Holiday sales have come, and well…are still going it seems, but I’m pretty sure I’ve indulged enough for the season. Here are some of the items I ended up picking up, both keepers and returns.
1. Stella McCartney dress, 70% off. Stella makes a version of this classic crewneck dress each season, and though I’ve eyed it many a time, I never tried it on as I generally gravitate towards v-necks. I saw the always stylish Alice wearing the newest spring season version (so pretty!) of it though, and thought it looked great. So when I saw this blossom print pop at at Saks, I ordered (successfully after my 5th attempt or so…what’s with Saks’ buggy website)? Anyway, I love the print – it reminds me a bit of comic books. And it’s quite comfortable as well, thanks to the elastic waist.
Status – keeping
2. Erdem Kenya printed dress, 60% off. I thought I would definitely end up keeping this dress, since I love the other Erdem dress that I own. When I pulled it out, I immediately fell in love with the print and the weight of the fabric. But when I put it on, a clear problem emerged – yup, I could not zip it all the way up! I bought my normal size (UK 6), but I guess I needed one bigger. The problem is, the rest of the dress seemed to fit…going bigger may have been too big. And in the meantime, UK 8 sold out anyway.
Status: returned
3. Nicholas Kirkwood Ava sandals, 70% off. You can also find these, in more sizes available, at Saks (for a lesser discount though…grr). After baby, I swore I was done with heels. Actually, I made that vow during pregnancy, as soon as I started to visibly waddle. Yet the lure of beautiful shoes was too tempting this season…especially with so many great deals! The discount on these Kirkwoods was too good to resist, not to mention their relatively reasonable 85mm heel. When they arrived, I tried them on and they were more comfortable than many of my heels – maybe because of the lace up bootie style.
Deep down I know that my lifestyle really isn’t one conducive to mesh and suede booties right now…yet some part of me really loves these, and they look cool on.
Status – keeping…for now!
4. Alice & Olivia Sweater Top, 65% off. I love the cropped sweater/layered blouse look (what can I say, one of my favorite fashion movies is Clueless). But it can be hard to get just right…and if it’s the wrong blouse I end up with lumps. I picked up this sweater/blouse combo for 65% off during a Neiman Marcus sale on a lark, half expecting that I’d want to return it. But it’s actually a winner. I’ve already worn it a few times so far – once with just plain black pants above, and another time with a little black mini and tights.
Status – keeping
5. PJ Salvage Thermal Pajamas, 33% off. What can I say? The siren call of cats in hats was too irresistable, and I had to purchase. I love the cozy thermal material of these, and also the jogger style of the pants. I’m a shortie so all of my pajama pants either have to be cropped style or altered – otherwise they drag on the ground. The elastic bottoms of the pants in this set solve that problem easily for me. Yes I kind of look like I’m wearing harem pants…but I think the pink and the cats negates that, no? Anyone?
Status – keeping!
What were some of your sale purchases this holiday season?
31 Comments
Sonya
January 4, 2016 at 10:21 amI love everything! Too bad about the Erdem.
ella
January 4, 2016 at 10:50 amYou look fab! Love the Stella dress. After reading your Everlane review, I ordered their cropped cashmere sweater – will report back, but I love that look too!
Anonymous
January 4, 2016 at 12:40 pmI love the Alice & Olivia sweater. I went to buy it and it was sold out. The story of my life!!!
Whitney Farris
January 4, 2016 at 1:50 pmThat was my comment. Wonder why it showed anonymous?
Katherine
January 4, 2016 at 4:29 pmThere are still some available here, final sale though!
https://www.aliceandolivia.com/faux-layered-sweatshirt-blouse.html?gclid=Cj0KEQiAzai0BRCs2Yydo8yptuIBEiQAN3_lFhWZispEkxFBd8GS7huaiTQmWvBsyuxPbs2qjY0NI4YaArwF8P8HAQ
Jaime S
January 5, 2016 at 7:48 pmI like it, too!
Anonymous
January 4, 2016 at 4:47 pmYou look so great! Did you do anything specific or have an exercise regimen after baby?
Katherine
January 4, 2016 at 8:59 pmThanks so much! No not really…I’ll try to think about it and write it down in a future baby update though 🙂
Anonymous
January 9, 2016 at 5:26 pmThat would be great! Also, if you wanted to throw in how you manage as a new working mother, that’d be much appreciated, too!
~From a to-be-working-mommy professional in t-minus 2.5 months 🙂
Anonymous
January 4, 2016 at 7:56 pmThe Alice + Olivia top is so cute (and not usually my style) but it looks adorable on you! The black pants are super cute too. Do you mind sharing what brand/style they are?
Anna
January 5, 2016 at 4:37 amI love the Stella dress! It’s a bit too much in terms of color for me (but then I’m an all neutral kind of girl), but it looks amazing on you! Should should go for color more often.
I had a very naughty sale season; Prada boots, Jil Sander coat, Reed Krakoff sweater, Magaschoni blazer, Bottega Veneta cashmere cardigan, Philip Lim dress, and Alexander McQueen sweater… Just typing this out makes me a little faint!
Anna
January 5, 2016 at 4:39 amSorry for that typo, I’d meant to say that you should go for color more often.
Katherine
January 5, 2016 at 9:04 pmThank you, Anna! And it sounds like you had quite the successful sale season yourself!
Anna
January 7, 2016 at 6:07 pmI was successful in a manner of speaking, yes 😉
Now I’m trying to avoid an exam and my fingers once again are doing some online shopping. Oh dear.
alice
January 5, 2016 at 6:33 amAw that Stella dress is such a fun steal! And now I think you’re totally taller than me given where the dress hits you 😛
(Also love the sandals!)
Katherine
January 5, 2016 at 9:05 pmThank you! And no, I had the dressed altered two inches already, LOL.
Mercy
January 5, 2016 at 8:50 pmLove this kind of post from you, i can’t wait to see towards the end whether it’s for keeps or not. I want to keep the No. 2 dress though.
http://www.busyandfab.com
Katherine
January 5, 2016 at 9:05 pmMe too! I just wish it fit 🙁
Anna
January 6, 2016 at 8:31 pmI think I am going to get the pajamas 😛
Anna
http://www.annawangillustration.com/
Katherine
January 7, 2016 at 9:26 amI hope you like them! I love mine!
Revanche
January 7, 2016 at 4:51 pmDid you already return the Erdem? And is it a pretty generous return policy? I ask because I have been steadily shedding pounds since birth, in the last month or two, I’ve actually reached the point where I fit some of my prepregnancy clothes again and I wasn’t sure that would happen. It might be worth hanging onto it for a few months to see if the same will happen for you. (FTR, I breastfed for several months but didn’t do anything specific to lose weight other than eat normally and take walks almost every day so it’s not due to any extraordinary efforts on my part.)
Katherine
January 8, 2016 at 9:00 pmI already returned it…I’m back to my pre-preggo weight but while breastfeeding, certain dresses just won’t fit anymore…and I have no idea what my body will be like after, not enough to take a chance with a strict return policy lol!
Lindsay
January 8, 2016 at 9:25 amLove your dress picks! I kept eyeing another Stella dress in that same pattern but decided not to do it since I don’t know how I’d feel about it a few years from now :/ The Erdem dress is lovely, I’m sorry to hear it didn’t work out 🙁 Perhaps you can keep your eye on it, maybe someone will make a return?
Are those PJs warm? I wanted to get them as well but wasn’t sure how warm they are (I don’t really want to buy thermal if it won’t keep me warm :P)
Katherine
January 8, 2016 at 9:00 pmThe PJs are warm but they aren’t the super super warm thermal that you might be thinking of 🙂
Sammie
January 13, 2016 at 1:18 pmHi Kat!
Thanks to you, I ordered the Ivanka Trump flats in black and pewter and they both worked out! Super cute and comfy. Thanks so much for recommending them. (You are two for two, since the Frye boots also worked out!)
Katherine
January 14, 2016 at 10:02 amSo happy to hear that they worked out and you’re enjoying the flats!
Glenda
March 25, 2016 at 5:33 amHi Katherine,
I just found this about Amal Clooney and a version of the Stella McCartney dress, thought it may be of interest. My musing about her choosing to wear the dress for this particular speech: this dress + her posture & hand position & movements + her peaceful tone & cadence in speaking, maybe it makes her appear non-threatening and approachable, as opposed to how a red power-suit or something similar + arms spread wide + a louder voice & forceful cadence may have made her speech seem off-putting…
Glenda
Katherine
March 25, 2016 at 8:28 amHi Glenda! Your analysis is so interesting, do you have a photo of the dress?
Glenda
March 25, 2016 at 9:14 amYes, of course, I am so sorry, I meant to include the link below. Included on that page is a video under one minute of part of her speech:
https://amalalamuddinstyle.wordpress.com/2016/03/23/amal-clooney-talks-human-rights-in-mideast-speech-20-03-2016/
Glenda
March 25, 2016 at 9:18 amI was considering her presentation of this particular speech before this particular group of people.
Katherine
March 27, 2016 at 6:51 pmThank you very much! Its a gorgeous dress – on my sale wishlist 🙂