However I will say I’m also loving the texture and the colors when up close with this sweater as well. My only complaint is that the sleeves are just a hair short so I went ahead and pushed them up and they looked fine. Still worries me that it might shrink but hopefully not!
Navy and white striped linen blend Ellen Tracy sweater with 3/4 length sleeves. Great for layering over tanks.
So I went shopping at TJ Maxx Saturday looking for some simple business casual pieces that would work well in the hot summer heat and with my existing wardrobe. I was mostly looking for light layering pieces like short sleeved breezy cardigans and super light light sweaters that would work well over tank tops.
Let’s start with the items I passed on: (and then we’ll get to the good stuff)
Tribal print tank – peplum? It was a little too weird
Modern digital print tank
The pattern reminded me of something computer or tv based … but wasn’t quite right for an outfit for me
Peasant top – just didn’t cut it
Jeep tennis shoes slip on
Jeep tennis shoes on – the heel slipped off too much otherwise I really liked them
NOW on to the good stuff: (I went in thinking I might find one good piece but instead found a bit more!)
Navy and white striped linen blend Ellen Tracy sweater with 3/4 length sleeves. Great for layering over tanks.
Ellen Tracy navy and white striped linen blend summer weight sweater. Bought for $24.99
Pure & Simple rayon blend black tank with knit detail at the top. Great basic. Super stretchy and comfy.
Pure & Simple black tank top – spent $19.99 (more than I normally spend on a tank, but the fabric and unique details seemed worth it.)
Cynthia Rowley linen blend sort sleeve cardigan with a sort of crochet style detailing. Taupe / beige color so I expect this to be a very versatile piece.
Cynthia Rowley linen blend short sleeve cardi – spent $16.99. It was my lowest priced item.
Cynthia Rowley silk tank top and linen blend cardi. This is a second cardigan and lighter than the first. Again just too versatile to pass up.
Cynthia Rowley silk patterned tank top was $29.99.
Cynthia Rowley cardigan comparison photo. Just enough difference in color to change an outfit which is why I bought both.
I ALMOST passed on the silk tank top because of the price. It’s been awhile since I spent $30 on a single shirt. But it’s a good business meeting piece and comfortable so it came home with me. Really cute button top in the back that I didn’t take a better photo of too.
As for buying TWO short sleeve linen blend cardigans – I already own some long sleeve linen blend cardigans [seen here and here] and LOVE them which is part of the reason I just bought both short sleeve linen blend cardigans. I also have the same long sleeve jacket in black as well as the neutral shade.
I probably could wear the long sleeve cardigans in the summer they are so light but they look warmer than they are. They are also warm enough though to cut the chill on a cool evening.
A surprising amount of what I bought was Cynthia Rowley. I did not plan it this way as I tend to shop by look and feel of the fabric quality when shopping in a store like TJ Maxx (I also do this when thrift shopping.) I’m clearly attracted to rayon, linen and silk though….
Anyway – WAY more items than I expected to find shopping on Saturday but they were all such good wardrobe building basic that I didn’t want to pass any up!
I’m very much a jeans girl. The darker, the better (but not black, black shows cat hair too much.) Deep deep navy, no distressing. HOWEVER when I’ve been wearing the same jeans for awhile they do in fact become somewhat faded which is the case with what I had on today. These are actually the lightest blue blue jeans that I own.
What I wore in these photos (this is really all over the place):
Top: Turquoise Shirt / Blouse / Tank from TJmaxx picked up last fall
Jeans: Walmart (ugh – yes, Walmart) from a few years ago
Shoes: Sandals / Flip Flops in red and tan with silver and crystal embellishment from a boutique in Bowling Green KY
Shrug / short sleeved jacket: Target from a couple of years ago
Necklace: long silver necklace from Chicos (really long ago)
Earrings: basic silver round hoops with a flattened edge from Talbots (also long ago … but I’m not sure how long because I have two pairs of the exact same earring bought at different times.)
Toenail polish: Zoya “Lo” … I need to repaint my fingernails.
I’ve been meaning to share more outfits of the day like this but just haven’t gotten around to it. I do however wear jeans a lot and I do re-wear a lot of the same outfits which means that sometimes what I wore just is not that interesting … or I think it wouldn’t be. We’ll see if I can make this more of a habit. Though don’t worry, I will probably not be posting every single day. You can see a pattern in the colors I tend to like photographing though. Lots of turquoise and teals and aqua… I swear I have other color shirts in my closet!
AND I’m sorry, these last couple of days I’ve been feeling rather prolific. I promise I will not keep this double posting nonsense up (I’m going to post something about coral and yellow jeans in a bit.) 🙂
Just a quick shot of the outfit I wore Thanksgiving Day. I went to TJ Maxx the day before and ended up finding quite a few things I liked including this short sleeve cowl neck sweater as well as the snake print scarf I’m wearing in the photo. (I think $16.99 and $12.99 respectively.)
I almost wore these shoes (the grey / taupe suede ones) with this which were a perfect match (but I didn’t want to wear heels all day) and I did wear this nailpolish which was also a perfect taupe-y mocha latte brown. Apparently I’m developing a thing for this color. 🙂
