this cardigan a try. This could go with some other coloured pieces if you wanted to stand out, or it could be paired with a simple pair of denims for a casual day. I love the rosette detail, because it keeps this cardigan girly without detracting from the striped print. It's on sale for $79.99 at J. Crew.

If you guys also loved the pair of yellow flats I posted about at the beginning but your wallet's in need of some recuperation because of all the sales, try these lower-priced yellow flats to adorn your feet. The first pair is from Urban Outfitters for $38.00. It's not on sale, so it's really huge that I'm actually blogging about it, but I adore the scalloped detail and the shade of yellow. Plus, these flats are very light, so they're perfect for walking around on a breezy, sunny, summer day. The second pair is on sale at Charlotte Russe for $9.50. I would rather own a pair of the two flats I posted about before, but again, if your wallet can't really take that much pressure right now (I know mine wouldn't be so welcome), then this is a great way to put some yellow into your wardrobe. The ruffle detail is a nice alternative to the traditional bow, and it adds a nice girly touch to these flats.


By now you guys must be thinking...okay, so this girl keeps going on about yellow flats, but what on earth do you wear them with! The answer? Everything. Well, almost. I find that my neutral-filled wardrobe is pretty welcome to coloured flats. But yellow really does go with a lot of things. I might wear a new pair of yellow flats with this striped J. Crew jacket (on sale for $99.99) and some dark wash jeans, for a European-inspired look.

If I wanted to be more summery about it, I would pair yellow flats with a nice blue dress. Any shade of blue works, whether it's almost-black navy or bright cobalt. These three dresses (the first one is $49.99 and the last two are $59.99) would be great with any of the yellow flats I posted about earlier.

Jewels on Sale

Something that I try to do when I'm keeping my budget steady (usually at the end of a month) is only spending a limited amount on accessories. During a time when I'm trying to be really tight with money (and I don't have the self-control to save up for things I really want) I'll look through everything in my wardrobe and try to rework it, and then think up of things that could make outfits different. One of the ways I like to satisfy my hunger for retail therapy without breaking the bank is a nice piece of jewelry. It's best not to be too matchy-matchy with jewelry, which makes it all the better because I can use my new...say, blue necklace with my green top, my pink skirt, my yellow scarf, and everything in between. Remember those Etsy earrings I posted about? I expected to be using the silver ones almost 24/7, because they matched my silver heart necklace that I wear every day, but instead the silver ones have hardly been used and I find myself reaching for the pink and red ones all the time. So anyway, in honor of my love of jewelry, here are a few discount jewelry finds for you to spice up your own wardrobe.

If you're into the chain trend, Bluefly has a couple of pieces that will help bring the look into your wardrobe. My personal favourite out of these pieces is the black chain bracelet, just because it's practical and wearable but it still adds a little bit of edge to ordinarily girly outfits.

First, there's a simple gold chain necklace that's fairly chunky but can be worn with a cardigan or a simple tank top for maximum impact. It's from A. V. Max and on sale for $36.00.


As I mentioned before, there's a black chain bracelet (which was really in a little while back -- I want to say Nicole Richie wore something like it but I really don't remember). I also put up the white chain version, though for some reason the black one is more "edgy" to me and the white one is borderline tacky. But don't let that deter you -- I'm a firm believer in "to each his own."



Remember the whole trend of kitschy watch necklaces? It was all started by the Marc Jacobs fruit watch pendants, which are on sale at Net-A-Porter for $90. So if you don't really care much about trends coming in and out, and you need a new watch, this isn't a bad choice. Yeah, $90 is a bit high for a watch, but it is Marc Jacobs and it is fun and funky without being over-the-top.

Beautiful Blues

It's no secret that my favourite colour is blue. Clothing-wise, I wear tons and tons of beige, black, and grey, but I do usually accent my outfits with coloured accessories. In keeping with my more subdued palette, I tend to go for vivid jewel tones, but my favourite colour to add to an outfit is blue. Blue is kind of the coloured version of a neutral; it goes with everything. This season, a vivid cobalt blue is taking over the accessories (and clothing) market, so here are a couple of cheaply chic finds to help you introduce this colour into your wardrobe.

From a brand called Hobo International, you'd expect very slouchy, hobo-style bags. Instead, I found this gorgeous envelope clutch, on sale at Piperlime, for only $104.99. It's 8.5" by 12.5", so a tiny bit bigger than a normal piece of paper. I love that this clutch can be used for both evening and day, and it definitely doesn't hurt that it's on sale.


While browsing the J. Crew sales (they have some amazing shoes), I came upon this gorgeous pair of blue silk slingbacks. They're a little more purple than cobalt, but the sumptuous silk knot at the front adds a gorgeous detail to these shoes. Unfortunately, they're on sale for $149.99, which for me isn't much of a sale.


So, I went over to one of my favourite places for bargain shoes, Newport News. Lo and behold, they had their own pair of blue satin slingbacks, this time with an interesting front loop detail. You can't see the blue pair very well in this picture, but just imagine the pink pair in front in that gorgeous blue colour. My only qualm? The wooden heel. But hey, for only $19.00 these are some very lovely heels.


Another, more bargainous find from the J. Crew sales was this lovely little bangle. Bangles have become really popular this season, but I've always had a few pairs in rotation because of my Indian background. I'm loving these new block-coloured ones from J. Crew, and this is only $7.49! I'm definitely snapping this up today.


Finally, because I like to save the best for last, here is a very cute pair of Nine West flats with a flower detail at the top. I fell in love with these flats when I saw them -- but then again, who wouldn't. They come in pink, orange, and black as well, but I personally adore this blue pair (and they still have it in size 6!). They're $39.99, which is a little bit steeper than my usual amount for flats, but these are just so adorable I'm seriously debating ordering them.

J. Crew Sale Outfit For Tea

Here's a pretty little blue and yellow outfit inspired by the J. Crew sales...yes, J. Crew sales might seem like full price to some people but their pieces are always high quality and very classic.

If I were meeting up with my grandma for tea or something of that prim and proper nature, I would start off with a nice, pastel-coloured cardigan. Something about a light and lovely cardigan just screams "tea with grandma" to me. Plus, it never hurts to add another cardigan to your collection -- they're simple, chic, and classic and there's always room to have fun with brooches and extra details. This yellow one from the J. Crew sale has a cute but not overpowering bow on the neckline and is $37.50, because of the extra sale discount (EDIT: This is no longer on sale).


I would pair that lovely cardigan with this indigo split-neck dress. Though it looks a little daring, I've seen it in real life and it isn't that low-cut. Then again, it all depends on your body structure. This dress is $59.99, but with the 25% off discount it's $45.00.


And finally, to top it all off...a cute pair of flats. This pair is $37.50, again because of the discount. You could have a lot of fun with the flats to pair with this outfit, but since it is grandma I'd opt for something colour-coordinating.


If you wanted to be a little less matchy-matchy, some fun bangles or cute earrings would definitely work with this outfit. Try not to go for a necklace though, as they can sometimes look strange with split necklines.

And...while we're on the topic of J. Crew sales, words cannot describe how in love I am with this linen double-breasted light grey jacket, on sale for $60.00:


and these unbelievably darling green polka dot flats, also on sale for $60.00.

Loving Ruffles

Sorry, no outfit post here...I just wanted to direct your attention to this fabulously cute ruffled trenchcoat from J. Crew (it’s on sale!).


Sadly the sizes available are pretty barren, but this is still a lovely piece to look at. It could almost pass for a big-name designer; plus, with J. Crew, you know you’re getting a quality piece. I would pair it with a little black jersey dress with a hem shorter than the jacket, and some simple black flats or heels to focus all attention on this gorgeous trench.

EDIT: Sorry guys, this coat just sold out! I'll be on the hunt for another ruffled trench, so check back for updates...