Café Capri in Leopard Jacquard

Here's another pair of "capri" pants. I have it in quotes because they are not very cropped at all as you can see.

They are the café capri cast in a vibrant leopard "jacquard." Again, I am using quotes because they're not really a jacquard.

A true jacquard is a raised design or pattern woven into a fabric. Although the leopard pattern on these pants are raised, the designed is machine embroidered on as opposed to woven in. See close up below.

I was hoping they'd be a silk blend but the base fabric is polyester {horrors!} and the embroidery is viscose. They are not lined.

These are longer and bigger than other capris from this season. Two inches longer in the inseam and the rise (original fit). And they are roomy. Guess that'd come in handy if I went to a Vegas buffet and want to take a couple of porterhouse with me. I know that sounds messy but these are machine washable.

I'm wearing them with the Charlie ruffled suede platform mary janes in a color I thought long and hard about and only bought because I liked the style and there were no other colors left in my size. They've turned out to be a great color for many things in my wardrobe. See.

The other item is the chambray tuxedo-pleat shirt. It's a wonderful compromise of chambray and tuxedo pleating and one of my very favorites.
It's also the beginning of the chambray/denim shirt throwdown! 

IRL Update - Café Capri in Wool Plaid

 

Can I just say how much I love this?!


I love the pants. I love the cardi (it's the wool cashmere France cardigan from 2007, please don't wear out!). Love the shoes (Marlene Crisscross Platform Heels from about a year ago). And how can I not love a white shirt that fits?


I'm 5'2" so the pants are not so capri on me but I like them that way.


By the way, the pants can be switched out with the Silk Pleat Skirt in Crimson Floral (that has been getting a lot of recent blog love) for another look. The cardi makes a perfect pairing with the skirt. Sorry for not posting a pic with the skirt but do not believe the online description that says "falling just below the knee" because it hits right at the top of my knee caps. And I'm not that tall.

A Little Fuzzy IRL

Thoughts often come to me in a song. So I have The Beatles' "Getting Better" playing in my head. Don't know why because this pic is not good. But.

... the Encore Trench. Wore it for the first time yesterday. Verified it is a special trench. And it gives the feeling of a cool spy. Now I have "Secret Agent Man" going in my personal jukebox.

Speaking of undercover agents, we watched Salt with Angelina Jolie the other night. Just as her slit-up-to-there suit would so not be what federal agents wear to work (I think not but what do I know!), this trench is so not the no-nonsense trench. Thus, perfect for Angelina to wear in the sequel, don't you think?

IRL, I tend to think of trench weather as being rather trecherous. Not sure how the what seems like miles of skirt of the Encore Trench would do in real weather with whipping winds. A little wind, however, would be all the better to show off the tulle underskirt. Yes, the trench has an underskirt of two layers of tulle (I cannot do better than the Bourbon and Pearls pic). It's a delicious detail that brought back a memory from when I was a very, very young girl.

I must have been between 3 and 5 years old and I was to carry the skirt of the wedding dress of an aunt (?? ... I was so young I didn't understand who it was getting married and guessing). I recall taking the job very seriously but it was such a difficult task because the skirt was a mountain of tulle. In my memory bank, the skirt looked like this:

You can just imagine a tiny girl trying to keep the skirt off the ground, and helping to get all that tulle into the car. Life was stressful even back then.

But my favorite memory of that day was being fascinated with the princess I was attending to.

I can understand why Dani fell in love with the trench and how she might have purchased it at full price. It's a small price to pay to become a princess.

Congratulations for Surviving the Ravaging Beast

According to Chinese mythology, a ferocious creature comes around near or on Chinese New Year to terrorize villagers by eating livestock and attacking people. Some say the monster prefers children. (!)

One year, one of the villagers took kindly to a silver-haired passer-by and learned from the old man the beast fears the color red and loud noises. Thus, firecrackers became a big part of Chinese New Year celebrations and people, especially children, dress in bright red clothing to protect them from bad things.

I love red. So I don't need a lot of encouragement to wear it. And the tradition of wearing something new on that day has me as giddy as school children planning their outfits for the first day back from summer vacation. But! The forecast is literally raining on my parade -- 100% chance of rain.

After many tries, this is what I've decided to wear. It is a LOT of red (and with my yet-unworn Encore trench). Because I want to be certain I'm protected from bad things.

The traditional Chinese new year greeting is often mistakenly assumed to be synonymous with "happy new year" when it actually translates (loosely) to "congratulations and be prosperous!"

A toast to making joyful noises and health, good fortune, peace and happiness, everyone!!

Catching Up on Bloggy Love

True to form, I'm scrambling as usual before the new year (you'll know what I mean by the new year in about an hour ... )! A month ago, WFF of the whining diner and wellfedfred and Rose of 1 More Shopping Blog bequeathed me with the Liebster Blog Award (in addtion to my first from Tweed and Toile)! I was and still am thrilled to receive them. THANK YOU!

Liebster means "dearest" in German. This award is given to bloggers with fewer than 200 followers.

The award has these stipulations:
1. Thank the giver and link back to the blogger who gave it to you.
2. Reveal your 5 blogger picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.
3. Copy and paste the award on your blog.
4. Hope that the people you have sent the award to will forward it to their favorite bloggers.

Here are more blogs I enjoy (and I woulda picked the folks who picked me {honest!} but I'm going to try and spread the love):

Crazy for Crew

jcrewismyfavstore

quintessence

Sharon Loves This

The View from Great Island

<3

MIW: Inspired by Looks We Love

So cute! But! I don't have the coat and I don't wear minis ...

Over the weekend, I figured how a few things from my closet can come together for a resemblance. And since it was projected to dip below 60°F for our daily high and since I'm a big wimp when it comes to cold temps, today was the day for this look.

It was a little drizzly and not the best day for a white skirt but I was determined to wear it. Because it's not everyday I'm prepared with all the pieces for an outfit. Especially a skirt outfit. Especially on a Monday.


The little bit of spitting from the sky did no damage to the sturdy double-serge wool. If I had black boots of similar proportions, I'd have worn them. But maybe this makes things more interesting. At least that's what I told myself.

All I know is I loved how warm and cozy I was all day.

And isn't husby getting a lot better at being my blog photographer?!

Café Capri in Harvest Tweed

 

Husby said "Whoa, you can't miss you in those!" J.Crew described the material as "fabulous technicolor tweed" and my reaction was {I love this!}  

I'm talking about the Café Capri in Harvest Tweed in the camel coral color choice. Hmm ... camel coral sounds pretty tame but as you can see from my close up pic, it's much closer to technicolor. With so much going on, I decided a plain white shirt was in order. Had considered a chambray to prove its universal appeal and try to knock off two objectives at once (read: making a dent into the many chambray/denim shirt reviews still to come). And here's why I couldn't make that work in the 4.5 minutes I had to get dressed before heading out the door:

1. Of all the café capris I've tried recently, these are the most close fitting.
2. The chambray shirt that worked from a tonal perspective was too oversized to tuck and too sloppy looking to leave untucked for wearing with the jacket; and incompatible with factor #1.
3. Chambray seemed like too much texture for this mess mix.

I wore them with a white shirt, Charlie ruffled suede platform mary janes and vintage 2005 blazer of Robert Noble Scottish wool. The jacket is from back in the day when you were delighted by the interior for all its piping, grosgrain ribbon and tie silk glory. And look ... this one has leather buttons embossed with a horse design.

[But back to the capris ...] The technicolor tweed is a lot of texture and a lot of look! The fabric -- 35% polyester, 30% acrylic, 23% nylon, 12% wool -- is deceivingly lightweight, and probably a good thing since the dimensional pattern adds visual heft. The pants are well constructed and fully lined.

There're only one-and-a-half complaints I have. The cloth is loosely woven so it gets lumpy/bumpy after a day's wear. But! I forgive that as well as the non-natural fibers. Because they're a little wild. They are different. They are the things J.Crew does that keeps me coming back for more.

And I'm quoting Gigi again ... J.Crew, I can't quit chu!

Ya Gotta Laugh IRL

Happy new year, everyone! And surprise, surprise ... not only did I not wear what I was planning for NYE, this is likely not what you were expecting for a IRL pic! So once again, the best (p)laid plans ... lol.

Here's the story: It was in the high 70s yesterday and a heavy turtleneck probably wasn't the best choice, I couldn't find my liquid-gold skirt (I put it someplace else recently, thinking I'd protect it from whatever and I've lost my near-short-term memory) and (this is the best excuse ever!) I had to wear tartan since Tabitha made me an honorary Scot!

Husby (he called himself that yesterday ... awww) had promised to help with IRL pics for my blog (isn't it sweet he wants to help?) and here's his first shot ... ta da!!! That blob to the lower left is his finger (no not that finger) and I'll tell ya, though he'd never allow me to take pics of him for the blog, he has cute fingers even if one got in the way of the lens.

It's another very warm day in SoCal. But! That means it's warm enough to make Nana's butter cake and I'm going to do it "dressed" à la DaniBP (with a nod to June). Too often I'm in a sloppy tee and sweat pants hanging out around the house and I will do better starting now!

There are so many exciting things I'm hoping for in the coming days: the long-awaited chambray/denim shirt tournament, better IRL pics (per Gigi, slaps knee) and introducing you all to Buffy.

Here's to more laughs in 2012!