Shopping Habits

    Right around the first week of the year, I was talking to my mom about my Christmas shopping.  I mentioned that her present to me was an order of clothes from L.L. Bean.  She then asked if i did a lot of my shopping online.  At first I thought not really, but really thinking about it and then reading Kat's post, I actually do a lot of my shopping online.  I do it for a number of reasons too: convenience, price, my home is my dressing room and quality.  It is significantly more convenient to order something online and have it arrive at my door than having to go to the mall as well as other non-mall stores to try things on and then come home with nothing at all.  Its also more convenient to try things on at home where I have the rest of my wardrobe to try things on with, its all about context.  Lastly, online deals tend to be way  better, for the most part, than in store deals.  As a result, I'm able to afford better quality of clothing at a lower price due to my online shopping. 
    Because I do so much of my shopping online, I've come up with a technique.  It's not fool proof or perfect, but it has brought me reasonable amounts of success.  So in the interest of sharing, here it is:

A-C's "Guide" to Online Shopping

1.The Click

Coldwater Creek Blazer

    If I'm looking at a store online its because I've been drawn in by a promotion or sale.  This is almost always the case as I rarely just browse stores for fun.  The sale has to be for a store I already like or have heard good things about too.  I'm not a random online shopper, so I stick to stores I know or know of.  To get these promotions I subscribe to emails like Ann Taylor, Talbots, Old Navy, Banana Republic, eShakti and the like.  Also, every now and again I check slickdeals.net.  A lot of great promotions get posted there such as my ruffle blazer.    

Talbots Dress

2. Skim

    My next step is to figure out what the sale is about and skim the items that are on sale.  Is there anything at all that I like?  If I look around and only find like one thing, I *might* click on it and look, but generally, unless there are several things that I like, I tend to move on.  I think its shopping my attrition, eventually I'll get lucky if there are a lot of things that catch my eye.  Reduce the sample size and my odds go way down. 

3. Click

    Next I open in new tabs everything that has caught my eye and is within roughly 20% of the amount of money I would feel comfortable spending.  If an item is more than that but absolutely amazing, I'll open a tab for it.  But its got to be spectacular.  I generally end up with at least 15-25 tabs open at first.  

4.  Weed

Talbots Skirt

    Now I weed through my tabs and actually look at all that I've clicked on.  How does that jacket look in a decently sized picture and not in a thumbnail?  Is that skirt or dress long enough or too long?  Is that blouse navy or black?  All of these things and more can be answered by looking at the larger image of items as opposed to the often tiny thumbnails provided at first.  I go through and eliminate anything that I don't find cute.  On the flip side, I make sure to keep things I find cute and attractive.

5.  Weed (again)

    This time I weed by price.  I have to decide, assuming the fit and color (to come in a bit) are right, am I willing to spend $X on that skirt, dress, blouse, jacket?  I look at each item individually and decide if that individual item is worth it.  I also look at the items collectively and compare which ones are more worth my money than others.  

Bravissimo Dress

6.  Walk Away

   This is one of the most important steps.  Most of the time I need to walk away from the screen, from all the wonderfully tempting deals and just chill, elsewhere.  Sometimes minimizing that particular screen is enough.  Sometimes I go in to my closet and imagine how the items I've been looking at fit in to my wardrobe.  Other times I just play with Bella.  The point is, I walk away from the computer to keep myself from impulse buying.  Sometimes its a couple of hours.  Other times its been days.  It depends on the sale, the store and the item.

7.  Fit and size

    One of the most important aspects of shopping, whether online or in person is the fit of a garment.  You can have the most beautiful dress in the world, but if its too small, short, big or just not cut to your figure, it will be a bad buy.  In order to aid me in figuring out fit and size, I check out the store's size charts.  I also check out reviews if the site has them.  In addition, lately I've been doing the customer representative chat thing.   I'll ask them specifically to help me choose a size and in return I get the actual dimensions of the item in whatever size(s) I think will fit me.  Because not everything will be available in the size I need or will flatter my shape, this step will also cut some of the items from my list.

Nine West Pumps

8. The Cart

    Now I finally add everything I've approved in terms of style, color, price and fit in to my cart.  And then I look at the total.  When I look at items individually, I tend to think, "wow, $35 for this blazer is amazing!"  But when you have 2 blazers, a sweater, a skirt and a dress, it all adds up.  By putting it all in the cart and looking at the total, its really hard to deceive yourself.  

9.  Weed (again!--3rd time's the charm)

   Looking at the total, how much do I *really* want to spend today?  Is everything in my cart a real steal or just filler?  This is the time where I get ruthless.  Its time to decide how much total I'm going to spend and what is really worth buying.  

eShakti Dress

10. Coupons

    Lastly, I do a google search for promotions.  Yes, I know I started out by going to a sale, but sometimes you get lucky and can add a 10% off coupon or a free shipping deal to a sale.  

11.  Buy!

   Now that I've exhausted myself and overthought every aspect of this purchase, its time to buy.  

    I can honestly say, that if I go through each of these steps, I am generally quite satisfied with the items that end up on my door step. Yea, paying for shipping sucks, but being able to weed through things and really think through a purchase rocks.  It virtually eliminates impulse buys and keeps my wallet (more) full.  Sometimes I do step away again before I buy or ask a friend what they think somewhere along the way.  But its not always true, so I didn't include that in my 11 steps.   So yea, this is my process when I shop online.   

Do you have a particular process for shopping online?  Are there certain things you *must* do before you buy?

Yoga day!

    Yesterday was yoga day and as such I had two different outfits.  The first was my cute class day outfit and the second was my yoga class outfit.  You may remember seeing this dress before.  I absolutely LOVE it.  It is so comfortable!  The jersey is heavy enough so that I don't have to wear a slip with it and the neckline is such that I can change the look of the dress by changing the color tank top I wear with it.  Have I mentioned that the length of the dress is pretty damn awesome too?  LOVE this dress.  


The Details:
Dress: Gap (consignment)
Tank: ON
Brooch: Sew Lovely
Flip Flops: ON


    As for yoga wear, I am much more practical than I am cute.  I've been wearing yoga pants and men's undershirts to class and it has worked out great.  The best part, honestly, is the part you can't see.  If you guessed sports bra, then you guessed right.  Ever since I got this Bravissimo sports bra I've been a whole lot more excited about working out than I have in the past.  With the girls not bouncing around or popping out from under a too loose sports bra or spilling out over a too tight one, working out is much more comfortable.  It makes a huge difference.  

    I'm sure that for ladies with much smaller breasts a sports bra is just as important.  The difference, though is that sports bras, and bras in general for that matter, for the smaller boobed are more readily available and cheaper than those I've been able to find in my size.  At the very least, I'm able to afford these expensive bras, but I wonder about other women who aren't so fortunate.  How do they handle F,G,H, or I cups when they can't afford $55 bras?  It's not like they're readily available at Walmart or Target.  In fact, I've never found anything more than a DD at either store, and even then it was in limited band sizes.  
    I guess I'm just frustrated with the lack of availability of larger bras.  Coupled with the great expense of bras when they are found and I'm just pissed.  I mean, why do stores insist on charging more for bigger bras and bigger clothing?  It's not like its THAT much more expensive to make a larger bra or a larger shirt or a larger pair of pants, right?  So why are they SOOOO much more expensive? 
    Sorry to rant at you, it's just frustrating and nonsensical.


The Details:
Tank: Hanes tank
Yoga Pants: ON
Sports Bra: Bravissimo

Eureka!

    So, even though I'm not shopping at the moment, or anytime in the near future, I got really excited when I stumbled upon MyShape.  MyShape is a website where you enter your measurements and they tell you what body shape you are.  But that's not all dear readers!  In addition to telling you what shape you are, the site will also shop for you.  It uses the measurements you put in to find clothes that will *ACTUALLY* fit your body.  
    I don't know about you, but this is a godsend.  You see, even though I like clothes and style and stuff, I HATE going shopping.  My ginormous boobs, among other things, make things very difficult.  So Sunday I measured myself in a bra and undies.  I inserted 21 of the 29 measurements they ask for.  (If I had had a willing measuring buddy, I would have done all 29 measurements.  Alas, none of the furbabies have thumbs and The Fiance wasn't exactly willing to help.)  Luckily, you don't need all 29 measurements in order for them to give you a body shape.  In fact, I'm pretty sure you only need a few measurements of the essential 15 located on the left side.    Anyway, so I measured and got the body shape of M.  (That's what I guessed I would be beforehand).   Then I did a little survey where I chose the types of clothes I like and the fits I prefer.   
    Then the fun begins.  Once you have gone through all of the measuring and surveying, you get to see what clothes matches your style AND they've done the hard work for you by figuring out what size to get in the chosen garments in the Apparel section.  In addition, there's a section called Browse Outfits where they've taken pieces from the aforementioned Apparel section and put them together in outfits for you.  You want to know what made me REALLY happy?  It was that I found that several things that are already in my closet were similar to what was on their shopping list for me.  Turns out I'm not *that* far off.  :)
    So for all you lovely ladies struggling with how to classify your body shape and then figuring out what would look best on your body shape and size, this site is definitely for you.  And for you lovely ladies who know what you've got and rock it already, I still recommend it as it might open your eyes to new outfit possibilities.  And really, who doesn't want a personal shopper? 

***This is NOT a paid review.***     

UPDATE: 

Get $25 off $100 & free shipping at MyShape! Shop styles that fit & flatter.

Meet & Greet

    Wednesday afternoon, I went to an employer meet and greet hosted by the law school.  Since it was cold, I went with my black pant suit.  The problem is that I couldn't figure out what to wear as a blouse.  If it were an interview I would have worn a button down, but a Meet & Greet isn't AS formal.  After looking through my closet and coming up with a back up option Tuesday night (a light aqua blue sweater), I went to Target Wednesday after my first class in search for a nice shell which is perfectly within the rules of My Closet Shopping Challenge.

From L-R clockwise

1. Alex Pleated Top 2.Blair Blouse 3. Elizabeth Bow Top 4. Elsie Shell

    If you've been to a Target lately, you may have seen their Merona Collection offerings.  The current in-store offerings are a bit Mad Men + Spring inspired.  Thinking that the lovely tops would work under a blazer I tried some on, the ones pictured above to be exact.  I was *really* hoping the Elizabeth Bow Top would work, but it didn't.  Not sure if its because I had to try on a Large, but the neckline was just too low and the bow did not sit right under a jacket (ie it didn't look like it did on the model).  I was hoping to be able to just tie it in a knot and let the pieces hang, but the low neckline would have made that impossible without layering a tank underneath, which I did not want to do.  I ended up buying the Elsie shell as it was the best of the four I tried on (and fyi it did not fit me nearly as nicely as it does the model, but I digress).  I was a bit worried about the geometric print, but it turns out there was no need to worry.  
    On my way home, I stopped at the consignment store and found a beautiful red silk-spandex shell.  The owner of the store has known me for a while and gave me an additional 10% student discount off of the blouse that already had a 25% discount, so I was able to get it for $12, about half of what the the Target blouse cost.  I got home, steamed the shell, threw on my suit, did my hair and makeup, went to class and then to the meet and greet.   (As an aside, I highly recommend getting a garment steamer.  For fabrics such as silk and thin knits, it allows you to get wrinkles out fast. Also, by steaming you're able to remove a LOT of smells so you won't need to wash delicate items as often, thus making them last longer.  I was able to find mine at Bed Bath & Beyond on clearance as it had been returned and was listed at half price.  So keep your eyes open, you'll never know when you'll encounter a great deal!)
    Back to business: The meet and greet was fine.  There were 9 employers and the only one that I was really interested in didn't have the funding to hire attorneys.  The other employers were all big firms that have already hired who they're going to hire for the year.  I did talk to some of our career services ladies and they told me to keep an eye out for job fairs and the like. 
    What I like most about this outfit is that I felt really good in it.  Even though I've lost weight since I bought this suit, the jacket fit wonderfully.  The pants, not so much.  I had to MacGyver them into staying them into place by wearing Assets pantyhose under the pants and folding the top over the pants.  And it worked!  As I mentioned in this post, I like to keep my hair under control when at a career event, so I opted for a low bun with pinned back bangs.  The pearls were sort of an obvious choice considering my lack of jewelry.  All in all, I felt like I looked the part of a lawyer.  What do you all think, do I look like an attorney to you?  
The Details: 
Black Suit: Garfield & Marks (separates) 
Black heels: Aldo
Red shell: Patrick Christopher Selections via Consignment store
Freshwater pearls: strung by me
Earrings: Blue Nile


 

Rain!

    So it is Monday morning and instead of being at school learning stuff, I'm at home watching Big Cat Diary.  All because it rained yesterday.  The connection?  Well, water seeped into our basement and I had to skip my first class at 9 am so I could talk to our landlord and schedule the handyman to come out and I'm going to have to skip my second class because the earliest the handyman can come is 1:30, ie in the middle of my second class.  At the moment I don't know if I'll make it ot my third class at 3 pm.  If I had known I was going to stay home most if not the whole day, then I wouldn't have gotten dressed and might have slept in.  
    Instead I am sharing with all of you the outfit I put together yesterday to take Bella for a walk.  Saturday was a lovely day so we took Bella to the dog park, but of course Sunday, it rained and rained and rained ALL day long.  Well, my darling Bella can get a bit hyper if she's stuck inside all day, so I braved the weather and took her out for a walk.  But not before suiting up in my awesome new rain boots I got on Friday and the waterproof coat that Melanie gave me. 
    I am VERY excited to finally have a pair of rain boots.  It's even more exciting that they're leopard print.  The Fiance, on the other hand, is not such a big fan of animal prints.  (Boo to that, I say!)  Luckily for him, he's not the one that has the privilege to wear these awesome boots.  Bella, however, doesn't really care what I wear (another reason I love her).  So I wore them for the first time on my walk with her Sunday afternoon.  And were they useful!  Bella is no scaredy-puppy when it comes to water, and if it were up to her she would splash around in puddles all the time.  So instead of getting the bottom of my pants, my shoes, socks and feet wet, I got to stay dry and not worry about any of it.   

How do you deal with icky weather?  Tough it out with gear or stay inside?   

The Details:
Gray sweater: Gap
Yoga Pants: ON
Rain Boots: Capellia via Steinmart
White Undershirt: Hanes
Coat: gift (pics above and to right are from the collar and lining respectively)
Hat: Consignment store

Puppy: precious! 

(P.S. I have no idea how Bella ends up in most of my pictures looking at me.  But I absolutely love it!)

A Good Samaritan

Wednesday afternoon I went to take my lunch break, got in my car, drove across the street to the Chick-fil-A, got my nuggets and drove back to our work parking lot.  After I pulled in, a gentleman in his mid-50s (I guess) pulled in behind me.  I just thought he was going into an office in our building.  H then honked at me and made a motion for me to roll my window down, I did and he told me that my back right tire was really really low and that I should take a look at it.  He then drove away.  I jumped out of my car after a few minutes and checked my tire, and it was in fact low.  It probably looked flat from afar.  I finished eating my nuggets and went to go remedy my tire situation. 

The Good Samaritan by He Qi  

Source

I wanted to tell you all of this because of the importance of being nice, even to people you don't know.  This man had no business telling me that my tire was low.  He doesn't know me or owe me anything.  But he stopped, in fact went out of his way, to let me know that my car wasn't safe.  So readers, be nice, all year long, to people you know, you love, to those you don't know and even to those you don't care for.  You never know when someone will do the same for you and save you from a whole lot of trouble.  For this tidbit I thank the Good Samaritan that let me know about my tire and reinvigorated my faith in humankind.   

Has anybody ever made you feel better about humankind with a random act of kindness? 

Purse Must-Haves

I always carry a small bag in my purse or backpack that holds all of my essentials. There are of course the standard essentials, but it seems that I have a few non-standard items in my bag, so I have decided to share my bag and its contents with you.

The Details:

• Transportable Pink & Green plaid bag
• Hand Lotion (from hotel)
• Handheld mirror
• Hair clips
• Tampons
• Mints
• Shout wipes
• Bobby pins
• Mole skin
• Neutral Lipstick
• Pen
• Clever Clip
• Ibuprofen or Tylenol

Not Pictured:

• Cough Drops
• Tea
  

Life savers

1234I guess this post could fall under the category of "details" but it feels like there should be something more specific for what I'm about to talk about. You see, while getting dressed this morning, I realized that because of the cut of my bra, the whole world would see my bra under my V-neck sweater. This is true even after I put a tank on underneath the sweater. So I thought to myself, what can remedy this situation? Well, my first thought was Hollywood fashion tape! And then I remembered that I ran out. Well, in the spirit of being creative and desperate, I decided to try some plain old double sided tape. It worked! So today, my outfit is being held together and kept decent by some Scotch double sided tape. Is there anything you've used when desperate to keep an outfit together that wasn't meant to be used for fashion?

The Details:
Chinos: Gap Outlet
Green Tank: Old Navy
Sweater: American Eagle
Snakeskin Flats: Nine West


P.S. Sorry for the crappy quality of the above picture.