My foray into eBay.

Have you ever been so desperate to have a pair of shoes that you hunted them down in the far corners of the Earth?  No?  Well, I'm ashamed to say that is something I just did.  It unfolds like a mystery on Dateline.

Setting:  W by Worth and Worth New York Trunk Show, April 2014.
Characters:  W by Worth representative Heather Steele, shoppers Jennifer Houston and Lisa Bida.

Jen tries on a Worth New York dress.  Falls in love because it fits her so perfectly.  When does that ever happen?!  She must have the dress.  Black denim that reads 'graphite' more than sharp black, with a strip of stone colored leather down the front.  It's seriously cool.

Image from worthnewyork.com.

She slips on a pair of heeled sandals with the dress.  They are Heather's own sandals (supplied for trying out outfits with heels - which I love).  Holy cow.  They are PERFECT with the dress.  Lisa is dying over the shoes.

Image from ebay.com.

JH:  "Heather, where did you get these shoes? When did you get these shoes?"
Heather: "Nordstrom last year.  They were on sale too."
JH:  (Thinking - "Damn, probably going to be hard to find.")  "Do you have the box they came in?  If you do, can you send me a picture of the shoe information?"
Heather: "Sure".  (Thinking - "You are crazy my friend.")

Cut to 2 days later.  The following arrives in Jen's iMessages from Heather.

Image from Jennifer Houston.

Bingo!  Exactly what Jen needs to find the shoe!  (Incidently, the arrival of this image coincides with Jen's daughter being sick and out of school for the week, resulting in massive quantities of time for internet searches and shoe obsessions.)

Internet searches turn up the shoe on Amazon.com of all things.  But in a size 8 1/2?  No.  Not even close.  Jen searches Shopstyle.com, one of her go-to sites for finding things she needs.  She finds the Cole Haan Minetta sandal, but in different color-ways.  Purple, mustard, but not ivory and dark grey.  Nothing.  

On a whim and at the end of her resources, she decides to try Ebay.  Jen is not an Ebay shopper normally, but there they are.  8 1/2.  NIB (which stands for 'new in box').  Seller gets 99.9% rave reviews and features a ton of other NIB shoes.  Hum...could this be it?  And the price?  $90.  

For $90, Jen decides to risk it.  In 3 days, she receives the package and voila!

Image from Jennifer Houston.

Fade to black. It's a wrap. ~ JH

(That last image is horrible, because I took it.  But had to show the results!)

Romper Room

I know what you're thinking, but hear me out.  

A romper, really?  Lisa, are you off your rocker?  The last time I wore a one-piece top and short set was, oh, 1972 maybe?   I am clearly not a kid anymore and the romper seems more suited to gazelle-like, twenty-somethings in dark shades strolling Newbury Street on a sunny afternoon.

On our epic 36-hour mini-vaca whilst browsing the racks at Saks, Jen pulled out this very cute Vince romper for me.  

Image from bloomingdales.com.

Really?  

LB:  "It's so short."

JH:  "Just try it on."

LB:  "I'm too old for this."

JH:  "Just try it."

LB:  "And I will wear this...where?", as I pull it on like a onesie.

JH:  "Everywhere."

LB:  "Oooh, I kind of like likey.  I think you may be right!"

The comfort + cool factor is a winning combination for me. Note: I will not wear this buttoned up like the model but with a bit of an open collar.  Add some silver jewelry....long silver Stella and Dot pendant, 

Image from stelladot.com.

a Robert Lee Morris Silvertone cuff,   

Image from lordandtaylor.com.

and the J.Crew Lillian Metallic Low Wedge.

Image from jcrew.com.

Flats are too severe, the wedge gives just a bit of height.  And viola - here I am!

Image from Jennifer Houston.

Sidebar...one of the many reasons I love this woman is that she gets me thinking outside the box and dressing outside my comfort zone.  We hope you are inspired to do the same! ~ LB

Our May Obsession - a Cross-Body Bag.

Lisa and I had the good fortune to escape for 36 hours of shopping and relaxing last weekend.  We hit some new stores (Viola Lovely in the South End) and some tried and true favorites (Calypso, Saks).  All the while...obsessively looking for the perfect cross-body bag.  What do we want in this bag?

• Small enough to be light, but big enough to hold our wallet, iPhone, sunglasses, and key.
• Maybe a pop of color.
• Chain or leather strap - doesn't matter to us.
• We would prefer to have a discreet logo - ok, Lisa would prefer that; I'm ok with a logo as long as it works into the bag.  Like that Gucci cross-body.  I'd be perfectly happy with that.

We found a couple of good ones, but nothing that jumped out and said 'Yes! I'm the one!  Pick me!'  Here is what we are contemplating - any thoughts on our choices?!

We spent a lot of time in Marc by Marc Jacobs on Newbury - good price point, fun colors.  Logo was an issue for Lisa on some of them, as was a flap that would make it tricky to get in and out of the bag.  While we loved the colors this bag came in (Prussian Blue and Soccer Pitch Green) and the TASSEL, the flap wasn't completely accommodating.

Image from marcjacobs.com.

This one was great too - comes in a ton of colors (in store and online at various retailers), was light weight.  But, I fear it was small for me; only my wallet fit in the bag. 

Image from marcjacobs.com.

Over at our new haunt, Viola Lovely, deep in Boston's South End, our friend found (and purchased) a great bag by Clare Vivier.  Cross-body and shoulder friendly, great colors, good price, and fit more inside than either of the Marc bags did.  The Moyen Messenger bag really fit the bill, but there was only one, and she saw it first.  We love the pop of color and the separate cross-body and shoulder straps.  

Image from clarevivier.com.

Over at Neiman Marcus, we found these Tory Burch bags, the Thea bag.  Yes, of course we were drawn to the tassels.  And the color.  But not the logo, and they were a little wider than we would like to have.  Ok, maybe I could get over the logo.  That orange one is pretty fabulous.

Images from nordstrom.com.

We played with the Chloe Marcie Round Cross-Body bag (both small and medium sized) at Saks.  Loved the shape, lack of huge logo, comes in 11 different colors (online)!  But the small wasn't big enough and the medium might have been too big.  

Image from saks.com.

Like Goldilocks; we couldn't find one that was 'just right'.  The search continues while the obsession remains.  We'll let you know what we find.  And let us know if you find anything worth looking at. ~ JH

Who loves a sample sale?

I do!  Lisa does!  And that's why we are REALLY excited this week.  Because, in just one week, the W by Worth Sample Sale comes to Wellesley!  Our good friend, W2WW reader, and W by Worth guru, Heather Steele, will be hosting a W by Worth sample sale with over 400 items from the spring and summer 2014 lines. The biggest sample sale EVER.   Everything is 50% off!

And it's not just the dreaded (i.e. tiny) sample sizes on sale.  Every size from 0 to 14, x-small to x-large will be represented.  

So, mark your calendars!  There's a special sneak-peek for friends and family on Sunday, May 18th from 2:00-6:00pm.  W2WW readers are welcome at the sneak-peek!  The sale continues on Monday, May 19th from 8:00am to 3:00pm and on Tuesday, May 20th, again from 8 to 3.  No appointments needed!

And where is this event?  At the home of Heather Steele, 1 Orchard Street, Wellesley, MA. 

Here are some of the items you MIGHT see at the show!

Images from W by Worth.

And who knows, you might see Lisa and I there! ~ JH

W2WW News Flash - J.Crew to launch a more 'budget-friendly' line?

"Retailers would rather cannibalize themselves than have someone else do it," said Liz Dunn, an analyst with Macquarie Securities.

Hot on the heels of Kate Spade launch of it's budget-friendly line, Saturday, J.Crew is following suit.  Behold J.Crew Mercantile (or here for the story).   What does this mean?  That J.Crew has turned a cold shoulder to it's core customer needs of basics and it's trying desperately to fix it?  That the waters are warm around the Factory Outlet Store price-conscious shopper?  That there will be no more 30% off sales every other week?    W2WW is on it.  Stay tuned… ~ LB

W2WW News Flash - Kate Spade 'Saturday' opens in Boston on Satuday!

Kate Spade's new brand, Saturday (or here), is opening one of it's first retail stores in Boston, THIS Saturday.  If you her brand of preppy is your thing, then check out the lower-priced line (think of what C Wonder is to Tory Burch) and maybe win a trip to Bermuda!  

Images from Kate Spade Saturday email.