happy holidays and merry everything to you and yours. we’re barreling straight into the belly of the beast that is the holiday season. as expected, this month was FULL of purchases (hello black friday/cyber monday and all of the sales to precede it), and maybe just as equally as expected, the past 30 days were also marked with MANY trips to the post office, UPS, and fedex for returns. girl math is that i make money from said returns so really we barely spent anything this month. ANYWHO, i hope you scored some good deals over cyber week and that you’re mentally preparing for everything that december has in store. we’re attempting our first meeting of santa claus this weekend so fingers crossed it’s a positive experience. sending you into december with love and sparkles.
xoxo
the homeruns
by anthropologie oversized chiffon bow clip || do i need another oversized bow? no, no i don’t. but did i order this one anyway? yes, yes i did. in my defense it was under $20 and it’s giving bridal in the best way. i’ve been married almost seven years but if given the opportunity, i’d go through the entire process again if only to wear exclusively white outfits and the most obnoxiously feminine accessories. consider me in my bow era for the foreseeable future.
anthropologie avec les filles faux shearling bomber jacket (xxs) || as someone who has an aversion to outerwear, it takes a lot for me to warm up to a jacket. pun intended. i tried this bomber on in the store and immediately fell in love with its gorgeous feminine detailing and the fact that it was WARM! i sized down to an xxs as it runs fairly oversized but not so big as to add bulk to my frame. i love the rounded collar and the fact that it has pockets, and of course the rosette-style fabric woven into the cozy shearling. it’s a stunner and worthy of any girly girl’s wardrobe, just make sure to size down!
the misses
j.crew geneva bow bag in satin || this bag is only a miss because i ended up returning it for lack of practicality in my current lifestyle, but it is ADORABLE and if you attend many fancy events (of which i do not), i would highly recommend it. it’s big enough to hold all of your essentials and the bow handle is both romantic and elegant. it’s on the more spendy side at $128 (and unfortunately excluded from promotional sales), but it would be the type of bag you’d have forever! now i’m kind of regretting returning it…
j.crew collection rylie rosette heels in satin || again, these shoes are in this category SOLEY for the fact that i didn’t think they’d be practical in my current wardrobe. they are stunning in person and fit true to size. the heel is definitely thinner than i’m normally comfortable with, but if you can manage them, they make your legs look a mile long. they’re a peep toe style (which was news to me) but the rosette camouflages it enough to keep the toes unexposed. i managed to snag them at half off ($200) so i’m not 100% sure they’re worth their $300+ price tag, but they’re definitely just as pretty in person as they appeared online. i think they’d be beautiful paired with a little black dress or with cropped trousers. you’d have to have something with a shorter hem in order to see the rosettes. because i wear a lot of wide-leg and horseshoe-style denim, i was fearful the shoe details would be lost under the baggy hems.
j.crew collection rosette halter top in luster crepe (xs) || this was such a disappointment! not only did it not look like the online photo (the rose was a completely different fabric?), it was super ill-fitting as well. i toggle between an extra small and small –especially at j.crew and i opted for my smaller size and it was STILL too big. i also think maybe the halter style isn’t my ideal silhouette. at under $100, i was confident it would be a great option to recommend for a “going out top” or one to reach for during the holiday season but i’m sorry to say that it fell VERY flat for me.
reformation emerald knit top (small –ordered in white) || after receiving this top in the black and white rosette version, i decided to purchase it in the all white version as well. it is such a gorgeous silhouette, a cut i’d imagine to be universally flattering. it fits true to size for someone with a very small bust, but i might suggest sizing up if you have a bigger chest. while i loved the black and white version, i found the monochrome style to wash me out. i decided to return it and keep the one that i know makes a statement.
reformation natalie satin top (2) || as you know, i am in my bow era. i have added more bows and bow-adorned things to my wardrobe in the last two weeks than i have in the last two years. i am fully embracing it and i had had this top in my shopping bag for a month or so and finally decided to pull the trigger and test it out in person. the bow certainly makes a statement but when paired with a more casual pair of denim, i feel like it could be easily worn during the day or at night. get you a top that can do both! when it arrived, it was beautiful, the satin fabric makes it feel luxe and i appreciate the fact that you can wear it with or without the spaghetti straps. however, the bow was a bit limp and for the price point, i expected the execution to be a bit more impeccable. albeit adorable, i decided to return it and look for something similar. it ran true to size for me, but again, if you have a bigger chest, i’d suggest sizing up!
reformation carly high rise slouchy wide leg jeans (25 –ordered in cabo reworked & colorado) || i’ve seen these jeans on a friend and they made her legs look a MILE long which, like, who doesn’t want that?! but i tend to gravitate toward denim with a little visual interest so i searched through the washes and fell in love with the reworked version. i loved the seaming and the unique waistband. when they arrived, i was shocked at how well they fit and how flattering they were on my figure. they definitely achieve the long and lean silhouette. although the quirky details were what drew them to be initially, once i stopped to think about it, i concluded that they were just a bit too funky for me to consider them for habitual wear. i returned the reworked style and ordered the colorado wash instead and sadly was disappointed with the latter as well. so lesson learned, i’ll stick to the brands i know and love!
made in tomboy isabelle rigid high-rise tapered wide-leg jeans (25) || bow-legged style pants are my love language so when i spotted this pair, i ordered them on the spot (with a 25% off coupon, of course). when they arrived, i all but concluded they’d be a homerun. unfortunately they ran much bigger than expected, in the waist, but the legs, too. obviously i never shy from a wide-leg jean, but these offered just a hair too much fabric to be flattering. back they went in search of something better (i’ve heard good things about these!).
urban outfitters velvet hair bow barrette (ordered in neutral) || i went on a bow-buying rampage this month so bear with me as i review them all, lol. this one is super cute and comes in five colors and is just the right size but the color was a little too muted for me. i already have a black bow (this one from target) so i decided to return this one. velvet is also very restrictive to style as it reads holiday and doesn’t really work in say, june. so for those reasons i parted ways with it, but if you’re looking for a little zhuzh for your holiday outfit, this one is a great option and price point (under $15!).
urban outfitters satin rosette hair bow barrette || i obviously fell in love with this bow for the fact that it combines my two favorite things right now -bows and roses. i also love the classic black and white color combo. when i put it in my hair, however, i missed the presence of traditional bow tails hanging down. that’s the only reason i returned it. otherwise, it’s so dang chic and would be the perfect accessory paired with a little black dress.
madewell pointelle pajama set (ordered in antique cream & chocolate raisin) || as the temperature drops, i’m always in search of warmer versions of my favorite pajamas. i currently have three long-sleeve sets but two of said sets are looking a little worse for wear. i have a madewell sleep jumpsuit that has held up for over eight years(!) so i know the quality of madewell’s sleepwear is legit. once both colors went on promo for 30% off, i picked up both in hopes they’d be on rotation all winter long. unfortunately madewell forgot to send me the top to go with the matching brown pants (whoops?) so i couldn’t fully assess that pair but i did manage to try the printed version and to be honest, they were a disappointment. the material was super thin (making them not as cozy as i had once hoped) and the pants were really stretchy, resulting in an awkward fit. between the oversight and the fit issues, it didn’t take long to decipher that these pajamas did not need a space in my drawer. back they went!
nili lohan shon pant (00 –ordered in camel) || i recently sold off a few of my horseshoe jeans (and repurchased them in a smaller size) and amongst the pairs were my beloved tan colored ones. i thought i was in the clear by purchasing a new pair in my new size but when the pants arrived, they were the incorrect style. in the meantime the pants had all but sold out in my size everywhere with no plans for a restock, SO i decided to find a viable alternative —the nili lotan shon pant. i was warned that these run VERY oversized so i sized down to a 00 (a size i haven’t seen since middle school?) and you guys, they’re still big. they also arrived in a box that looked like it had been attacked by a wild animal and for the price that i paid (think more than $200), i definitely expected more in terms of packaging and overall quality. i will say that i had been curious about this style for months so i’m glad i finally scratched the itch and got it out of my system but honestly, nili lotan is OVERRATED in my book and you can definitely live without these viral pants.
loeffler randall cherie oversized bow hair clip || one of my favorite podcasters (i listen to them every single day) recently wore this bow and as soon as i saw her in it, i went on a mission to find it. i managed to spot it on anthropologie’s website discounted to nearly half off. i took it as a sign and ordered it immediately. i’ll say this —the loeffler randall bow is essentially a work of art. it is comically huge but in the best way. however it’s extremely heavy and ultimately just didn’t lay right on my head. as far as bows go, it’s on the pricier side and since it wasn’t as flattering as i hoped, i decided to make the prudent decision to return it.
agolde 90’s crop mid rise straight jeans (24 –ordered in oblique wash) || i own these jeans in a lighter wash and i wear them so much it just felt right to grab them in a darker wash. even though they’re listed as “mid rise,” i find them to fit similarly to all of my high-waisted denim. i also size down one size to get a slimmer fit. they are the jeans i get asked about most often so it made sense to snag them in a second wash. unfortunately the fit on the oblique wash wasn’t quite the same and they were oddly way to big in the waist, while being mostly fitted everywhere else. while sizing down might have solved that problem, i had a feeling a smaller size might be too tight in the hips/thighs. agolde jeans stretch with wear so i knew if they were already big upon first try-on, they would only grow bigger from there. for that reason, they were returned.
and what has yet to arrive
h&m pile pajamas (small) || after the aforementioned pajamas were a bust, i was THRILLED to learn the pajamas i missed out on last season were back in stock this year. not only that, i was able to get them at a 30% discount. they are a teddy bear-like fabric that looks like it’ll be the coziest fabric to wrap myself up in when it’s chilly come january.
loeffler randall margot bow heels (10 –sized up, ordered in chocolate brown) || i have been eyeing these mules all season and was able to capitalize on the fact that they went on sale during the black friday madness. i sized up 1/2 size as i do in all mules to ensure i had enough space for my heel. i am OBSESSED with the oversized bow (duh) and i can’t wait to wear these with dresses and jeans. date nights here we come.
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