Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Allie dress in aqua floral + Lexington blazer

Allie dress in aqua floral:  J.Crew, summer 2012
Lexington blazer in citrus:  J.Crew, 2007
Pumps:  Seychelles
Necklace:  Anthropologie, fall 2012

First and foremost I want to apologize for my makeup free face.  Eep!  Anyway, how's everyone's week going?  We're enjoying a beautiful Indian Summer week here in the midwest, so I am taking full advantage of the warm weather by wearing some of my dresses again.  The Allie dress in aqua floral was a J.Crew collection piece that started out at $250 this summer and then got marked down again, and again, and then I finally could resist no more and I snagged it when it was $69.99 + an additional 30% off.  The print is just gorgeous, but I knew from this helpful post from The Judicious Shopaholic that it was going to be too short.  But I stole the brilliant idea from this helpful blogger to take it to a tailor and have the hem let down as low as it could go.  That gave me about 2 inches, which made a pretty big difference.  As you can see, it is still well above my knees, but I didn't feel scandalous in it.  NOTE to J.Crew:  Please stop making your dresses too short! 

My Lexington blazer in citrus has long been a favorite of mine, and it paired nicely with the dress for work.  I also wore this same exact outfit to the club house at Keeneland a couple weekends ago, and it was perfectly appropriate there as well.  I wish I would have taken a picture without the jacket for you to see, but clearly I was in a rush this morning, hence the pre-makeup picture!

I really love a dress and a blazer for work, it just feels fresh to me.  See the Allie dress in aqua floral also on one of my fave bloggers, Gigi.  How do you feel about short dresses?  Do you automatically dismiss them, or try to make them work?  Thanks for visiting!

13 comments:

  1. This outfit is TO DIE FOR!!! I have yet to take mine to the tailor, but I am thrilled that you got so much extra length out of yours! It is so much more reasonable now.

    Normally, I would never purchase such a short dress but if it has a fabulous print like this dress, or the paisley jules, I will go for it.

    Thank you for linking to my blog btw :)

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    1. Thanks, and no problem with the link! Your post on this dress was SO helpful!

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  2. i think dresses are great, although i never really wear them to work. the same with skirts (although i tend to wear them more) because i can pair tights and fun tops with them. i always have problems with what shoes to wear for dresses and skirts though, so i usually end up in the same boring flats.

    but what i'm really trying to say is i like the look! you can really pull off bright colors well :)

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    1. Thanks Laura! So you're more of a pants girl for work?

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  3. What a great idea to let out the hem!! I saw this dress too and admired the pretty print, but I knew it would be way too short on me. It looks great on you, and I'm so glad that you were able to make it work!

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    1. It was SUPER short! It is still short but at least not scandalous! Thanks!

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  4. Super cute, Jeannie! The hem length works, imo. The dress has to be right in a good number of ways before I'll buy one that's too short. However at 5'2", that's a rare problem.

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    1. Thanks Gigi! Yeah at 5'10" I probably run in to the too-short challenge a little bit more! :)

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  5. It took me too long to decide on the Allie dress and by the time I figured I wanted it, it was long gone. You look great in it!

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    1. Thanks Lisa! I am really happy I snagged it!

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  6. LOVE the Abstract floral print of the dress--- I was able to snag a scarf with the same print. And your dress doesn't look too short on you, IMO.

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    1. The print is great, I think it would be awesome in a scarf! Thanks!

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  7. I LOVE this dress on you!!!! It is perfect, and the length is great. I love the print and the silk, but I don't look good on this goodie :-(
    Love the way you paired witht the Lexington blazer in citus, just gorgeous!

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