Did some shopping this weekend with one of my best girlfriends, and as we were chatting in the car, I said, "I need a new button-front white blouse with French cuffs." Okay, now this is a slightly ridiculous statement, I know. A person such as myself in no way NEEDS another white blouse. I love white blouses. I have plenty of white blouses. Here is the white blouse section of my closet:
(And still I press my nose wistfully against the windows of the Anne Fontaine boutique whenever I walk past it.)
However, all of these blouse are different in some way or another, of course, in the same way that every one of the average woman's 14 pairs of black shoes are all different in some way. (Your husbands/boyfriends don't understand that, but I do, darlings.) I have a very nice, fitted, long-sleeved white blouse with French cuffs that I had worn while I was in NYC last month and it was ruined. Did I spill a hot dog on it? No. Nothing so exciting. I ruined it by wearing it in New York -- the cuffs are FILTHY. Seriously -- I put stain remover on the thing and washed it in bleach twice and that black line around the fold of the cuff will not come out. So now this is a blouse that can only be worn with the sleeves rolled up (and yet another reminder of why I'm glad I don't live in NY anymore) and I need another French-cuffed white blouse. I love French cuffs, I'd wear nothing but French cuffs if I could. I have quite a nice collection of cuff links, including some that belonged to my grandfather that are very precious to me.
Hence my statement to Anita, "I need a new button-front white blouse with French cuffs."
We went up to the Domain (the new, fun, ritzy outdoor mall here in Austin) and had lunch, and then ducked into Banana Republic on our way to Neiman's. And what to my wondering eyes should appear?
On sale for $35. (Click photo for link.)
Wow. Now, that's good shopping karma. I fully believe that I willed this bargain into existence.They only have it in white on the website, but in the store they had white, pink, powder blue and mint green. I was surprised -- it seems like BR never puts their classic blouses on sale, or maybe they just sell out before they have a chance to, but I snapped up one of those babies pretty quick. (A note: this shirt is described as "Tailored (fuller in the bust)" but little ol' 34A moi doesn't find it unduly roomy at all. Maybe I'm just a broadbacked peasant type, but a close fit on an A-cup doesn't exactly signify "fuller in the bust" to me, so don't let that put you off.)
(Another note, for Austin readers: the Domain branch of BR is now carrying a pretty healthy selection of petites, for those of you who wear them. The SA said they were the only store in Austin that did, although this is as yet unconfirmed.)
So I felt pretty good about my shopping conjuring abilities as we headed up to Neiman Marcus. Later in the day, I was to feel even better about them, but more about that soon... (::insert suspenseful organ chords here::)
Hope everyone had a terrific Memorial Day. Do any shopping? Whadja get?
Photos: Style Spy, BananaRepublic.com
5 comments:
Just so you know... there's a Sci-fi author named Shanna Swenson
http://www.shannaswendson.com/stilettos.html
whose book Once Upon Stilettos was inspired by the same Stuart Weitzman Red Quasars as are in your icon.
:-)
Love those shoes. Zow!
White blouses. THIS I can understand. I'll all about black knit tops and sweaters. Child: "How many black tops do you need?" Dissed: "How many are there?"
Oooooh I need to check that out.
Yeah the white blouse. Give us more I just cant get enough of them.
I too can't get enough white blouses, But can't find one with french cuffs. Hey, I saw one with the name "spence or was it spense" in the collar label. It had large tortoise or animal print button, and the sleeve had ruffle. Wow was it pretty but can't find it now. i saw this at a Steinmart store in Tn. What do I do to look for it since I now realize I should have bought it?
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