counting sheep

I am smitten with this cozy sheep sweater from Oysho.  I'm not usually a fan of cutesie animal prints, but this one got me.  Also love the boyish boxy shape, I think it would be perfect for layering over a button-down (with a pop of color on the lips)

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A few more greys from what is easily one of my favorite spanish fast-fashion labels...

denim day

One of my great accomplishments when I was in Madison was buying new jeans.  You laugh?  Huge accomplishment, I swear.  I imagine that there is a body type for which it is extremely easy to find jeans that fit, but mine is not one of them, nor, I'm guessing, are most women's.  Lucky for me, Madison, WI is home to amazing shopping.  Oh, you didn't know that?  Did you know that Shopbop is based in my hometown?  And that we have a local in-store Bop?  Jealous yet?

More after the jump...

madewell faves

Madewell's done it again, hooked me in with some wonderful pieces, perfectly styled, as usual.  I've got to unsubscribe from their newsletter, it's just so tempting!  Course, now that I'm in the states for a while, I could actually order some of my favorites, like this sweater, or one of these perfect chambray shirts.

Check out some of the other things I fell in love with after the jump...

crew again

This caught my eye today.

J. Crew, so of course, the styling is lovely, creative, and impeccable.  And of course, like the good little consumer that I am, I had to see what else they had to offer me.  And of course, as usual, they have tons of totally wearable stuff that I would not mind having in my closet.  Would not mind it one bit, I tell you.

Just look at all that cozy chic ocean-y cashmere.  A perfect simple cardigan, a slouchy boatneck with super slim sleeves, some gorgeous waffle-knit color blocking...  these guys know what they're doing.

more of my current J. Crew picks after the jump...

raw

Have you heard of raw denim?  Maybe everyone has already and I'm just super late to the game, but on the off chance that you're like me, I thought I'd share my discovery with you.

I first read about raw denim over at Dead Fleurette (one of my favorite blogs, check it out if you're not familiar with it), and she linked over to the guys at Rawr Denim, where I promptly got completely sucked in to this fascinating subculture and lost the better part of my day.

Raw denim is unwashed and untreated; it's stiff and dark, and from what I can tell, incredibly uncomfortable in the beginning.  And then, as you wear it (no washing allowed!), it conforms and molds to your body in a way that raw denim virgins like me can only begin to imagine (Levi's 501s, shrink-to-fit?  Yup, that's what that means).  It begins to crease and fade and tell the story of You.  Your wallet/coin/good luck charm in your back pocket, extra wear from the shaft of your boots, abrasions on the hip from your messenger bag... all those whiskers and fades and creases that high-end denim companies spend so much time artificially creating for us, will actually be yours, honest and authentic.  Maybe it's totally irrational for me to be so enthralled by the idea, but I'm starting to obsess.  And I'm thinking I may have to try this.  I'd probably go with the A.P.C.s, since they seem so easily accessible, but there's lots of options out there if you're interested.

After the jump, some enticing photos from Rawr Denim...

ssense ssale

Yes, I'm still shopping online.  Hey, it's cyber monday, isn't that what we're supposed to be doing?  (By the way, when did they invent that one?  This is the first year I hear of it; am I just totally behind the times?)  Today we hit the sale rack at ssense, one of my all time favorite online stores.

Is this thing perfect or what?  And that zipper detail in the back, just killing me.  Those Smythe ladies sure know what they're doing.

Or how about this reversible leather & fur jacket from Preen?  You can be a hot tough biker chick one day and a rock n' roll yeti the next, whatever your heart desires.  I don't think I'd ever wear it the apeman way, but the other way?  That is a gorgeous item.

See more ssense finds after the jump...

the big event

Just methodically going through all the major sales; got to be efficient in my mindless fantasy shopping, you know.  Shopbop is having what they call The Big Event right now, where you get bigger discounts the more you spend.  Of course there's too much good stuff for me to post, but I edited my favorite pieces down into two outfits.  If you get everything on my list you'd get a whopping $1250 off.  Let's not talk about how much you'd have to spend to get there though.  Here's my first imaginary cozy fall outfit:

Helmut Lang blazer, Funktional sweater, J Brand jeans, Jeffrey Campbell booties

see another after the jump...

back to basics

A few weeks ago I found myself desperately craving a new everyday silhouette.  No skinny, no pencil, no flare, no wide-leg, just a nice slim basic straight jean.  Now, I don't usually shy away from premium denim; as a woman with fairly substantial curves I find that the higher priced jeans just tend to fit me better.  Maybe it's that there's more selection and variety in terms of fits and cuts, or maybe I'm a bit of a denim snob.  I'm a huge fan of J. Brand and my recently discovered Mother jeans pretty much never left my body throughout august and september.  And yet I recently found myself sorting through the stacks of jeans at Gap.  How did I get there?  I don't know, muscle memory from high school days maybe?  Result?  Jackpot.

Yeah, they gape a tiny bit at the waist, but it's nothing that a good belt (or tailor) can't fix.  And I'm so relieved to be in comfy jeans that are a bit more relaxed than my skinnies that I'm beyond thrilled with my new purchases.   I bought them in two different washes; at this price, who could resist?  I liked the straight cut so much I also picked up these pants in black:

They've got them styled as your typical work/office pants, but I tell you, these babies are multi-taskers.  Tailored but still with quite a bit of stretch to them, I've been wearing them with everything from sneakers to motorcycle boots.  Glad I gave Gap another chance.  Maybe it's true, the 90's really are coming back.