Nanette Lepore Sale Today At Gilt (Mischen, JBrand and Rebecca Minkoff bags tomorrow!!)

Great sales today and tomorrow at Gilt, if you haven't signed up for the sample sale site this is a great time, click here.

My New Favorite Summer Dress

I am totally in love with this adorable long jersey dress -





The color, the ruffle...I love it. It's the perfect easy-to-wear and very easy-to-pack summer dress. And it's under $100, it really is ideal and at that price almost qualifies as a little retail therapy!

Cute Nursing Tops

A friend asked for a little help finding cute nursing tops, and I am of course happy to oblige. There are the tops made for nursing, which are probably best when you are just starting and learning to juggle the baby, pulling up your shirt, and still trying to maintain any kind of privacy in public (I hear the last one matters less either the longer you nurse or the more kids you've got...of course here in the Bay Area it's also pretty standard to see women nursing in public) Of course there is no reason to only wear special nursing tops the entire time you plan to nurse.

To start I looked at designated nursing tops, I really like this style -


It's cute, and actually really inexpensive ($20) The part above the empire waist is layered and the layers pull up to allow easy access...

This basic tank is great as an underlayer, worn under a cardigan it could be a good tank to make nursing a little easier -

It comes in black, nude and white, and is only $20 also.

I like this basic tank a little more, it doesn't look as much like underwear and can be worn outside -


This Yummie Tummy version, if you can afford it, is amazing. The middle panel smoothes the tummy, and the straps have clips to make nursing easy -




If you go with these basic tanks, you can wear cute layers over them, wrap tops, cardigans, a flowy tee shirt.

I love this C+C cardigan from Overstock -




With a cute necklace and bright flats you will look fantastic and it will be easy to nurse.

Rock and Republic, BCBG, Botkier and Frye sales today! (Also Piperlime...)

There are some great sales today -

-Rock and Republic for men and women is on sale at Rue La La

-Botkier and Frye (2 of my favorite shoe and bag brands, I have quite the collection of both...) at Gilt

- BCBG at Haute Look. Haute Look has a new layout and is much more user friendly these days, definitely recommend taking a look.


If you have been holding off on that summer sandal purchase, now is the time -
Enjoy 20% off orders of $125 or more at Piperlime. Just enter the code SUMMERFUN at checkout. Free shipping and free returns too. Ends July 21.

These Pour la Victoire sandals are really cute and a great way to take advantage of the sale -




The ruffle is sweet, but the zipper along the edges gives them a real edge.

It's also a great time to start checking the new fall shoes and bags.

Viv & Ingrid's big summer sale starts today, I am a fan of their simple, easy to wear earrings. The sale goes through August 13th.

Failing Mall Stores...

The Washington Post has an article about the failing spin-off stores, most of which I've never even seen. I don't go to anything by Abercrombie and Fitch, but I do like Martin and Osa, the grown up version of American Eagle. I wish I could see a Madewell, but there are none in CA and we can't even order anything online.

Read the article here.

to wear shorts or not to wear shorts...

I have posted about shorts before, I like them but it can be hard to wear shorts as a grown woman and not look, well, not silly but not exactly grown up either.

First off, and this might be obvious to some but I don't think it's obvious to enough people...stay away from short shorts. Yes, that's a period. Also, the "formal short" was a very bad idea.

Whether your shorts hid mid-thigh or graze the knee are more use and figure specific. the mid-thigh short I posted last week is great for a casual summer activity (I posted it for fruit picking). The knee grazing, fitted bermuda short in crisp black cotton or a khaki color can be 'dressed up' to look like more casual officewear, or fun out-on-the-town daywear. Vince shorts, or these Nanette Lepore versions are great -




These 7 for all Mankind denim shorts are also great -




The long short is a good look for pretty much anyone, and works with flip flops for the beach or a backyard BBQ (I chose this for a BBQ I had last weekend, it was perfect for when I was helping a 2 yr old eat watermelon and the juice was pouring onto my feet!) or you can wear nicer sandals and carry a nice bag and you will look a little more dressed up. Perfect for a summer day or evening.

The Perfect Scarf...

I LOVE scarves. Perhaps you've noticed that if you read this blog even remotely recently. I think they are really fun, add something to an outfit, and it's less guilt inducing to spend on something you can wear everyday without inducing any raised eyebrows! I have also been totally uninspired lately, another fact you may have noticed in this blog lately. But this scarf, along with some white skinny jeans and I feel excited about clothes again...




Click on it to get a zoom photo, its a gorgeous bright red with these great stripes. I love this scarf. Add to all of that the fact that it's on sale, and it really is the perfect thing for a little retail therapy...

White Jeans for me?

Sometimes it takes me a while to get into a trend. I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing, it gives me time to really think about it and I like to think it helps me avoid ever looking like a fashion victim. But it also means I'm occasionally late to a party. I sort of feel like this with white jeans. I always liked them, but for other people, however I'm starting to think I would really like a pair. I tend not to pay a lot for anything white because I know it's not going to stay white for long, then I found these adorable jeans from an unlikely source -



They are from Delia's, not exactly where I usually shop for myself, but they are $49.50, and they have discounts and free shipping offers pretty often. They are labeled skinny jeans but I think they look more like a straight leg style. These same jeans come in tons of colors if you aren't into the white. I also really like this color -




If you aren't into the idea of ordering a junior size, no matter how cheap (I get this, I'm also a little scared of that) Revolve has these white skinny jeans in grown up sizing, also half the price of my normal jeans -



Overstock actually has a few great deals on white bootcut jeans, like these AG Angel jeans -




These Buffalo mid-rise flare jeans might be the easiest style to wear -




And they are only $40, less then the Delia's pair. So, looks like there really is a pair of white jeans for everyone!

This Weeks Sales (Citizens for Humanity, Milly, Trina Turk, Helmut Lang, Derek Lam, Zac Posen, and many more...)

At Gilt this week:

Monday - Trina Turk, Furla, Just Cavalli

Tuesday - Milly, Alejandro Ingelmo Women's, Michael Kors mens

Wednesday - 12th Street by Cynthia Vincent, Edun, Mike and Chris, Susan Hanover Jewelry, Men's final sale which includes Adriano Goldschmied, Diesel, Earnest Sewn, Gant, Loomstate and many more brands

Thursday - Women's final sale (it's huge!!) which includes Catherine Malandrino, Ali Ro, Helmut Lang, Marc Jacobs, Derek Lam, Adriano Goldschmied and many more..

Friday - Accessories final sale

Rue La La

Monday - Citizens of Humanity, Francesco Biasia bags, I'm really excited about the Citizens sale, I'm an addict!

Tuesday - BCBGeneration, Calphalon

Wednesday - Adam by Adam Lippes


Billion Dollar Babes

Monday - Paul Smith Eyewear

Tuesday - Michael by Michael Kors


Haute Look

Monday - T-Bags, Vivre shoes,

Tuesday - Joie, Vincente Agor jewelry

Wednesday - Prairie New York (great summer day dresses!), American Vintage

Lingerie and Swim sale at Figleaves

Tis the season - Figleaves is having a huge sale which includes bikinis for as little as $20, and they are really cute too. I like this colorful stripe -



It comes in a green stripe as well, and costs all of $12.60 for the bottom. The top looks like this -



Figleaves also has their own swim label, and they have some really cute pieces including this full cut bikini bottom -



I love the belt detail with the ring. You can choose from a couple kinds of tops, and they are all on sale! Perfect timing for the next 2 months of summer.

outfit for very casual summer fun

The fruit picker was a success, we have alot of plums ready to turned into whatever we choose! We were so into it we thought about going from one friend's yard to another for more fruit. Our hunger got the better of us though, as did our tired arms. We made the mistake of swimming beforehand, the fruit picker isn't heavy at all, but holding anythign up for a long time gets hard.

What does one wear to pick fruit? This is a dilemma I faced today, I decided denim shorts, a dark top and flip flops were the way to go. The dark top couldnt really be stained by drippy fruit, so that worked well. The flip flops however were not ideal.I was slipping and sliding and worried about things dropping on my bare feet.

Next time I will go with a shoe like this -




These old navy shorts looks cute (they come in a bunch of colors) and are a great price, you can wear them to death for the summer and it isn't heartbreaking if you have to get rid of them at the end of the season.




Throw on a black tank and you are all set for fruit picking, barbecuing, or whatever it is you are doing.

plums and Seven for All Mankind Sale

I'm feeling a little uninspired today, the weather is nice and I'm focused on my gardening today, sorry. I actually went to a hardware store and bought a fruit picker.

What is a fruit picker you might ask, it's a very long stick with a cage-like thing on the end with a claw. It actually looks a little like a lacrosse stick. With this ingenious fruit picker I can get every last plum off of our friends plum tree. I will be making jam and baking goodies in short order. Don't you wish you lived near me??In the meantime though don't forget about the Seven for All Mankind sale on Gilt.com today.

It starts at 12 EST, 9 AM PST, get there early for the best selection - I imagine things are going to go fast.

Click here for the invitation link.

Huge Shoe and Bag Sale

Now is a great time to look for sandals if you are still in the market, Piperlime is having a big sale. They also have summer bags on sale, this is a cute one -




I like a tote to carry in my hand or a cross body strap in the summer when it's too hot to have a bag right under my arm. I also love white these days.

I also like these cute red sandals, marked down to $60 -




There are many more where those came from...